Evander Holyfield Quotes

I reckon you have to put a presence in front of your opponent - a bit of confidence and attitude - and then you can change what their next move may be.

It occurred to me that it would benefit me to play without emotion - well, without emotion others could see, anyway. Card players profited from having a poker face so opponents wouldn't know how good or bad their hand was, and I figured a deadpan expression would work in tennis, too.

There are various psychological advantages you can take into boxing match. One is getting your opponent to fight with emotion and anger because he hates you.

I lull them into a false sense of security by watching me pitch... If overconfidence can cause the Roman Empire to fall, I ought to be able to get a ground ball.

What's important is to get into the pitcher's head: to know what he's made of.

I don't feel that emotion is a good thing to have in combat. You must be cold.

The more irrational you make your opponent, the more control you have over him in the ring.

In cricket, there is a lot of psychology in the game, especially if you are watching people who are not top-class.

Confidence is very important - even pretending to be confident. If you make a mistake but do not let your opponent see what you are thinking then he may overlook the mistake.

For my victory over Capablanca I am indebted primarily to my superiority in the field of psychology. Capablanca played, relying almost exclusively on his rich intuitive talent. But for the chess struggle nowadays one needs a subtle knowledge of human nature, an understanding of the opponent's psychology.

The idea is not to block every shot. The idea is to make your opponent believe that you might block every shot.

I think one of the interesting things about poker is that once you let your ego in, you're done for.

The pitcher has to find out if the hitter is timid, and if he is timid, he has to remind the hitter he's timid.

Manipulating people is what's so fun about poker. I love that you can just look into someone's eyes and lie - and it's perfectly acceptable.

You're not supposed to get rattled in poker; you're supposed to remain poker-faced!

It helps if the hitter thinks you're a little crazy.

I do have a tendency to talk a lot at the poker table, which throws people off because they spend a lot of time trying to read me. But I talk a lot when I have a good hand and when I have a bad hand, too. Sometimes it annoys people so much they can't wait to get out of the tournament. And that can only be good for me.

I bring out the worst in my enemies and that's how I get them to defeat themselves.

The great thing about athletics is that it's like poker sometimes: you know what's in your hand, and it may be a load of rubbish, but you've got to keep up the front.

I don’t bluff, but I do act with realism.

Keep people off-balance and in the dark by never revealing the purpose behind your actions. If they have no clue what you are up to, they cannot prepare a defense.

I see myself used in terms of reading mismatches. If it's small, go inside. If it's big, come outside. And if it's in between, then work him, make him think you're going outside, go back inside. Just play chess.

I used to come out and say I was targeting certain players in the opposition team, particularly players I had had success against in the past: Gary Kirsten, Brian Lara and Michael Atherton, for example. It is a mental part of the game.

The more you get a batsman out the more it becomes psychological. A batsman starts thinking about it and making something of it in his head.

There can be a lot of mind games going on between the players. When you're about to serve, people will try to throw you off your rhythm by taking a walk. If you're tired, you can't show that at all to an opponent.