My job is to go in there and fight who is in front of me.
— Terence Crawford
It's always been my goal to fight the best fighters out there, and I look at Amir Khan as one of the top fighters in my division.
I just want to keep being successful.
I never put it to where I say, 'I'm just this big pay-per-view star,' or 'I wanna be the No. 1 pay-per-view star that got all the ratings.' No, I was just like, 'I'm gonna be a world champion. That's what I'm gonna be.'
I don't ever think about, 'Aw, man, my legacy. My legacy this.' No, I just want to fight the best fights out there to fight just to prove to the world that I'm the best fighter in the world.
I have a lot of family members and friends that depend on me.
It's always special to fight.
I showed that I can fight without boxing, that I can take a punch.
God blessed me with the talent I've been blessed with.
Viktor Postol is a great champion and he was dodged for a reason, but I ain't the type to duck and dodge anyone.
As a kid, my temper was on Cloud 10. Anything you say, I would just jump on you, you know?
This is boxing, everybody fights everybody.
I had to fight those type of fights which were high risk, low reward and at the start, I never could get the fights I really wanted.
I always have the ability to believe in myself when nobody else does.
I can box, I can bang, I can switch, I can punch, I'm not slow.
I used to stay getting in fights.
It takes two people to fight, and it takes two companies to sit down and figure it out and decide what network we're going to fight on, where we're going to fight, what the purses are going to be.
Everybody has those certain fighters they follow and that they really put on a high pedestal. They want to give the most shine that they possibly can. They look for any reason to break down a fighter's performance to when it isn't their favorite fighter in any positive thought.
At the end of the day, when all the fighting stops and when everybody stops shouting your name, you've still got to be yourself and I feel I am.
My first goal was to become world champion and I did that against Ricky Burns at 135. Once I conquered that, I set myself another goal and another goal.
If I see a fan talking down on my resume or another fighter, it just motivates me to go out there and prove them wrong and fight the fighters that they say will beat me or that will give me trouble in the ring. They ain't going to never really give you no credit, no matter what you do.
I'd take bits and pieces from a fighter, if I liked what they did, and I'd put it in my arsenal. I never wanted to fight like or be like any other fighter. I wanted a style that was unique for me.
I want to talk about how great of a father I am. How I never miss any of my kids' wrestling tournaments or big events like birthdays or holidays. I'm always there for anything to do with my kids.
I'm a fighter. I'm not a promoter and I'm not a manager so I leave that up to my manager and my promoter and I just fight.
I don't want to keep talking about my upbringing because people always resort to the past and what happened when I was younger.
This is not a sport for me - I live boxing. I've been boxing since I was seven years old.
I feel like I get better every fight.
You think we got it bad in Omaha, or in any city in the United States, and then you go to a different country and you see how bad they got it. You give those people a balloon and they'll cherish it like you gave them a chunk of gold.
My goal is to get all these fighters that everybody say I'm running from inside the ring with me.
Amir Khan is a great fighter, I have a lot of respect for him.
I done got hit with a belt, a toy, a stick, extension cord, a switch off a tree, whatever. At the same time, my pain tolerance went up... It came to the point where it built toughness... Yeah, it hurt, but I wasn't scared. I knew what was coming. Wasn't nothing I wasn't prepared for.
I always knew I could fight.
I just want to leave a mark on the sport of boxing so people talk about me like they talk about the other great champions before me. That's my goal before I retire.
I just have to focus on what I can do and keep making a living and keeping my name up there as the best pound-for-pound fighter.
There's always going to be people who will criticize my performance. Sometimes, it gets irritating. Sometimes I just brush it off and say these people don't know what they are talking about.
You've got to remember where you come from.
Pacquiao earned the right to go out how he wants to go out. He had fought everybody there is to fight - when they was there to fight. He fought all the top names. Eight-division champion. He accomplished everything there is to do in the sport of boxing.
I felt like I've accomplished a lot in the boxing world that a lot of people don't give me credit for. But it's life. I don't trip over it.
I pride myself on being unique in my own right. I wanted to be myself.
You never know what the future might hold.
I need those meaningful fights, the fights that everyone wants to see. That would help my legacy a long way.
As soon as I put on gloves, I knew. I felt heart and determination. It's in you, not on you. I just loved to fight and I knew that it was going to take me where I needed to go. I never had any doubt.
I am a fighter and I will fight anybody.
I just stick to what I know, boxing.
Where I come from we believe in an eye for an eye. That's what we do. That's just the way it is.
I just want people to respect me for my talent, the skills I have and my willingness to face anybody.
I never had the opportunity to run up and hug my mom and tell her 'I love you,' and she tells me she loves me and hugs me back. I would want her to come to my fights and support me, but it never would happen.
I feel confident matching up with anybody.
I was 4'11'' in the 9th grade. I was a little guy... I think I had that little man complex.
I'm the best fighter in the division and I'm always willing to prove it.
