Top 50 Nigel Benn Quotes

We didn’t have dietitians, or strength and conditioning coaches.

Boxing wasn’t taking me to the darkest places in my life. No. The fights were the easy part because it took my mind away from self-destruction. When I came out of the ring I had to deal with the real world. Fighting was my escape.

I couldn’t box. Have a fight? I’d have it! Box? Forget it, I’d just have a war.

I was a disappointment to my parents before I drew my first breath. After five boys, they had been praying for a girl and were convinced their prayers would be answered. So when Dad rang the hospital from a public phone and heard about my arrival, he started kicking and punching the kiosk.

A lot of things I’ve done wrong I apologised for.

I am Nigel ‘Benjamin Button’ Benn, it’s not about age.

I was Satan’s right hand man.

I think talking about things that have happened in my life gives people an opportunity in many respects.

Be second to no one – that was my rule.

I learned about fighting from taking on the National Front skinheads outside Ilford Town Hall in the 70s – they were big men and we were 14 or 15-year-old boys.

The life I had in boxing was death.

Dad was 23 and Mum 19 when they arrived in the U.K. from Barbados in the 1950s.

I had a lot of issues in my life after my brother died in 1972, that I carried through to my adult life.

I thrive on fear.

I was a young, messed-up kid who didn’t mature until he became a Christian. That was in 2008 – the rest of my life, I’d been living a lie.

I am just glad my son is going to be better than me, in boxing or life in general.

Before I became a Christian I didn’t care, about anything, even boxing. I was living a life full of hurt anyway.

I had to join the army, because I knew I would be inside or dead otherwise. I needed someone to channel my anger and it worked for me. It was a wake up call and I never looked back.

In everything I did, I wanted to go out on my badge.

I don’t want to be someone who asks ‘what if?’

It’s not the Dark Destroyer no more, because everything synonymous with the Dark Destroyer I don’t want to know.

The best time of my life was living at my mum and dad’s and watching things on television like ‘Saturday Night at the London Palladium with Max Bygraves.’ We used to have bread, put butter on it with sugar and put it under the grill. That was our treat.

Me and my wife go to church and we do marriage counselling.

Me and the wife work at the church in Australia.

I turned to God but for a while I wasn’t doing it properly.

I don’t want to be second to nobody.

The kind of life I led really affected my family.

I fight in the ring on my natural abilities.

I knew at once that Carolyne, my wife, was different to the other women I had known. She understood me for what I am and never asked for anything. We’ve been through terrible times, but she has always been there for me. Life would be meaningless without her.

Carolyne and I were desperate for children of our own and I can’t describe the happiness I felt when she became pregnant with twins after IVF treatment.

My life is only getting better and better.

What I went through has allowed me to help other people save their marriages.

The 90s for me was the best era for clubbing. I was having a great time working as a DJ, loads of money and travelling the world, but I found that the crowds were getting younger and younger and less appreciative of the soulful, funky music I was playing, so I jacked it in.

I served 18 months in Northern Ireland and that was very scary. I remember when we were told do you want the good news or the bad news first. We wanted the good news – we’re going to Cyprus. The bad news? We’re going to Northern Ireland first. All the black blokes looked at each other and thought, ‘that’s really funny.’

Wilder is like a windmill, he’s rubbish, he’s one of the worst boxers going.

I started to go to areas where I shouldn’t have been, like in Dagenham where there was a lot of support for the National Front. I didn’t go looking for trouble, but I’d fight them.

That is what I do, I fight.

If my son rings me and needs help? I’m there. But otherwise? We are really close but I give him breathing space. If he needs me, I’m there for him. It’s inevitable that he will lose one day. But it’s about how he responds.

Before the McClellan fight, people were worried. Since that fight other people say I should quit but I think people should just keep their noses out of my business.

Wilder has only got a puncher’s chance. He can’t outbox Fury, Fury is like a magician when it comes to movement. He holds Wilder’s card, he can see his punches coming.

I want a bit of peace and quiet in my life after burning the candle at both ends.

No one ever really taught me anything. I am not being disrespectful to my trainers but they just wanted me to go out there and ‘get em Nige.’

In finding God and delivering his message I get more joy now than I ever did when I was boxing.

I had six brothers, we used to fight for breakfast, for food. I’m not going to be scared by anyone with two arms, two legs and a heart.

He is a loudmouth who cannot fight and has made a good living by criticising me. I want to shut Eubank’s mouth forever.

I’ve had a great career; they’ve put me in the Hall of Fame, and the WBC voted me the best super-middleweight with Joe Calzaghe, yet all I wanted was Southern Area champion. Maybe a shot at the British title.

I remember Conor saying to me when he was a young boy: ‘I’m never going to be like you, dad.’ And I said: ‘Thank you, son.’ And I hope he doesn’t end up like I did.

I dealt with the tragedies to Gerald McClellan and Michael Watson. I only had peace when I was away training.

If I thought I was going to lose I wouldn’t be in boxing.

I needed to show I was the best, and if you win titles, the money follows.