In boxing you create a strategy to beat each new opponent, it's just like chess.
Action is what separates the do-ers from the dreamers.
In boxing, if you think you will lose... you're already halfway there.
Sometimes success needs interruption to regain focus and shake off complacency.
Boxing isn't just about brute strength; it's about skill and outwitting your opponent.
How can you trust a man who can talk for 5 minutes and you cant understand a sentence of it!
Boxing involves the possibility of defeat, I accepted that very early on. After all, there are only two men and one of them wins.
Mike Tyson fit the American ideal of a boxer. A fighter who jumps out of his corner and hits out fiercely. Thats what he'll be remembered for. But good boxing doesnt work like that. Tyson never won on points. It was clear that he'd come a cropper some day.
I'm undisputed and there's no disputing that.
I play chess about four hours a day in training camp. You have to decide what move to use, or what combination of moves. I think less when I box because the reaction time is a lot quicker, but some people call me the chess boxer because they say I think too much in the ring. I take my time and they don't see the action they want. Some boxers just go in there and just throw punches and hope to win.
The danger of a closed mind is that it can also leave good things like love, compassion and reason on its outside.
I've found that taking shortcuts will get you to the place you don't want to be much quicker than they get u to the place u want to be.
Adversity is something that makes reaching your goals so much more rewarding than if it didn't exist.
As a boxer I took the liberty of using not only my fists, but also my head.
The fight will last as long as I allow it to last.
There were different heroes with different images. There was Mike Tyson, the animal, there was Evander Holyfield, the devout, the priest. And there was me, the thinker, the intellectual boxer. So there was something for every fan, if you like. The public could always identify with one of us.
It's not rage that drives me, it's competition.
Whatever I do, I always want to get better.
There is just one rule about boxing: never bet on the white guy.
If youve got physical weaknesses, youll lose. Nobody who gets cut easily can be a champion, however strong and talented he is. Boxers are trained to see and exploit their opponents weaknesses, they hit you on your wounds. Only the strongest survive in this sport.
You can't spend 110 percent on something if you don't have that same hunger and drive. I have achieved all my goals - my mission is complete.
I am definitely not scared of Mike Tyson. I am at the top of the food chain and he is looking to knock me off. Mike's an arrogant imbecile. He sounds like a cartoon character.
I've got a new life now, a new future, there's a lot more to Lennox Lewis than just being a boxer.
Recently I donated money to the establishment of the Muhammad Ali Foundation in Louisville. I regard that as a kind of payback. He smoothed the way for us. He wasnt just a great person who had conviction, but made the sport of boxing great. He was the first superstar, he made our stock rise. Without him we wouldnt have earned so much. Americans from every walk of life have contributed to the foundation: Bill Clinton, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt. Unfortunately I was the only American athlete to make a donation. Theres not enough respect in our business.
Sometimes the image of the intellectual boxer did for me more harm than good. If a boxer has a reputation as an intellectual, some people no longer respect him as a fighter. With me it was always Lennox should react, not think. But thats nonsense. Only the guy who controls his opponent wins.
