You can improve your punching power, but only to an extent. If you can punch hard, then it's just god-given, that's just nature, not nurture and there's not much you can do to develop punching power.

I don't need to do that many weights but every now and then I do the bar, with 25-30 kilos on either side, which amounts to roughly probably my body weight. I lift this up above my head, then drop it and lift it up again.

Sparring is not as tough as a fight.

Make no mistake, the days and hours before going into the ring can be stressful for any boxer. The bigger and tougher the fight the greater stress, But if a boxer knows he's stepping out of his league it's even worse.

Sometimes big boxing matches should take place on the cobbles. That's really where Mikkel Kessler and me ought to have sorted it out.

The only person in the world who could knock me out is my anaesthetist.

I won four world titles, got beat twice - but avenged one of those losses - and the other loss was on points to someone who was unbeaten in Andre Ward. I had a comfortable, successful career and it wasn't through natural ability but through dedication and hard work.

I don't actually think boxing is a particularly dangerous sport, I wouldn't even put it in the top ten of dangerous sports, but that's only if you take it seriously. Whenever I stepped into the ring I was well hydrated, I was at the right weight and I was prepared. It wasn't a dangerous sport for me.

I'll never be able to replace the feeling of standing victorious in the ring, that's never going to happen again and I'm never going to fight again.

I never cheated on nutrition, I always had a really good diet and I always supplemented well - that's a massive factor in any sport. Even in everyday life, if people are just going to the gym recreationally, they'll have targets in mind and if you're not supplementing correctly or concentrating on your diet, you're wasting your time.

Boxing's a bit like the Army, nine out of 10 people come out as pretty nice people. It taught me self-worth, to respect my elders and what the right thing was to do. As a result, I don't think I even got a single detention at school. It helped me to be good.

Closer to a fight, I can really feel my heartbeat in my chest. I can hear it beat through my mouth, this 'gunk, gunk, gunk' rhythm.

There's something weird about me the way even the biggest punches to the jaw don't wobble me, but if you can avoid being hit too often, so much the better.

I've kept improving in many ways. Boxers evolve with experience.

I don't look at my opponent's eyes in the ring. I watch his gloves so that I can block or avoid his punches.

If Mikkel Kessler thinks I'm going soft just because I'm a dad then he's the one who's gone soft in the head.

I say that I'm genetically gifted. In a weight-governed sport, I don't put weight on because of my Polish 'heritage, it's genetic. Even when I am not in training, I don't put on weight. When I start training, I don't need to take a lot of weight off.

I don't hype a fight to sell tickets.

When people retire, they should stay retired.

I haven't had the recognition I deserve. You can go back to anybody's career - Ricky Hatton, Joe Calzaghe, David Haye, Amir Khan, Chris Eubank, Nigel Benn, Steve Collins, Naseem Hamed. My record is better than all of theirs. I've won against more unbeaten fighters than any of them, had more exciting fights.

I was 5ft 3in tall until I was 17. Then I suddenly shot up.

I always wanted my job to be something I that loved doing.

I watched Sly Stallone and the 'Rocky' movies over and over again. They were fantastic.

It might sound strange now from where I'm standing as a world boxing champion, but I harboured serious thoughts, at the age of nine, of putting my whole life into snooker. I remember being fascinated by the game, watching the likes of Steve Davis, and thought I would do it.