It's like Jake LaMotta versus Sugar Ray Robinson or Ali versus Frazier. To be the best, you've got to beat the best on a regular basis, and we've faced those guys in a lot of big games. It brings out the best in both of us.

Bernard wants to do what Sugar Ray Robinson tried to do and go from middleweight to capture that light heavyweight title. He has nothing to lose, but this is a big challenge that will really motivate him.

Sugar Ray Leonard was as close as anyone came after Ali to being Ali, but he wasn't Ali.

I watched Ali, studied Ali, and I studied Sugar Ray Robinson. I watched them display showmanship. I watched them use pizzazz, personality, and charisma. I took things from them and borrowed things from them because boxing is entertainment.

I fought a boxer who everybody said I couldn't beat - Sugar Ray Leonard. They said he was faster than me. That he was the best of the best. And I beat him.

I liked Roy Jones, Sugar Ray Leonard, Ali... those were the guys I was looking at growing up.