Boxing quotes
743 quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Explore further
Browse quotes that often appear alongside boxing — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
Quote collection
Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.
"Mike Tyson fit the American ideal of a boxer. A fighter who jumps out of his corner and hits out fiercely. Thats what he'll be remembered for. But good boxing doesnt work like that. Tyson never won on points. It was clear that he'd come a cropper some day."
"Thomas Hauser respects boxing and boxers. He gives readers insight into what happens in and out of the ring. Everything he writes is fair-minded and reality-based with a human touch."
"I am proud to be in Los Angeles. I have a lot of fans that love me here. When you talk about the Meccas of boxing - Las Vegas, New York - now you have to talk about Los Angeles."
"A boxer should quit at the top, as they say. But thats complicated. There are plenty of people in boxing who make money out off you. And they tell you that youve still got it, that its still getting better."
"Boxing always was corrupt and always will be corrupt. The three world champion's belts really are absurd. One single association would make this business more reputable. Just as powerful as the promoters, is the media. The cable networks control the cash flow. You cant ignore the influence the media and the promoters have on the sport. They have a financial objective - high ratings, selling pay-per-views and selling out arenas. Because of the system, the public may not be seeing the best the sport has to offer, but what sells."
"Boxing involves the possibility of defeat, I accepted that very early on. After all, there are only two men and one of them wins."
"I can entertain the proposition that life is a metaphor for boxing--for one of those bouts that go on and on, round following round, jabs, missed punches, clinches, nothing determined, again the bell and again and you and your opponent so evenly matched it's impossible not to see that your opponent is you.... Life is like boxing in many unsettling respects. But boxing is only like boxing."
"Life is like boxing in many unsettling respects. But boxing is only like boxing."
"Boxing is an American sport - a 'so-called sport' to many - in which images of incalculable beauty and violence, desperation and ingenuity, are routinely entwined; the sport that evokes the most extreme reactions - loathing, revulsion, righteous indigation; a fierce and often inexplicable loyalty."
"The beauty about boxing fights is that they offer lots of opportunity to really learn something about yourself and your opponent."
"I tried to stay away from King. You can't do it. It's like staying away from taxes. Sooner or later, he'll get you."
"If he's not dead, it doesn't count."
"I don't think boxing took more from me then I got in return. It gave me everything that I took from it. It was all fair."
"What really amazed me was when I sent a suit out for cleaning, forgetting that $700 was in the pocket. They sent the suit back to me. If that happened in New York, both money and suit would be gone."
"I'm not Mother Teresa, but I'm not Charles Manson, either."
"Don't be surprised if I behave like a savage. I am a savage"
"It's nothing personal, but I'm going to kill this guy"
"I'am not predictor of fights, but I know when I hit 'em good, the fight is close to an end"
"He was screaming like my wife."
"King has big offices, houses, and he pays his fighters a lot of money. An, because he's black, the FBI figures he must be doing something crooked."
