UFC is street fighting in a cage. Boxing is a controlled, skilled talent. There's no comparison.
— Bernard Hopkins
I don't really look toward the future. I only look at the present.
Hand-eye coordination and reflexes is something I work on more than anything.
I don't rest in my business interests, I don't rest being a husband, I don't rest being a father, and I don't rest doing none of these things because when you rest, you get comfortable.
The majority of fighters and athletes live double lives.
It's the inner that produces the outer.
Being able to do what I do in the ring and out of the ring is evidence that I'm not from this world.
I feel like I was blacklisted in 1965.
When they say you can't, show them you can.
When guys say at the press conference, 'I'm not scared' - now, for a guy to tell me he's not scared of me means that you are scared.
Hagler was a puncher-slugger. He'd box sometimes, but boxing wasn't his forte. His thing was relentless punishment and 'beat you.'
Father Time is whether you're an athlete or not an athlete. Father Time is always around. I think I'm just special.
Just because you started off one way don't mean the ending of the book has to be the way you started.
I don't think I can get Jack Nicholson to come out and watch me fight.
Boxing should not let - we should not let - the people in business of boxing should not let a person to just walk right in and get the grand prize of boxing. You can't do it in basketball, football, hockey.
I'm a health-awareness guy, and all of that includes how I eat, how much I rest, and how I keep my skin good. Any kind of maintenance that I would do on a car, I do on myself.
A body that doesn't move mentally or physically dies.
To me, you can be young in your mind, in the way you think, but if your body don't come with that, then it's wishful thinking.
If your car takes 95 and you put 87 in it, it's gonna run sluggish, right? A lot of people don't realize what you put in your body affects your mechanics, and you're gonna run sluggish.
When you get older, the first thing that starts to go is reflexes, and reflexes are important for any person, especially an athlete - to react to something in a time when something is going on, and you can't be a second or two behind.
When you get to a certain age in society, they want to dictate to you when you should pack it in and that you should mentally grab a cane, a box of Depends, Geritol, listen to the oldies, and not eat spicy food after 9 o'clock.
Soda is the worst thing.
If I can convince you that I'm going to beat you up, and you believe me, that's your fault.
I don't have a diet. Jenny Craig got a diet. Seriously. I eat to live, not to die.
If you don't know your own value, somebody will tell you your value, and it'll be less than you're worth.
I'm so glad that I didn't give up on myself and there were people who didn't give up on me.
I think I got the ability to speak the truth, and that gets in peoples' heads.
The worst damage a person - a fighter or even a person that's just everyday living - is shorten your life by your lifestyle.
I have an orthodox style that a southpaw is confused with me.
Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins is an event where actors and actresses will come out, and I give all credit to Oscar for that.
Oscar De La Hoya is unique. Even Ray Leonard didn't have the star power Oscar has.
I like to do things that are noncombat- or boxing-related. So I jump rope a lot, and then I run a lot.
If you notice, in every fight, I always have something to get into their head.
I have to be smarter than my opponents. I have to figure out their styles in the ring. I have to be three or four steps ahead of them. So my mind has to be sharp.
If I go to a restaurant, which I do often, I know what I want, and it's not on the menu half the time. Half the time, they have to adjust the menu or what they got in the back, and they'll make it for me.
When I left the penitentiary, I learned to stay away from the Philly cheesesteaks, the pizza, the junk that clogs your arteries and kills you.
If you smoke, plain and simple, stop smoking. If you drink, plain and simple, stop.
My personal feeling is that Bernard Hopkins has never been an industry boy.
If you get your body right, you get your mind right, whatever you do, you have a fighting chance, and you have a chance to be victorious.
If you read Bernard Hopkins' name in the dictionary, the definition would be 'discipline.'
I saw worse stuff inside prison than I ever saw in the streets.
I understand and I don't understand human beings.
There's more to life than having things: a Rolls-Royce, a big house, bling bling.
I like the old school, then I add the new school, and I got a concoction of greatness. I can't miss; you can't miss with that.
I respect people's opinion. Everybody has they own 'pound for pound' list.
Most people remember the ending of the book more than the beginning and the middle.
You look at De La Hoya, and you think that he is an actor or a singer. I'd like to rearrange a couple of things on his face so the pretty boy becomes just another boxer.
If you really look at it, I have done the 'American Dream' that people have died on boats to come here to live.
I'm a guy that likes to work in the spa and get on the elliptical.
I avoid processed food.
