Champs Page #4

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Boxing's

interesting in that it's

an escape from the

violence and poverty

of many American

neighborhoods, but you're

escaping through

violence itself.

People who fight

fight their way out

of something, whether it's

poverty, whether it's jail.

Rich kids don't fight.

Why the f*** would

a rich kid fight?

Poor kids fight.

You want to fight your

way to a different place.

Boxing gives you a chance

to literally fight

your way through it.

Boxers succeed based

on their own work.

If you keep winning, and you

keep succeeding, chances are,

eventually, you're going

to get an opportunity.

Boxing is

the ultimate representation

of the American dream.

It allows someone who came from

nothing to achieve greatness.

It's about his

talent, his own skill,

and his own determination.

Boxing is such a special sport.

I think most people

don't choose boxing.

I think boxing chooses them.

Disadvantaged childhood,

less fortunate kids

in tough communities.

And we grew up boxing

at the Boys Club.

We were able to go there

and we had somebody

who cared about us, who wanted

to take us off the streets

and give us something to do.

If you look at the history

of boxing over time,

you'll see some of the

cultures and ethnicities that

have suffered the

most have always

produced the greatest champions.

Boxing both attracts and preys

upon talent from

disadvantaged communities.

And it's almost like you

can read a chart of history

of disadvantage, in the United

States, at least, of which

groups are struggling to make it

and then which groups have made

it when they disappear,

really, from the boxing scene.

Especially in America where

you had the immigrants.

You had the Jewish

boxers, the Irish boxers,

the Italian American boxers,

African American boxers.

Now it's, I would

say, predominantly

Hispanic boxers now.

There's a certain generation

with Mike, and

Evander, and Bernard.

Black kids who

were disadvantaged

and saw boxing as a way out.

I lived

in an all black neighborhood

and everybody said white

boys couldn't fight.

And that's my first time

experiencing that people tell

you lies, because that kid was

white and he beat me twice.

I told the coach that I quit.

Told him I didn't want to fight

anymore, because I didn't think

you could actually be

a champion if you lost.

So I went home told my momma

I lost, and I told her I quit.

And she told me something that

has impacted my life even now.

She said, son.

Everything is not gonna

always go your way.

If you quit, you'll never

reach your destination.

She said, what is

your destination.

I said, be the heavyweight

champion of the world.

Of course, I went back

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