I could do what a lot of people are doing and that's sign the best Nicaraguan fighters and then sell them to Don King, but there's no way I'll do that.
At the end of the day, I am the cash cow in women's boxing.
Nowadays, it's not more about the sport; it's about the business. All the boxers became businessmen, not boxers. They look just to get the money, not the glory.
My documentary 'Split Decision' examines Cuban-American relations, and the economic and cultural paradoxes that have shaped them since Castro's revolution, through the lens of elite Cuban boxers forced to choose between remaining in Cuba or defecting to America.
I haven't had the recognition I deserve, You can go back to anybody's career - Ricky Hatton, Joe Calzaghe, David Haye, Amir Khan, Chris Eubank, Nigel Benn, Steve Collins, Naseem Hamed. My record is better than all of theirs.
If I look at the fighters that are coming through, fighters like Carl Froch for instance, do I worry about fighters like that? Course not, I could eat them for breakfast.
Anyhow, I don't think Don King's a very good man. But then again, I doubt that a good man *could* succeed in his business. I'm sure boxing was a dirty sport before he came around. He may have just made it moreso. So that's about all I've got to say about him.
Don King was good to me through my years as champion, but I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him. He's a wheeler dealer and you've got to be careful. He's a great con artist.
I did a job, [Don King] took money, probably more than he should have. If I was supposed to get $10 million, I was lucky to get $6.5 million. It happens and you can't do much, you decide whether to take it or leave it. King was a promoter, and he was good at it.
I've noticed since I've been out is Eddie Hearn and this fight gives me an opportunity to shut him up.
No one's going to hold your hand in the boxing business. And the people who do end up ripping you off.
I think on balance, Don King has been bad for boxing. I think he's done some very good things and I think he did a heck of a job of promoting Ali but I think I could have promoted Ali.
Promoters need you. You don't need them... The boxer has the leverage, and a lot of boxers don't know that.
If fans are willing to pay to see you fight, the promoter is happy.
There's ups and downs with boxing, layoffs are part of the sport and they can either help or hurt a guy.
Boxing is for the poor man. A lot of people don't know what's going on, but I've been able to see it first-hand, and if I can speak out on the behalf of fighters going through problems, I will, because... it's important to create awareness. Everyone should speak up. Because if people are aware, maybe there can be change.
The bloodsuckers around Tyson are always looking for one more payday, and some people will always be willing to pay to see Iron Mike fight.
I'll respect any man that walks into the ring but people like Eddie Hearn and Joe Gallagher who've never taken a slap in the mouth in their lives shouldn't be disrespectful towards me and other fighters.
If boxing had a professional boxing association or something like that, I think it would be a better place.
I love boxing, but there's a business side. I don't like a lot of people in the sport.
Everyone in boxing probably makes out well except for the fighter. He's the only one that's on Skid Row most of the time; he's the only one that everybody just leaves when he loses his mind. He sometimes goes insane, he sometimes goes on the bottle, because it's an intensive pressure sport that allows people to just lose it.
A boxer should quit at the top, as they say. But that’s complicated. There are plenty of people in boxing who make money out off you. And they tell you that you’ve still got it, that it’s still getting better.
Everybody in boxing probably makes out well except for the fighter.
I'm really happy to be working with CES Boxing, Gary Shaw Productions and Eye of the Tiger Management. It shows the direction in which Golden Boy Promotions is heading - in terms of bringing the best fights to the fans. It shows that Golden Boy Promotions is willing to work with anybody in order to satisfy the boxing fans.
It wasn't about Larry Holmes, if I would have fought a brother I wouldn't have gotten the money I got. Give me 10 black guys and I make eight dollars. Give me Gerry Cooney and I make $10 million.
