I wanted to be champ of the world, but I kept hoping something would happen to Frazier. I didn't want to fight him. Nobody wanted to fight Joe Frazier.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I fought a boxer who everybody said I couldn't beat - Sugar Ray Leonard. They said he was faster than me. That he was the best of the best. And I beat him.
When I was a boxer, I wanted to be champion of the world, not the richest man in the world.
Joe Frazier got hit more than me - and he doesn't have Parkinson's.
You wouldn't meet a Joe Frazier down today and then up tomorrow, said hello to big shots then ignore someone on the lower level; he was the most consistent human being. What you see is what you get.
Joe Frazier is so ugly that when he cries, the tears turn around and go down the back of his head.
Boxing is a sport, but it's also entertainment. I wanted to transcend the sport and be considered just not as a fighter, or a champion, but someone very special.
Frazier was not a big man at all. Frazier was about 5'9, but he would make anyone run. Put up your dukes and cover up because he's coming. He never backed up from anyone.
Looking back, I couldn't get enough fights because Don King owned most of the top 10 fighters, and he never gave me a fight.
I always bring out the best in men I fight, but Joe Frazier, I'll tell the world right now, brings out the best in me. I'm gonna tell ya, that's one helluva man, and God bless him.
Sugar Ray wouldn't give me a rematch, and that's the reason I walked away from boxing.