Marvin Hagler Quotes

It's hard to believe I was just seven when I started boxing but I've put everything of myself into it.

Racing takes so much determination, guts, and sacrifice to be on top. I once craved, lived, and breathed racing. I can honestly say now, I'm ready to slow down and enjoy my life. Maybe I'll cut loose and have a cheeseburger or some pizza. Those types of indulgencies are not allowed when you constantly have to monitor your weight.

I like to push characters to extremes so they have to make really tough decisions and there is no life more extreme than that of an athlete.

Boxing has been the most difficult thing I've ever done. The biggest challenge in my life. I was a boxer. That was hard. Everything else is pretty easy.

I have great admiration for athletes. They are just like actors in a lot of ways. They have tremendous pressures and conflicts. They have to compete, and they can't stay home just because they have a head cold.

Of course, if this season turns out to be terrible for me - if I get injured again and this prevents me from reaching a satisfying level, then I could change my decision again. But at this moment, it absolutely feels like the right thing for me to continue through 2003.

You can wish as hard as you like but all that really matters is the shape you're in on the day of the race. I've always felt these really big races aren't necessarily won by whoever is the fastest. They're won by the athlete who is the smartest and in the best shape on the day.

If you talk to most athletes, the place you're most comfortable is your playing field. I'm not so comfortable at a podium or talking about events.

During my first Olympics in 1980, at the age of 23, I was physically in great condition but mentally too inexperienced to cope comfortably in the pressure cooker of an Olympic year.

I don't really believe in that ring rust stuff.

At the beginning, my dream was to become a world-class boxer, but then I stepped into MMA. And when I stepped into MMA, it was to have fun. I reminded myself of what was the purpose, of what was the goal: to have fun.

As an athlete, you have to become quite selfish with your time and your body and your training.

I don't believe in ring rust. I used to believe in ring rust, but I talked to my buddy Dominic Cruz, who's a bantamweight, and he basically said it's a mindset. What you do in between in your time off determines how you're going to look when you come in there.

Everyone works so hard on their game and on their body. Most of the time, it comes down to who is more relaxed mentally; on the court while playing and off the court.

I need eight weeks, train hard, last one week make weight, and go to the war. Because when I go to the war, I have to know I am ready or no.

You train hard. But when you don't play every week the pressure is even more when you are called up. It's not difficult for me though.

I worry about myself in the ring; I worry about what I can do and how I can dictate a fight.

It's not an excuse, but I'd say I didn't perform well in the big fights because I wasn't prepared properly.

It could be very costly if you don't have a clear mind during a tournament.

A lot of fighters get frustrated when they're not active.

I've always said boxing will not retire me, I will retire from boxing, and I stand by that statement.

This is no ordinary nine to five day job and I have a 24/7 in terms of my boxing and my career as a professional sportsman.

There are generations yet unborn, whose very lives will be shifted and shaped by the moves you make and the actions you take.

I can't believe anyone would voluntarily run 26 miles. Sometimes I sit on the couch cross-legged because I don't feel like walking to the bathroom.

You'll see that excuses like "That's not easy" are of no value and that it pays to "push through it" at a pace you can handle. Like getting physically fit, the most important thing is that you keep moving forward at whatever pace you choose, recognizing the consequences of your actions.