Atlanta has accepted me with open arms. Baltimore is always my first home but being able to come here is special.

If the right opportunity comes, I'd definitely come back to 130.

My daughter has changed me. She has made me grow up quicker because I don't just have a kid, I have a baby girl. She has made me more patient. I am actually soft when I get around her. I don't think she changed me as a fighter, but she has changed me as a person. She has helped me mature.

I'm from a city where the tears never end and the pain never stops.

I come from a city with a lot of violence and things like that, but my mind was always focused on what I wanted to be in life.

I won my first nationals when I was 10 years old.

I've seen the world and I've seen the bigger picture.

I've been in the gym, I've been training and I've been getting the Ws. I think that played a factor in me staying out of trouble outside the ring, staying focused on what's in front of me, and that's my boxing career.

I know I have a big future in front of me, so that's my main focus. So when I'm outside of the ring, I try to carry myself as a professional athlete, not just anybody.

A lot of people don't realize the skills and talent that I have.

I know how to box, how to move my feet.

I have good hand speed.

I'm an overall sound fighter, a boxer-puncher.

I want to be able to fight on pay-per-view against the big fighters and do big numbers.

I'm not really into researching my opponents or other fighters other than the ones that I like.

I just train hard and fight who is in front of me.

I became a champion super-fast.

I'm preparing myself to be a great, great fighter and also a big star in the sport.

I'm just trying to stay grounded because I know what I want to do in the sport.

I do see myself being that big star. I do believe I have the skills and ability to be that big star. I just need to be me, be fan friendly and keep connecting with the boxing fans.

In the amateurs we fought four or five times a week so we always had different opponents.

I've been battle-tested inside the ring and outside the ring.

There's nothing Pedraza can bring to the ring that I haven't seen before.

After school let out around 2:30, I'd go straight to the gym to be the first person there, even though it didn't open until about 4:30. I was the littlest one and I was good, so they took me serious.

Normally when I train, I'm all mad, thinking about all I've been through to push me.

I've always been the type to know that if I'm getting off the track, I know, 'OK, it's time to tighten up.' I feel like I can see it before it comes.

I feel comfortable at both weights. I feel I could fight at 130 or 135.

I'm the top dog.

When it comes to Baltimore I want to say that it's actually a lot worse than what you see in 'The Wire.'

When I'm in the ring my main focus is just to get the job done.

I was supposed to be in 'The Wire' but I was getting in trouble in school and on the streets.

Me and my older brother were taken from my mother at the same time so we were pretty tight.

It's good for me to fight in the U.K.

Each fight, I'm breaking records that are meant to be broken.

I wanted to be that guy they talk about. I want to be the guy that shine. I want to be that No. 1 guy.

The love I was getting from the gym, I wasn't getting at home. That actually glued me to the gym. It made me always work harder and want to come back.

I want to be a stand-up guy, a smart guy, a business guy. I always have that in my mind.

I want to be a superstar and bring joy and entertainment to the sport.

I work my angles and things like that.

I am the cash cow in the 130-pound division.

I've been doing this for so many years that I believe Gamboa can't bring anything to the ring that I haven't seen.

I know that Gamboa is a tough opponent and he'll lay it all on the line.

I believe, just in the ring, I'm explosive.

I'm a great fighter all around the board.

Outside the ring, I'm not a mean guy. I'm a likeable guy. I'm reachable, to my people.

Some might see me on Instagram or Twitter and think otherwise, but when you really get to know me, I'm a likable guy. So that's why I think that people are drawn to me.

I believe I overcame a lot.

I think people who go through a lot, they're aggressive.

I've always made that push for me to be positive and stay forward with my goals.

Sometimes you gotta just chill. You gotta chill your thinking process.