Quote

In order to understand the mindset of a boxer, I needed to become a boxer myself.

I see myself today as Sitting Bull trying to bring a voice of Easternism, holism, community-based thinking to a very Western culture.

When I do a Western, I often wonder what I would have really done in that situation.

'Boxers' was more time consuming simply because it was longer, but 'Saints' was definitely harder. I think it's just hard to talk about faith in general.

In the United States in the 20th century, every major event that America was going through, there was a boxer who seemed to symbolically represent it, from slavery to the Vietnam War to the Depression - all the way along, you just seemed to have boxers that carried the narrative.

I have been influenced in my thinking by both west and east.

As a West Side kid fooling around with boxing gloves, I had been, for some reason of temperament, more interested in dodging a blow than in striking one.

When I was very young, my background as a Sikh-American made me aware of the tensions that underlie choice.

I always wanted to do a Western.

Boxing gave me a path in life. Because of boxing, I learned what I'm capable of achieving if I put my mind to it and how hard work can and will pay off in the end. It gave me confidence and taught me to face fear straight on and dig down deep when times get tough.