Gerry Cooney
Boxing gave me a voice to express the anger I felt for where I came from.Collection: Anger
I'm a happy guy. I just want to see people laugh and smile.Collection: Smile
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.Collection: Trust
All of the sports have a safety net, but boxing is the only sport that has none. So when the fighter is through, he is through. While he was fighting his management was very excited for him, but now that he is done, that management team is moving on.Collection: Sports
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.Collection: Anger
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.
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.
I'm a real person. I have real feelings. I have real thoughts. It's a quality people like about me. They can reach out and touch me. I wouldn't give it up for anything.
I spent a lot of time dwelling on yesterday, and it did me no good.
Am I complicated? Nah, I'm interesting. I just like having a good time.
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.
I had money, but I still didn't know what to do with my life.
I've spent most of my life in prison. I was a prisoner of my fear and my low self-esteem.
I have a Roman nose. It roams all over my face.
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.
By the time you're 30 years old, you can be on a nowhere street, if you're not careful.
I grew up in a big Irish, Catholic family. My dad was a pretty rough guy. So one of my brothers left home when he was 15 and found his way to the gym. It gave me the opportunity to go and spend some time with him and work out in the gym.
I was a left hooker, and I loved hooking. I also really liked to jab and mix it up right away.
Roberto Duran was the kind of guy who was a true fighter and you hardly see guys like that anymore.
I was a small kid from Huntington, Long Island. I never imagined that anything like that would happen to me.
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.
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.
I am seeing all the guys, like Earnie Shavers, Tex Cobb, and Larry Holmes all the time.
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.
The bad press came because they thought I should fight more. I couldn't get the fights because if I would sign to fight one of King's guys I would be signed to him. I chose not to do that. In hindsight, that might have been a mistake.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The fight with Holmes was a plus. I gained so much experience.
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.