The reason sport is attractive to many of the general public is that it’s filled with reversals. What you think may happen doesn’t happen. A champion is beaten, an unknown becomes a champion. – Roger Bannister
Ali and I have become friends over the years. I was on a plane with him one time when he was the champion. – Robert Goulet
What does it take to be a champion? Desire, dedication, determination, concentration and the will to win. – Patty Berg
A lot of people, once they become champion, they relax, kind of sit in the position and try to enjoy it. But I feel like everything I’ve ever worked for could be lost at any moment. I work harder and harder and harder, because I want to be farther ahead with every fight, and not worrying about these girls catching up to me. – Ronda Rousey
What could be better than walking down any street in any city and knowing you’re the heavyweight champion of the world? – Rocky Marciano
While the Super Bowl still smashes records for butts in the seats, eSports often run longer and never blinks. There’s no commercial break. There’s no halftime show. From start to finish, someone is going to walk home a champion, and you don’t want to miss a second of it. – Rob Manuel
First of all I thought it was ugly, I thought it was ridiculous that undercover police guys would drive a striped tomato and I’ve never been a big champion of Ford. – Paul Michael Glaser
I’m the former lightweight champion. I want to fight one of the top guys. I don’t want to fight a guy who isn’t ranked. – Rafael dos Anjos
I think titles are important to your career. Whether you reign as champion for a long time or just have it for the time being, to be part of a company and be their champion is always good to have on your resume. – Rey Mysterio
Finishing overall champion at the World Series in both the individual and synchro events has given me great confidence and I’m pleased I’ve been diving with consistency. – Tom Daley
I set out in the beginning to be the heavyweight champion of the world. From a very young age, I was going to be the heavyweight champion of the world. Nothing else was a problem to me. That’s what I’ll finish doing. – Tyson Fury
When we did ‘The Office,’ no one knew who we were, so it was easy to champion us; you could own us. Once you become successful, people don’t have that any more, so it becomes more polarised. Some people want to champion you, and others want to slag you off. It doesn’t concern me. – Stephen Merchant
I’m playing right now a role, and the role is called the ‘Heavyweight Champion of the World.’ And it takes all of the time. And I love this role, and it takes a lot of attention for me for the sport, and I just don’t want to lose the title, so that’s why I have to stay focused and not become an actor. – Wladimir Klitschko
I’m not like a champion of profanity. I write what I hear, and the characters that I write, that’s how they talk. That’s how I talk a lot of the time. So I’m not trying to advance a social cause. – Stephen Adly Guirgis
Junior Dos Santos is one of the best heavyweight fighters of all time, and he has proven it by being a champion. That is something that I want to be in my career, and I understand to achieve that, I have to beat guys like him. – Stipe Miocic
Boxing is a sport, but it’s also entertainment. I wanted to transcend the sport and be considered just not as a fighter, or a champion, but someone very special. – Sugar Ray Leonard
I feel like it’s harder because everyone knows I’m the three-time world champion – it’s almost like people are waiting for something bad to happen. – Simone Biles
A perfect record does not mean that someone is the greatest. Rocky Marciano never lost a fight, but I never hear anyone say he’s the greatest heavyweight champion of all time. – Steve Sabol
That was the fight. I knew that I had done something that no man had been able to do to a champion. – Thomas Hearns
For me, I’m focused on what I want to do. I know what I need to do to be a champion, so I’m working on it. – Usain Bolt
So, I didn’t say we are going to win a lot, but we are going to play like winners, and we’ve got a plan in place to teach our guys how to play like winners and play like a champion. – Steve Spurrier
Boxing is a dying sport, really. Years ago, the world heavyweight champion could be said to have reached the highest pinnacle of sport. Even in this country, boxers were heroes. Think of Henry Cooper and Frank Bruno. – Tyson Fury
I can’t even imagine what it’s like and right now I’m like in shock, I can’t believe that I’m Olympic Champion. – Tara Lipinski
I never started in boxing to be a British champion or a world champion. There are loads of world champions in Britain, and if you mention them to someone out there on the street, nobody knows who they are. – Tyson Fury