Status: Former World Junior Lightweight Champion
January 19, 1983 - February 26, 1984

Former WBC Lightweight Champion
November 11, 1987 - May 13, 1989

Born On: April 24, 1961 In: Grand Rapids, Michigan

Childhood Heroes: “Rocky Marciano. You don’t beleive that do you? I know damn well you don’t believe that [laughs]. Muhammad Ali. Ray Robinson. See, I’ve been around boxing since I was a kid. Ike Williams. Joe Louis. Joe Louis is the best scientific fighter in the world. I didn’t say he was the fastest. He was the best scientific fighter in the world. He teach you the real attack on boxing. Ray Robinson - probably the guy with the best chin and the best comeback. He knew how to comeback. And Ali is the most flamboyant. And charismatic fighter in my time in boxing.”

Hobbies/Interests: “I used to like to play basketball, ping pong, shoot pool, I played football when I was young. But I knew I’d never be a football player, because I was raised in boxing. So that was more easy for me to transcend into boxing.”

Favorite Movies: “I like Scarface. I like…I don’t know, because so many movies have been made that I like. I like that movie Ken Norton played in - Mandingo. That was an old movie, I liked that.”

Favorite TV Shows: “I like Martin, Redd Foxx, FBI Files. Those cop shows are pretty good. I don’t like cops myself, I like the shows. They make it so believable.”

Musical Tastes: “Oh, I like Maze, Jaheem, Joe,
the current crop of singers. I’m not a Michael Jackson fan but I was when I was a kid. But basically I like anybody that can sing. If they can sing, I like it.”

Early Boxing Memory: “Some of the greaetest fights I’ve ever seen, they didn’t happen on HBO - Cornelius Boza Edwards, Bazooka Limon, Rolando Navarette. I like the great old-timer Archie Moore and Yvon Durelle. Joe Louis. Jersey Joe Walcott. I like the great comeback fight when Ray Robinson came back to knock out Turpin. And he also came back to knock out Gene Fullmer. And Ali, when people didn’t think he could beat Foreman. And he proved that. Ali made people believe - even when he couldn’t fight - but he made people believe he could fight. That much confidence they had in him.”

Greatest Sports Moment: “It had nothing to do with boxing. I recently had a daughter (Jade). I’m 43-years-old. That’s the greatest moment in my life. It had nothing to do with boxing. People ask me all the time, What about when you won the world championship? I said, Yeah that was great. That’s not the greatest moment in my life. That’s something I felt I was gonna do anyway. I was gonna be champ of the world anyway. I knew I was gonna be champ of the world. The minute I put gloves on, the minute I started boxing - I wasn’t boxing just because I thought I could fight - I was boxing because I knew I could fight. And because of that, that day I was fighting for the title, I told my mother, I’m gonna be champion of the world tonight. I fought in San Juan, Puerto Rico (in just his 15th pro fight against Samuel Serrano). I didn’t have that many fights. I said, But there’s no way - THERE’S NO WAY he can beat me. She said, Are you scared? Said I’m not scared. I’m nervous, but I’m not scared. I guess I wasn’t scared. You know how some things are pre-destined? Boxing with me was pre-destined. I knew I was going to be champion of the world.”

Most Painful Moment: “When these muffers robbed me against Kostya Tszyu, when I beat his ass. Kostya Tszyu was a very easy fight for me. People told me about his power. When Zab (Judah) fought Kostya, he said, Can Kostya hit? I said, I don’t really know, because he never really hit me clean. I said, But he got physical power. But he never hit me clean at all. I’ve been hit before by guys I knew could hit. The best puncher that I ever fought was - and I fought 27 world champions - the hardest puncher that I can remember was Rafael Pineda. I was beating his ass for eight rounds. He hit me with a left hook. He only hit me one time. Now I’ve been knocked out where I’m still conscious. But I’m saying that’s the hardest muffer that hit me and I felt it. I mean, knockouts don’t ever hurt. But, I mean, when he hit me, it wasn’t like I was struggling to get up. That muffer hit me and I was just gone!”

When Were You At Your Best?: “When I won the world championship. Every time I won the world championship I was at my best. Cause I knocked them out. They didn’t knock me out.”

Favorite Meal: “I like a lot of pasta. I like soul food too. But I don’t like pork.”

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “Anything Haagen Dazs.”

Pre-Fight Feeling: “I was nervous. But the mother****** I was fighting, he was more nervous than me. Because most times, to none, he knew I had the guns. When you got the guns, you don’t be as nervous as the guys who ain’t got the guns. I got the guns, so when I went out there, the guy already knew I could crack.”

Funny Boxing Memory: “Guy pulled my trunks down. Pernell Whitaker [smiles]. That mother pulled my trunks down. I fought him in Norfolk, VA (in ‘87). The fight was this close (holds fingers close). He fought me in Norfolk, VA, how’s he gonna lose? He hit me with a thousand low blows. He never fight me again either. Whitaker was a great champion though.”

Favorite Boxers To Watch: “Tommy Hearns, Ray Leonard. (Today?) My nephew. Oscar de la Hoya. Trinidad. Mike Tyson. I like Holyfield, as he got older. As I see his accomplishments, I like Holyfield.”

Childhood Dream: “I became it. I knew I was gonna be champion of the world. There was no question on it. My mother knew. My mother told me before I was, she said, You live in the gym. That’s all I’ve ever done. Went to the gym all day when I came home from school. I changed my clothes, I walked down to the gym. I stayed at that gym till 12 o’clock midnight. She say, How you gonna get home? Want me to come get you? I said, No I’m gonna walk. After I walk the other guys home - because I had some other fighters. I used to train fighters when I was a kid. I love boxing. And that’s what my childhood dream was.”

People Qualities Most Admired: “I like to see honest people. Honest. I don’t give a damn what color they is - as long as they honest. I don’t like no scandalous mother******, I don’t like no crooks. I don’t like nobody shady. All I like is somebody that is - when I say honest that means you’re true to your word. If you say you gonna do something, do it. If you say you can’t do it - I admire that as well. If you can’t do it, you can’t do it. But if you gonna do something and you know you ain’t gonna do it, why say it? So that’s my biggest thing with people.”