You take that walk from the dressing room to the ring and that's when the real man comes out. Then you climb up those four stairs and into the ring. Then finally, you can't wait for the bell to ring.

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.

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

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

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

All of the sports have a safety net, but boxing is the only sport that has none.

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.

By the time you're 30 years old, you can be on a nowhere street, if you're not careful.

I am seeing all the guys, like Earnie Shavers, Tex Cobb, and Larry Holmes all the time.

The only regret I have in my career, is my managers wanted a big payday, and I wanted four or five more fights before going in with [Larry] Holmes. That would have made all the difference.

Our big mistake was teaching them to read. We won't do that again.

I always feel the most validated and confident being around people that I find funny - having Fred Armisen laugh at a scene or Bill Hader or Seth Meyers give me a compliment.

I definitely feel Russian inside, even when I'm in America I feel Russian.

I am vulnerable, starved for kindness. And when I receive it, I lose my mind.

You must get courageous men, men of strong views and let them debate and argue with each other.

It's better to have fewer things of quality than too much expendable junk.

Hope is slowly extinguished and quickly revived.

Don't wanna sleep, don't wanna die, just wanna go a-travellin' through the pastures of the sky

I very seldom compose anything in my head which later finds its way into text, except character names sometimes - I'm often very much inspired by things that I misunderstand.