Tommy Morrison

The fact that there's never been a single documented case in the history of this planet of anyone ever contracting HIV in the ring seems to me like a leg perfectly strong enough to stand on in terms of a lawsuit.

I've made a lot of mistakes in my life.

Friendships can go only so far.

Everyone wants to see the heavyweight division unified. It'll happen.

I would welcome a Mike Tyson fight with open arms.

I saw a chance to make the 1988 Olympic boxing team and forgot all about football.

I'm a white guy in a black sport. I really forget about it until someone asks me about it. I'm simply competing in a sport that I love.

It took me awhile to learn the public eye was on me.

I've always been painted as this party animal.

My life out of the ring caught up with me.

Very few fighters get a chance to come back.

People thought I was crazy for fighting Michael Bentt.

HIV changed my life, but I think I've accepted it. I don't even think about it unless someone brings it up.

I could always fight overseas, but who wants to do that? They'd really have to make it worth my while.

People need to cut me a break.

I would walk into a room, and people would be like, 'Hide the children. Here comes the guy with AIDS.' That's very demeaning, and it really hurts your spirit.

I just want to pursue my dream. That is to fight. That is what God put me here to do. He didn't put me here to be a doctor or a lawyer. He put me here to fight.

It's a big move from the 'Tough Man' circuit to professional boxing. When I turned pro, I had to play catch-up and was fighting almost twice a month until I had more than 20 fights under my belt.

I'm happy in Oklahoma. It's closer to family. Nobody expects anything of you there.

The 'Tough Man' contests were for 21-year-olds, but I weighed 150 pounds at 13, so I got a fake ID card and entered. My dad and uncles had given me an edge, so having a boxing background made it easier because a lot of the older guys didn't know how to fight.

Boxing is a family tradition. The last five generations down to my dad have been fighters.

I know one thing: Ray Mercer is not going down from a head punch. I think he's got one of the best chins in the game.

People don't like to see a sloppy fight, to see heavyweights wallow around. They like to see exciting fighters.

You don't knock Ray Mercer out with one or two shots. You have to make him quit.

Ray Mercer has the heart of a lion and a great chin.

I was the first player at Jay to play four years varsity. As a frosh, I was a punter. From my soph through senior years, I started as a linebacker and tight end and was all-state as a senior.

I boxed until I got interested in other things. My first car. Girls.

I thought I had the potential to be a better fighter than I'd ever be a football player. Besides, it was something my father always wanted me to do. He told me since I was a little kid I was a born fighter.

There's a family tradition of fighting in the Kansas City Golden Gloves. My older brother, Tim, did, and so did my father's two youngest brothers, Trent and Troy. They all won the Golden Gloves. So when my mother asked me to keep the tradition going, I did.

I'm going to bring the championship home to Kansas City.

Talk about the area of overcoming adversity, sucking it up, I rate myself a 10.

Boy, I wouldn't want to live in L.A.

Ever since I was a kid, I've been confident of coming out on top in a brawl, but the ring is a lot different from a bar. That's been my problem.

God, it's good to come home. No matter what you achieve, you come home, and everything is normal.

I think there's a lot of people out there who, if George Foreman had to get beat, I'm the one fighter they would like to see beat him.

The one thing that made me somewhat of an animal is I didn't have anything growing up.

I didn't have the greatest equipment or the greatest facilities. I would see people with new shoes and better cars. I knew what I wanted and what I had to do to get what I wanted. I became a very Spartan person at a young age because of that.

My life has been very much a roller coaster ride. Not just the boxing part, not just the acting part, just my childhood, what I was into at a young age and the things I was exposed to, it's just very abnormal.

I was one of the most popular fighters of my era.

When I was 19, my heart wasn't in it. I hated training.

I don't ever think in terms of losing. That's not even a possibility. I've been beaten once, and I don't ever want to experience that again.

I realize that there's a whole generation of kids out there like me who are totally disregarding the moral values taught to us by our parents.

I like fighting people that scare me a little bit. People that scare me seem to motivate me, and when you motivate me, you get the best performance out of me.

HIV's never been proven to cause AIDS. HIV ain't ever killed anybody.

As a white fighter, you get twice as much criticism.

If I was black or Hispanic, I wouldn't get any criticism. Because I'm white, people expect so much more out of me. That's a little unfair, but life isn't fair.

People watch me... whatever I do, wherever I go.

I'll tell you this: Tommy Morrison has a tattoo of Elvis Presley on his butt, he likes to hunt and fish, and his favorite movie is 'GoodFellas.'

I cut my hand swimming in the Caribbean, it gets infected, and Channel 9 is calling me saying they heard rumors I cut my fingers off.

The heavyweight division needs me.