What hurt most were the people who came up to me and said they lost $1,000 on me. It just makes you mad.

It's like you always think that when you get to a goal, you'll be happy. But then there is always something else that interests you.

The Klitschko boys, they're great fighters, but they're just boring here in America.

Winning the Gloves made me believe I was somebody.

Joe DeGuardia, I love that guy. He's not a superstar promoter yet, but he will be. He was a fighter himself; he's staying the course with these guys. He's developing some good fighters out there. I really applaud him whenever I get a chance to.

When we first started in Huntington Recreation with John Capobianco, we put four kids in the Golden Gloves finals. We didn't even have a ring. We trained at Stimson Junior High School. They give us the gym three nights a week. We used to box in the gym - no ring, just on the gym floor.

I don't care what you say about me anymore! I don't care what you write about me anymore. I don't care! This is my life. I can't have anybody messing with my life. I just want to be Gerry Cooney, doing what I want to do. I want to be what I am. A fighter.

Sometimes it takes certain people longer to get over things than others.

I want to get me one of those titles.

People who think I lack desire are wrong.

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.

Everybody handles pressure differently.

The past is yesterday. I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

I want to win. For myself first. And for all those people who stuck with me and understood.

Drug abuse is a very difficult disease.

When I fought Holmes, I feel I was a better fighter than he was. I was just so caught up in what was written about the fight - I got caught up in that whole thing.

I believe in my abilities as a fighter.

I really don't care who I fight.

My career got sidetracked after fighting Holmes.

In '82, I was a little too young, I was a little inexperienced, and I was more concerned with going the distance in the fight than going out and taking Holmes out.

I see Mike Tyson as too strong for Spinks.

For every athlete, the roar of the crowd goes away, and we have to learn how to turn the page.

I had money, but I still didn't know what to do with my life.

I believe in myself. I want to be a fighter. I want to be heavyweight champion of the world.

I was lucky. I held on to some of my money. I didn't really know what I wanted to do after boxing. But I found what I wanted to do.

It's great playing a sport where you don't get hit in the head.

Boxing was a way to express my anger. All of a sudden, I was expressing anger, and I was good at it. I was like a Jekyll and Hyde. Boxing helped me because I was fighting the anger out. I was knocking guys out.

If my son wants a boxing career, I won't stop him, but I definitely won't push him. It's bad for a kid to be pressured.

I have this want-to-be-liked thing, but deep down, I had this rage. I was just - I was blinded. I wasn't healthy enough to be able to learn more. I had one mode - to fight.

I liked to watch the expression in the fighter's face change when you connected with him. You know when you connect in the right spot. It's like a tunnel vision.

I have a great life. I'm the happiest guy in the world.

When I was 15, I decided to take up the sport seriously, so I went down to the Y.M.C.A. My first day there, this little Italian guy beat my brains out. I decided to quit. Then I realized I really wanted to be a fighter. I worked at it, went back, and that little Italian guy didn't beat me up no more.

My father never once told me he loved me. I told him I loved him only one time - that was when he was sick. It was hard, the way he showed his love. I didn't understand what he was trying to teach me. Now I know, but it came too late for him to see it. After he was gone, I realized he was trying to strengthen my mind to make me better.

Fighting is not something you can just turn off.

Maybe I'll go to acting school. Acting is like boxing, you know.

Every Saturday and Sunday, when the other guys were out having a good time at the mall, I was at home working in the garden.

Am I complicated? Nah, I'm interesting. I just like having a good time.

When I hurt Norton, I got scared. I looked to the referee. But in the same sense, you're a fighter: you gotta have the killer instinct.

I'm one crazy, crazy guy.

I don't want anybody guarding me. I want to be free; I want to be left alone... I would like to go out there and have no one know me, but at the same time, it would bother me, y'know.

I was embarrassing against Spinks.

It took me to be 33 to start to know how to fight.

I spent a lot of time dwelling on yesterday, and it did me no good.

Some have made boxing a terrible thing to be around.

I think I make people laugh, and that's good in life.

Some of the things written about me hurt, but there is nothing I can do about it.

I've just had some bad luck. I've had every injury known to man. I understand how people think, 'How can this be happening all the time to Gerry Cooney?' But it did.

I either had to concentrate on fighting, or I had to help my family. I chose my family. I love my mom; I love my family.

I've always wanted to fight. I love to fight.

I don't care about the critics. I took a lot of nonsense. I got stuck with silly labels like 'White Hope.' What about other guys like Tex Cobb - they never had those labels?