Michael Buffer

“I actually gave Mike Tyson his 'Iron Mike' nickname.”

“One of my favourite fighters to watch ever, and of course before I was a ring announcer, was Muhammad Ali.”

“After making my notes in the afternoon, I usually visit the fighters in their dressing rooms before they go out. I check what colour trunks they'll be wearing and sometimes the pronunciation of their names, particularly if they're from eastern Europe or Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia. I'll make sure I write those out phonetically.”

“If you were to make a commercial, or do a magazine ad that says 'let's get ready to rumble' to draw attention to your product, you've stolen my property.”

“I looked at motor racing in America where at the Indy 500 the drivers are told 'gentlemen start your engines' and the crowd go wild because they know the race is about to start. I needed a hook and came up with 'let's get ready to rumble.'”

“The heavyweight division is the division that historically always drives boxing. It's the flagship. That's because even if a guy is a big underdog, one punch turns everything around.”

“It's one thing to practise in front of a mirror at home, but another to do it in front of 800 people or on live TV.”

“One of the great moments for me was Riddick Bowe defeating Evander Holyfield to win the world heavyweight title. That was a night when you thought, 'Woah, this guy is special.' But then after that Riddick never really fulfilled his potential.”

“I do a lot of fights in the U.K., and the fans there, I have to admit probably, are the best in the world because they support their fighters.”

“There's a lot of luck involved in getting married to the right woman.”

“I think it would be great to start a Super Bowl off with, 'The players are ready, the field is ready, let's get ready to rumble.'”

“I've done quite a few gigs for the military. Some of them had to be kept under the wire. I'm a three year Army veteran myself, and I'm always available to do stuff like that. I've even done some things for the British military, too.”

“The night of Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao. I woke up that morning with a very, very bad case of laryngitis and couldn't speak at all. I had no voice. And I was able, just by having chicken soup and barley and salt water, to have just enough for that one fight.”