I was a small kid from Huntington, Long Island. I never imagined that anything like that would happen to me.

I am involved in minor league baseball. I go around the country speaking to troubled youths, trying to help them understand that whatever path they choose, they'll need to really pay attention to it.

I was a left hooker, and I loved hooking. I also really liked to jab and mix it up right away.

About 99 percent of fighters end up broke. F.I.S.T. helps them turn the page and find new goals.

I had personal problems. I was spending 50% of my life on my family, 50% on boxing. Neither was getting anywhere. It was killing me. So I had to break away from fighting.

You have a small period of time when you can perfect your career and become good at it. A lot of guys get distracted, which only hurts them. You must stay focused and work very hard at boxing.

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.

Roberto Duran was the kind of guy who was a true fighter and you hardly see guys like that anymore.

Growing up training, I use to get up so early I would wave to the garbage men going by. So, I had this relationship with Blue Collar America and I really liked it. I felt that lots of those people looked forward to me winning.

Boxing was not the sport that I thought is was due to all the politics.

If you look at my career, towards the end you will see I was fighting like once a year. I was not part of the Don King top heavyweights, so I was kind of kept out. His guys were getting three to four fights a year and I could only get one.

I lost three times in my career. Losing to Holmes I could deal with, because I lost to a true champion.

When that bell rang, I wanted to go out there and do my thing.

I feel very blessed.

When somebody used to compliment me, I'd spend 10 minutes trying to talk them out of it.

I always felt I was wounded. That I was no good, a piece of crap, and that I wouldn't amount to anything, because that's what my father always told me. I just felt like I didn't belong anywhere.

My father was one tough man.

It takes a strong person to admit he's got problems. Things are bugging you, you've got to get it out. Life is supposed to be peaches and cream, but it doesn't turn out that way. I sometimes found things confusing and sometimes didn't understand how things can be so difficult.

I just like people. We have a good time together.

The road hasn't always been paved for me. People identify with that. Everybody passes through hard times, and I think that's part of my appeal - that I have, too.

When I get finished with fighting, I hope they ask the same questions. It's not my purpose to answer them. Boxing is the art of self-defense. I knock 'em out the first chance I get.

People haven't seen enough of me. My fights haven't gone the distance, and people have a lot of questions. I want to find out for myself as much as the people do. I want to find out what I can do.

After every fight, I knock myself down. I start from scratch again. I say, 'I'm not as good as I thought.' It makes you work harder. It makes you push harder. It's more than money. It's more than the title. It's my pride, and it can be scary thinking about it. I could lose. It's scary.

I don't fear Holmes, but I think he's a good fighter. He has a lot of pride. But I wouldn't be fighting him if I feared him. It's going to be a tough fight. People say with all the hoopla out there, I won't be able to handle it. I believe the pressure's on him. I'm just going to do my thing.

Too many guys don't know what to do with their lives after boxing. I was lucky because I had two managers who didn't trust each other, and so they were always making sure where all the money was, and because of that, so did I.

I retired when I was 30, with all my marbles and a few bucks. But a lot of guys leave boxing penniless with no skills. Men in their 30s and early 40s, old for boxing, young in life, but also old in the job market if you're just getting started with no education. These guys need someone in their corner.

Too many fighters stay in the game for too long. They stay because it's awfully hard to walk away from the roar of the crowd. Really hard. You live for that and so you stay too long. And you might have a wife and kids to feed. So you keep fighting because you don't know how to do anything else.

We try to tell these guys that the end of a boxing career isn't the end of their lives: it's the beginning of a new one.

You gotta appreciate every day!

If I keep thinking about yesterday, tomorrow might never come.

I feel like a pro now. Before I fought Holmes, I felt like a rookie.

Just because you don't see someone doesn't mean the love has changed.

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.