William Klein Quotes

I'm from California, but my father, who passed away when I was young, was from Newark. When I was kid, we would go back east and catch Yankees games. His side of the family are big Yankees fans. But, the real connection came in '97 when I moved to New York and became friends with the team.

The mission I set out on in the beginning - to become heavyweight champion of the world, undisputed, lineal champion - you could say that mission is complete.

The heavyweight championship of the world was the most coveted title in sports. Everyone knew who the heavyweight champion was. And not only when it was Muhammad Ali or Rocky Marciano: they knew when it was Ingemar Johansson.

In New York, the Mets are winning the World Series in 1969; that was pretty big, but I would say the moon landing was right up there with the Mets in the World Series. So it made a, a big impression on me as a little kid.

And I remember leaving my place in L.A. and - my father is a big fight fan - and I said, 'Dad, I got a couple of days off and I'm getting ready to go to Houston to sign to fight Muhammad Ali.

Really, if you get in the ring and box with someone for real, I don't think it is a sport. As far as professional fighters, you are literally putting your life on the line.

But if you cover the World Series on the news or do a feature on an Ali boxing match then all of a sudden ears go up all over the place and people say what the hell are you doing. The reason for that is that we're doing something that people are really interested in.

I rooted for the Milwaukee Brewers and its stars, Robin Yount and Paul Molitor. I went to a lot of games, including the World Series in 1982. The Brewers may have been a bad team for most of my life, but to have your team at its peak when you are thirteen years old is an experience I wish for every fan.

There are 7 billion people in the world, but there's only one heavyweight champion of the world, and that's me.

Wilder is not a big draw in the U.S. He maybe sells 5,000 to 10,000 tickets when he's fighting in his own town for the heavyweight champion.

I had two managers who couldn't stand each other. I had a promoter, Don King, who couldn't get any fights, and I was fighting once a year. I knocked out Norton and then didn't fight for 13 months. Then I fight the heavyweight champion of the world.

The Yankees are my team.

I think the best thing I've written is a story called 'The Boxer and the Blonde.' It's a piece about Billy Conn, the white would-be heavyweight champion of the world, who lived in Pittsburgh.

The first fight I ever saw live was the first Castillo-Corrales match in Las Vegas in 2005.

I know I've been out for a while and but I'm not going to talk about ring rust or use it as an excuse. That's nothing to me. Sugar Ray Leonard was out of the ring for years and he beat Hagler.

If I don't knock out Lennox Lewis, I am going to beat the hell out of him.

I feel like a lot of fans would like to see me with the heavyweight championship.

I would love to fight anybody at the welterweight limit with a belt.

On my way to winning the title, it was great for me, but once I won the title, it was tough for me to get fights.

I'd love to box in Las Vegas - it's the fight capital in the world.

I think there's a lot of people out there who, if George Foreman had to get beat, I'm the one fighter they would like to see beat him.

I have been dreaming about the heavyweight title it seems since I was born.

I want to knock out both Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, and I don't care what order they fall in.

Three of my childhood dreams went unfulfilled. I never saw a no-hitter, never saw a triple play, and never caught a ball that had been hit into the stands. But I did see the Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in a World Series game when I was 10.

I do think I'm the best lightweight in the world.