Jack Johnson was the first black heavyweight champion, so I took part of his name. I admired Rocky Marciano, so I took part of his name.
I have always wanted to be European champion, because it is a fantastic title and so many great boxers have held the belt over the years.
Muhammad Ali was unquestionably one of the greatest boxers of the 20th century and a sincere advocate for his religious beliefs. In his life, he defeated the best professional boxers of his era, some of them more than once, which meant he was easily forgiven the excesses of his ringside braggadocio.
People are always going to say, 'Who's he beat? He's only beat Cowboy.' So what you're trying to tell me is Cowboy is a nobody? Cowboy will be remembered as one of the greatest fighters of all time. And I beat him in one round.
Now that I've achieved my goal to win the belt, I want to be the best of all times. I want to be remembered as the lightweight with most title defenses.
And I love Evander Holyfield to death!
Klitschko was the reigning champion for a decade and regarded by many as one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. I'm never going to face another opponent with that legacy.
I laugh when Floyd Mayweather says that if he went back in time he would beat us all. I'll tell you this: if he was in the same era as Hagler and Hearns and Leonard and me, I don't think he would be such a big name. There is too much talk.
To be the first Puerto Rican to win a world title in four divisions would be an achievement. Gomez, Benitez, there have been a lot of good fighters from Puerto Rico before me. When I started boxing, Tito Trinidad was our big star.
I liked Roy Jones, Sugar Ray Leonard, Ali... those were the guys I was looking at growing up.
Amir Khan is Amir Khan. He's a great fighter; he's got great attributes. But Prince Naseem brought something completely different to any other fighter in the whole world.
At the end of the day, who at my age can say that they fought somebody that fought Muhammad Ali?
When I was a kid, I wanted to fight Joe Louis. But I think if I had seen Mike Tyson at that time, I would have said, 'Nah, I don't want to fight him.' He's deadly. He could have been one of the great heavyweight champions. But he goofed.
I love looking back at the older fights; they don't make them like they used to. Just watching Tommy Hearns, the technique in his punching, the brilliance and the combinations from the likes of Ray Leonard and 'Sugar' Ray Robinson.
Sugar Ray Robinson was at the top of the boxing world during the 1950's when it seemed that he would either win or lose the championship about every three or four months.
George Foreman is easier and has the bigger name and have you noticed that Foreman never calls me out or ever mentions my name? He is afraid of me like most fighters are and most people want to forget about Larry Holmes, like he never ever existed.
The three toughest fighters I fought were Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Sugar Ray Robinson.
No one is the same after I fought them - Hearns, Duran, Leonard. All of them.
I tried my best to ensure I kept the respect for the middleweight division in the tradition of Sugar Ray Robinson and Jake La Motta.
The likes of Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Tommy Hearns were true champions. There were some incredible fights between us, and I was happy to give them all an opportunity to fight me.
I fought Sugar Ray six times. Pound for pound the greatest fighter who ever lived.
At the end of the day I'm still a four-time world champion at four different weight classes and I'll still be in the history books.
I like the Klitschko boys, I think they're in a class of their own. I like Manny Pacquiao. All the super-middleweights are great.
Manny Pacquiao has a whole country behind him. His journey and his rise, from a career standpoint, he was fortunate to have a lot of great opponents and rivalries for years. People forget about Barrera and Morales and those guys. That's how he built his legacy. Plus he had a country behind him.
I just want to leave a mark on the sport of boxing so people talk about me like they talk about the other great champions before me. That's my goal before I retire.
