There have been so many great boxers over the years, and they reached the top due to being extremely motivated to be the best. We’re going to look at some of the most famous boxing quotes that are great for motivation.
We all have those days where we don’t feel like training but know that we need to. Well, if you find yourself in that situation, take a look at this list of inspirational boxing quotes to get you going!
So, without further ado, here they are!
1. “I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’”
Muhammad Ali
2. “Boxing definitely has a part to play in taking away unwanted aggression.”
Joe Calzaghe
3. “It is not the size of the dog in the fight that counts, but the size of the fight in the dog.”
Barry McGuigan
4. “A champion is someone who gets up when he can’t.”
Jack Dempsey
5. “You never lose until you actually give up.”
Mike Tyson
6. “If you lose a big fight, it will worry you all of your life. It will plague you – until you get your revenge.”
Muhammad Ali
7. “As long as we persevere and endure, we can get anything we want.”
Mike Tyson
8. “To be successful in life, you must get in the habit of turning negatives into positives.”
George Foreman
9. “To be a champ you have to believe in yourself when no one else will.”
Sugar Ray Robinson
10. “The hero and the coward both feel the same thing, but the hero uses his fear, projects it onto his opponent, while the coward runs. It’s the same thing, fear, but it’s what you do with it that matters.”
Cus D’Amato
11. “My goal is not getting hit and to knock the other guy out. Some people might complain because they want to see boxers beat up on each other, but you cannot last long in professional boxing if you take a lot of punches.”
Wladimir Klitschko
12. “I was not athletically inclined. I was very quiet, introverted, non-confrontational. My three older brothers were athletes – basketball, football – but I was kind of a momma’s boy. Then one day, my brother Roger encouraged me to go to the boxing gym with him. I tried the gloves on, and it just felt so natural.”
Sugar Ray Leonard
13. “I don’t fear anyone. We don’t come to play in this sport.”
Canelo Alvarez
14. “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.”
Muhammad Ali
15. “I’m a gypsy: no education, no schooling, nothing. I don’t care what people think of me. I don’t care about being a hero, a role model, a champion.”
Tyson Fury
16. “As long as you have discipline, you can be a success. Discipline is what makes you do everything you need to do.”
Anthony Joshua
17. “A true champion will fight through anything.”
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
18. “I’m training and preparing because nothing is predictable in boxing. I’m preparing for those rounds, and if it happens that I get a shot, whatever advantage I have, I will be ready for 12 rounds.”
Canelo Alvarez
19. “Any man who puts a pair of gloves on deserves respect because lots wouldn’t dream of it. To get in there and go one-on-one, you need your hand shaking afterwards. Many men wouldn’t get involved.”
Tyson Fury
20. “Rhythm is everything in boxing. Every move you make starts with your heart, and that’s in rhythm or you’re in trouble. Your rhythm should set the pace of the fight. If it does, then you penetrate your opponent’s rhythm. You make him fight your fight, and that’s what boxing is all about.”
Sugar Ray Robinson
21. “I don’t think a man has to go around shouting and play-acting to prove he is something. And a real man don’t go around putting other guys down, trampling their feelings in the dirt, making out they’re nothing.”
Joe Frazier
22. “I’m a dreamer. I have to dream and reach for the stars, and if I miss a star then I grab a handful of clouds.”
Mike Tyson
23. “I remember as a little boy I ate one meal a day and sometimes slept in the street. I will never forget that and it inspires me to fight hard, stay strong and remember all the people of my country, trying to achieve better for themselves.”
Manny Pacquiao
24. “At the end of the day, you can have all the talent in the world. But if you don’t put in the work, nothing works. The engine doesn’t start going. It’s a car without gas.”
Ryan Garcia
25. “It is not the size of a man but the size of his heart that matters.”
Evander Holyfield
26. “Talent is nothing without dedication and discipline, and dedication and discipline is a talent in itself.”
Luke Campbell
27. “If you suffer a setback but recover from it you become all the stronger as person and a fighter.”
Rocky Fielding
28. “You have good days, you have bad days. But the main thing is to grow mentally.”
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
29. “I told my mother I was going to become a world champion and buy her a home.”
Julio Cesar Chavez Sr.
30. “That’s my gift. I let that negativity roll off me like water off a duck’s back. If it’s not positive, I didn’t hear it. If you can overcome that, fights are easy.”
George Foreman
31. “Wherever you get to is better than where you started. To stay on the road is a massive achievement.”
Anthony Joshua
32. “I wasn’t a big guy. People thought the big guys would eat me up. But it was the other way around. I loved to fight bigger guys.”
Joe Frazier
33. “Boxing is not about your feelings. It’s about performance.”
Manny Pacquiao
34. “I don’t think about losing or worry about losing. I’m not afraid to let it go and I don’t care if you beat me. If you do, that means you were the better man, but only elite fighters can beat me. There can’t be shame in losing because you are up against great competition and there’s always that chance.”
Keith Thurman
35. “There was nothing special about me; there are boxers in Belfast who are more skilled but I had a bit between my teeth that drives me on.”
Carl Frampton
36. “I’m a boxer who believes that the object of the sport is to hit and not get hit.”
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
37. “I always had that get-up-and-go to work for myself – I never wanted a nine-to-five job.”
Luke Campbell
38. “In boxing you create a strategy to beat each new opponent, it’s just like chess.”
Lennox Lewis
39. “Don’t let your dreams be dreams.”
Jack Johnson
40. “A good fighter usually knows, to within a very few seconds, when a three-minute round is going to end.”
Jack Dempsey
41. “Forward, always moving forward, from the time I can remember – a kid. I was short, and the big guys would take advantage; I had to turn myself into a body puncher. By that time I was in reform school, they’d have a boxing match every week; they’d bring guys in from outside to fight me.”
Jake LaMotta
42. “We do a lot of twisting and turning in our training. Those types of moves really help get the body moving and make sure we’re staying agile, which is so important in the ring.”
Jermell Challo
43. “My trainer, George Francis, used to train a lot of African boxers. They’re hungry guys, man. They’ve got no trainers, got nothing. They’re so hungry to do boxing, to make some money.”
Frank Bruno
44. “Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even.”
Muhammad Ali
45. A champion owes everybody something. He can never pay back for all the help he got, for making him an idol.”
Jack Dempsey
46. “You know if you want to be a boxer the first time you get hit on the nose.”
Ricky Hatton
47. “Boxing is the toughest and loneliest sport in the world. You’ve got all the fans, lots of hangers-on jumping up and shouting different words. But when you actually go in the ring, it’s a very lonely and scary place. It’s just you and the other guy.”
Frank Bruno
48. “If it seems like you are playing around and not practicing, that’s when you know you really love it.”
Jack Johnson
49. “Whatever I do, I always want to get better.”
Lennox Lewis
50. “I learned patience. I’m not a real patient guy, but with me trusting in my coach, my managers and my team, I just trust the process and just continue to stay patient and just follow suit.”
Terence Crawford
