I made the decision to turn pro, and I remember what Ali said to me: 'Get Angelo Dundee. He's the right complexion with the right connection.' He knew boxing. Our relationship was so genuine, so sincere.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Ali was a legend of our sport. For me as a kid, he inspired me to represent myself like a champion in and out of the ring.
Ali would not be Ali unless I had come along. Him and me had three fights.
Ali and I have become friends over the years. I was on a plane with him one time when he was the champion.
Muhammad Ali was the kind of guy you either loved or hated, but you wanted to see him. I happen to really love him. He brought boxing to another level and always made you laugh.
I think on balance, Don King has been bad for boxing. I think he's done some very good things and I think he did a heck of a job of promoting Ali but I think I could have promoted Ali.
There's so much pressure on becoming the next Muhammad Ali or Mike Tyson, and if you don't achieve that in boxing, you're nothing.
I hated Ali. God might not like me talking that way, but it's in my heart.
Ali was a guy that had a lot of discipline. If you hung around him, you'd be able to get some of that discipline that he had. And I learned from that. He was a sweet man.
Muhammad Ali meant everything to me. He inspired me to box after watching re-runs of him winning a gold medal in the Olympics and being a world champion.
I think Ali was a fan of mine, even though he never said it. A lot of fighters thought I was pretty good. Nobody every really spoke different on that. But a lot of fighters thought I was good so.
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