It’s hard to believe we’ve come to a point where the sport of boxing is no longer relevant in America. Forget the great fights. Forget epic battles between Frazier and Ali, or two minute bloodbaths between Mike Tyson and a nameless rabble of also-rans.

Forget legendary announcers like Howard Cosell drawing us in with their gravelly voices and savagely poetic commentaries. These days you’re lucky to catch a later night report on ESPN 4 dedicated to the square science.

It’s depressing.

But I’m not here to lick my wounds and accept the UFC as a substitute to real boxing. It just doesn’t feel right—especially if it allows us to forget the legends of boxing’s past, and all of the entertaining personalities that surrounded the sport over the years.

That’s why I invite you to relish in some of boxing’s most entertaining quotes. I hope they’ll help you remember how enjoyable boxing used to be, and how important it is for us to restore its prominence once again.

Boxing’s Most Entertaining Quotes

15. “If you even dream of beating me, you better wake up and apologize.” – Muhammad Ali

14. “I’m not much for talking. You know what I do. I put guys in body bags when I’m right”. – Mike Tyson

13. “Boxing purists, quite naturally, question Tyson’s appetite for victory. Mills Lane should have stopped the fight before Tyson took a second helping.” – Fred Mitchell

12. “I consider myself blessed. I consider you blessed. We’ve all been blessed with God-given talents. Mine just happens to be beating people up.” – Sugar Ray Leonard

11. “When we started, it was based on lies. It’s changing now. There are no secrets in the business. You’ve got to come with the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. It’s becoming very confusing.” – Don King

10. “I could feel his muscle tissues collapse under my force. It’s ludicrous these mortals even attempt to enter my realm.” – Mike Tyson

9. “Sure there have been injuries and deaths in boxing – but none of them serious.” – Alan Minter

8. “When you’re in a relationship, you’re always surrounded by a ring of circumstances… joined together by a wedding ring, or in a boxing ring.” – Bob Seger

7. “I’m so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark.” – Muhammad Ali

6. “To me, boxing is like a ballet – except there’s no music, no choreography, and the dancers hit each other.” – Jack Handy

5. “If you screw things up in tennis, it’s 15-love. If you screw up in boxing, it’s your ass.” – Randall Cobb

4. “Boxing is the only sport you can get your brain shook, your money took and your name in the undertaker book.” – Joe Frazier

3. “All the time he’s boxing, he’s thinking. All the time he was thinking, I was hitting him.” – Jack Dempsey

2. “I want to rip out his heart and feed it to Lennox Lewis. I want to kill people. I want to rip their stomachs out and eat their children.” – Mike Tyson

1. “The three toughest fighters I’ve ever been up against were Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Sugar Ray Robinson. I fought Sugar so many times, I’m surprised I’m not diabetic! But I did have him off the canvas once…when he stepped over my body to leave the ring.” – Jake LaMotta

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