I was nobody; I showed up to sparring in a white wife beater and Hawaiian shorts. I had plimsolls; I didn't have boxing shoes. It just shows you don't need to have fancy equipment or experience: you're either a good fighter, or you're not.
I like Lil Wayne's style. His style probably influences me the most. Basically, he's just wearing exactly what he feels like wearing. He goes to the club, and he's got shorts and a wife-beater on. That shows you what type of celebrity he is and what he is able to pull off, fashion-wise. I try to be in that same lane.
If I was mentoring a young fighter, I'd tell him to spend more time on boxing. That doesn't mean I would ignore kickboxing - you still need to learn the defenses - but in stand-up, it's hard to beat good, solid boxing.
MMA has evolved. When you look at an MMA fighter's skill set, boxing has to be a big piece of it. All of them have a boxing coach now and strive to have a good stand-up game, knowing that to be a complete fighter, you have to tend to your striking skills.
Lucian Bute had the world title for five years, he made nine defenses and he's a good, good fighter. The fight before that, I beat Andre Dirrell, who comes from a good pedigree and is a hell of a southpaw. It just shows you the kind of fighter I am when I focus and do my job.
Chess is similar to boxing. You need to develop a strategy, and you need to think two or three steps ahead about what your opponent is doing. You have to be smart. But what’s the difference between chess and boxing? In chess, nobody is an expert, but everybody plays. In boxing everybody is an expert, but nobody fights.
I don't need a tank top to be a wife beater
As I was growing up, I did a lot of talent shows. I won fifteen Sunday nights straight in a series of talent shows in Macon. I showed up the sixteenth night, and they wouldn't let me go on any more. Whatever success I had was through the help of the good Lord.
For me, it's very hard to train too much, just sparring, sparring, sparring. It's boring.
In the school of boxing that I come from, that's frowned upon, giving up free shots, cos we know what those kinda shots do to a man's career, regardless of whether it shows up now, or shows up when you least need it. It takes a toll.
I've never forgotten that experience. But I had nobody at school that was either like Hector or Irwin. The masters had no idea what was expected of you in the scholarship exam, so you just had to busk it really.
I had the greatest sparring partners, I had the greatest sparring team. And these guys they wrapped me up a lot. I never got the chance to get off on them.
Nobody has money right now. And eating is very important, but it doesn't need to be expensive. And to make - it doesn't need to be fancy, as long as it's fresh and simple. The simpler it is, the more fancy it actually comes out tasting.
The hallway led me to the stairway of a million steps. My leg screamed in protest. I sighed and started climbing. I just had to keep from limping. Limping showed weakness, and I didn’t need any enterprising, career-motivated shapeshifters trying to challenge me for dominance right about now. I had once mentioned my desire for an elevator, and His Majesty asked me if I would like a flock of doves to carry me up to my quarters so my feet wouldn’t have to touch the ground. We were sparring at the time and I kicked him in the kidney in retaliation.
Most nights I end up wearing a wife beater T-shirt and boxers.
But we made our own fun, mostly. I recall a time, many years later, when American children seemed unable to amuse themselves without a fortune in electrical and electronic equipment. We had no fancy equipment and did not miss it.
I don't like dressing up. If it were up to me, I'd step out in my shorts and ganji and chappals. The maximum I'd wear are my white shirt and my blue shorts and my shades and I'd step out.