Paul bryden Thecornerman

'The neck is a great shock absorber. When a boxer is clipped on the chin by a hard punch, he feels the jolt in his neck. A weak neck would finish the career of any boxer. A strong, flexible neck is also necessary for avoiding punches aimed at the head. The weaker the neck, the stationary the head is as a target. No boxer who is repeatedly and easily hit hard about the head will last long.'

- Rocky Marciano

'Cus used to sit with me for hours talking like a philosopher about boxing and life. It’s Cus’ style to boil everything down and give you a reason for everything. What he tells you about, how to conquer fear and things like that, are mind-boggling.' - Mike Tyson

'Cus D'Amato is a hell of a man. I've met a lot of people in boxing. None have the knowledge of Cus. He has a few scattered white hairs on his head but they do not hide the shining muscles on his scalp which move as he talks. He talks and one is compelled to listen. Even those who hate him have to listen to him. Boxing is always his subject. But people who did not know who he was, would never think of Cus as a fight manager. He speaks too well. And because he is sincere about boxing, he offers continuing challenge to men who control it. The boxing establishment doesn't like Cus; they hate him.' - Jose Torres

'There will never be another manager or person who cared about his fighters the way Cus did. Cus cared more about his fighters than money. He gave money away like it was just giving somebody a drink of water. He wasn't a greedy person. His main concern was his fighters.' - Floyd Patterson

'I had a Ph.D in being an idiot. I was on the wrong path. Cus saved me from 10 years in jail. He said I had character.' - Teddy Atlas

'The mind is also how a fighter controls his emotions. Cus was the only boxing man I ever knew to speak about fear, to talk about how every fighter is afraid. He talked about it up until the day he died.' - Kevin Rooney

'This is the only man I met who didn't lie, and he doesn't bite his tongue for anything. There are times I get so mad at Cus I cry. But he's a heck of a man. I have learned more from him than I have from anyone.' - Buster Mathis

'Eddie Futch was 82 years old, he had Riddick Bowe and Mike McCallum and he wasn’t going to take anyone else on because he was 82. My manager let him have a look at me from the Olympics and he said he said, ‘That kid has it, he’s going to be a world champion.’ So when he brought me over here I was star-struck with Eddie Futch.Every time I went to a fight, everybody would look at Eddie and I’d be like, ‘He’s my trainer.’ I was so proud of him being my trainer. The guy was an encyclopedia of boxing. He used to sit down and tell stories for two, three hours. I spent hundreds of hours with Eddie and the stories he told were unbelievable; right back (to) when he sparred Joe Louis.' - Wayne McCullough

'Eddie never talked about his past as far as his own fights were concerned. I knew that he had been in the ring with Joe Louis, but he wasn't a guy who would talk about it. He was there to get the job done for you. There was never a question of asking why I have to do this or why he thought I could do it. Eddie always made me want to work for him and make sure I was in the best of shape. He was always there for me.' - Joe Frazier

'Eddie Futch was the best. You know, people didn't see it but he had a mean streak. I can tell you, for one fight I was training and I guess I had about 5 sparring partners, but at this time I went in with one sparring partner and went in too hard and he left. He said, 'Look Bowe, we gotta save these guys, take it easy with them. But me being a kid of 22-23 I didn't know my own strength so I went out there and boxed one of the guys, and I hit him with a right hand and he wobbled. Futch said to me like a father, 'come here' and when I got to him he threw a left hook at me. And I slipped it, but at that point I knew he was real serious.' - Riddick Bowe

'In a business riddled with politics and intrigue, Eddie never got involved in any of that. He always appeared to be above it. You won’t find anybody who has anything bad to say about him. In boxing, that’s amazing.' - Bob Arum

'Eddie Futch was a great trainer - in a class of his own - a man I looked up to.' - Angelo Dundee

'I respected Eddie in every way. Whatever Eddie said l, I would try to do. Whatever he instructed you to do, you did. Once you had confidence in Eddie Futch, who I felt was one of the greatest trainers of all time, he lifted you from point zero to point ten in no time. I thought he was, as far as trainers go, the ultimate.' - Ken Norton

'Boxing is a great game, despite its many detractors. Attack is only half the art of boxing. Skill is the other half. You must always be fit and ready when you take part in the sport. Preparation, dedication and direction would be the key. If you are going into boxing, you must put your own mind down to it, and have a bit of luck along the way too. The rewards can be very good. Even when my career ended, I always managed to keep myself fit. It's a habit, a routine you never really lose.'

- Georges Carpentier

'I got this far in my life and career not because I was the most gifted athlete, but primarily through stubbornness and tenacity. That's what separated me from other fighters - that refusal to give up. This may sound barbaric, but I would rather die in that ring than quit. I will give every ounce of energy I have in there, fighting until there is absolutely nothing left. Your body can do so much more than you think it can; people are just afraid to go to that dark, scary place where you don't know what will happen, or how much it will hurt. I've been there a few times, so I know. And I've never given up, never surrendered. For me, the physical anguish is nothing compared to what I would feel the next day, looking at myself in the mirror, knowing I had given less than complete effort. That to me, would be unbearable.'

- Micky Ward

'I remember vividly the last time l lost a fight and the emotions I felt before and after. I was thirteen, almost fourteen years old and fighting a guy from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, named John Revish in the finals of the National Silver Gloves. I knew he was good. I knew he was a puncher. And I allowed myself to be beaten before the fight started. Fear plays a large role in boxing. It's how you use the fear that counts. Fear can motivate you. But if it goes to the dark side, you can be paralyzed by fear. Thats what happened to me in that fight, and I promised myself I'd never let it happen again.'

- Andre Ward

Be grateful for everything. Even the tough stuff. “Convince yourself that everything is the gift of the gods,” was how Marcus Aurelius put it, “that things are good and always will be."

'As long as the other guy is on his feet, he can hit me. So I try to knock him off his feet as fast as possible.'

- Jack Dempsey

'Rocky Marciano was one of the most determined boxers I've ever known. He would train and train, and when he finished training, train some more. No athlete ever took better care of himself than Rocky, and that was the difference in the close ones. He was willing to make any sacrifice to win the title. His kind of conditioning marks the champion in any sport.'

- Charlie Goldman

One of the popular concepts in today’s culture is passion. It is all-too-common to hear voices in our culture argue that finding and securing passion is the end goal of a purposeful life.​​​​​​​​
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The Stoics disagreed. Why? Because the end goal of Stoicism was a virtuous life—and “passion,” as understood in their time, was a threat. In fact, the Stoics listed four passions that every philosopher needed to avoid: Distress, Fear, Lust and Delight.​​​​​​​​
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They believed that reason was the antidote to passion—whether it was taking its form in envy, timidity, excitement, obsession or pride. The Stoics strove to live “in agreement with nature.” Reason was nature’s best gift, so living by nature meant, first of all, living by reason.​​​​​​​​
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With enough practice, the passions can be exiled from the citadel of the self. No unhappiness can touch the well-intentioned man. Banish the passions, and you are proof against misfortune. Banish the passions, and you are independent of the world, the owner of an unshakable contentment.