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?

In China you have to be in peak form because you need to do well. You earn a lot - I had a huge salary - but then you have to prove you are worth it. Every match is a challenge and I played next to or faced some truly great players.

During the holidays, professional players would come and say hello to us in the academy and that really made you want to be a professional. When you saw what great conditions they lived in, it gave you even more desire.

I do not know what the future holds for me.

Salah is a tough guy. Always calm and strong, with the mentality of a hard worker. I'll never forget his training sessions: very high rhythm, pushed like a madman, you watched him in amazement.

I have always followed Arsenal in the Premier League. At some points they were really good, but also had some difficulties like a lot of big clubs do.

I really got a taste for winning titles at Lille.

I was born in a tiny place in Ivory Coast, so being a protagonist in this life is a dream.

My idol has always been Thierry Henry.

I didn't lose my smile from the first to the last match at Arsenal. I remember when I left I wanted to thank everyone, even the dressing-room staff.

Dreaming costs nothing, no?

The Premier League is a notch above. It's maybe the best league in the world.

It's never easy when your team is having a hard time.

Each of my clubs made an impression on me, but Arsenal was special.

Football really has saved my family and it's true that it saves a lot of families in Africa. It gives us the means to be able to give a better life to our loved ones.

Drogba has been our great motivator. He never stops reminding us that we are here to win the tournament, no matter the hurdles, no matter the game form and no matter the score margin.

He had a sort of positive effect - you saw Salah and wanted to work harder. Talent and sacrifice.

I was not getting much time on the pitch and was in need of this time to improve and play my best football. Wenger was not prepared to give it to me. Also my position on the wing was not what I was expecting and I wasn't happy with it.

Yes, at times in front of goal a fog descends. Perhaps the speed of my feet doesn't match up with that of my mind.