Gerry Cooney
I don't overswing any more. I can throw a punch and be right in position to punch again. No more 'Hail Mary' punches, where it took me five minutes to get back in position.
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.
Long Island has a great boxing tradition.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
You go through pain. You feel uncomfortable, uncomfortable, uncomfortable until you change. I acquired a different outlook.
It took me to be 33 to start to know how to fight.
Some have made boxing a terrible thing to be around.
They said if I'd fight a ranked contender, I'd get a title shot. I did that, and the next day they changed the rules.
I've had a long, long road with lots of ups and downs. But that's all behind me now.
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?
Sometimes you get so frustrated that things aren't working out, you say, 'Let me step away for a while.' But the fire still burns.
I know I can fight; that's the only thing that matters to me.