I hope to have one more boxing match at the age of 55. Given that demographic at the age of 55 to 65, you’ve got to make a statement with your life. Otherwise, you are just existing.
The question isn’t at what age I want to retire it’s at what income.
The greatest asset, even in this country, is not oil and gas. It’s integrity. Everyone is searching for it, asking, ‘Who can I do business with that I can trust?’
Sports are sports. Its all about how we carry ourselves out of the ring.
I’d have to say losing the title to Ali in ’74 was the lowest moment in sports for me. It was the most devastating thing in my boxing career, and it still hurts to this day.
I remember in school once the teacher gave us a speech about anyone can make it if they try, and then she looked at me and said. ‘I don’t know what you are going to do, Georgie.’
I got a strength coach. My wife. She gets big chains, and at night she puts them around the refrigerator. They are so strong, I can’t break them.
My kids idea of a hard life is to live in a house with only one phone.
The question isn’t at what age I want to retire, it’s at what income.
It’s great to reminisce about good memories of my past. It was enjoyable when it was today. So learning to enjoy today has two benefits: it gives me happiness right now, and it becomes a good memory later.
Every day, getting up early in the morning before much traffic, my wife takes me 10 miles from home, drops me off, and I have to get back.
The Olympic Gold medal in 1968 was definitely the highest moment of my career. It was a dream come true. I was a 19-year-old boy, and it was just amazing to be standing on top of the podium and hearing the National Anthem in the background.
I know from experience that you should never give up on yourself or others, no matter what.
In boxing, I had a lot of fear. Fear was good. But, for the first time, in the bout with Muhammad Ali, I didn’t have any fear. I thought, ‘This is easy. This is what I’ve been waiting for’. No fear at all. No nervousness. And I lost.
That’s my gift. I let that negativity roll off me like water off a duck’s back. If it’s not positive, I didn’t hear it. If you can overcome that, fights are easy.
Forgiveness is that subtle thread that binds both love and friendship. Without forgiveness, you may not even have a child one day.
I am so happy to be alive. That’s the one thing I’d like for people to know. Sometimes people walk by and slip up and say the wrong thing about me, and I’ll smile. They wonder why am I smiling. Because I’m happy that I’m alive.
I tell my sons all the time, ‘The most important thing in your life is fitness,’ but a lot of fighters go overboard.
I love the pigeons. I just raise them, period, and feed them. Pigeons go away, and they always come back. You get a touch of freedom, and then they are free to come back to you. I love the idea of pigeons.