A lot of people think my head is flat.

I moved to New York aged 16, and worked part-time in a Korean store in South Bronx selling groceries, bread and confectionery. I earned $10 and it was painful because I didn't want to be there. I also worked in Debenhams as a kid, and a Wimpy in Brighton when I was 20.

My father, who was illiterate, smoothed iron for Ford Dagenham and we'd get up at 5;30 A.M. to give him a jump-start. My mother was a nurse and part of the Windrush generation. Growing up in east London, we were financially poor, but rich in hope and dignity, and we were happy.

I've prospered because of my father. I know I'll never be his equal, but I've prospered because I've honoured my parents.

At 19, I decided to turn professional and accepted my first fight for $250 at the Atlantis Hotel, Atlantic City, on October 3 1985. It set up my whole career and life.

I failed my HGV licence three times.

One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.

I was a speed freak once. I had an Aston Martin when I first made it big and I used to take it to its limits. I once drove from Lewes to London in 45 minutes - mad.

The people who have done it - I have been in there - a lot of people love boxing but they have not actually been in there, and haven't tasted the bitterness of a beating.

My objective as a mentor, as a father, as a manager and as a former participant of the great game of boxing is to protect mine, but also the opponent. Especially if I can see things which I have experienced before.

I am always fully in tune with the interviewer, who is usually trying to make me look silly. My objective is quite the opposite during an interview: I never use my wit or my intellect to make the interviewer look silly.

Obsession is a synonym for magic. Magic is a synonym for genius. It's a knack. It's an aptitude.

I was sensitive, I was emotionally intelligent.

In accordance to the way that Benn speaks, he is not educated. Sure, he's educated to a certain extent, but under different circumstances he would be a bouncer on some door in the West End and he'd have three kids from three different women... I am a superior person to that. I have finer points.

The feeling between two fighters is profound. We go places where normal people don't go. You smell a man's blood, it smells like rust. You get into a clench, you feel his strength, you feel his desperation, he feels yours. You're sharing this.

For lunch I like corned beef, white rice and fried onions, which I've eaten for as long as I can remember. My father used to make it; now, no one does it like me.

My mother imparted on me that I must be a good custodian of my father's name and that is what I ask of my children. One should conduct themselves in the correct manner, respect one's elders and do the right thing.

I'm a gentle, considerate, giving man.

I am not a meathead.

Boxing is a mug's game.

Michael Watson is a part of me. It's in my head, it's in my grain. There are scars within me. Therefore, those scars are what allows me to steer and protect other fighters.

It's the only thing that allowed me to win so many championship fights and allowed me to put up with the bigotry of the media, the keyboard warriors, the critics. I've endured it all because, spiritually, I am buoyant, alive.

You play football, rugby, tennis. You do not play boxing. When a sportsperson is in a game, when it gets too much, you quit. But in boxing you can't quit. You have to be taken out.

To be accused of ignoring my roots is pig ignorant.