Ht: 6-2 Wt: 210

DOB: March 26, 1960 In: San Diego, CA

Childhood Heroes: “Muhammad Ali. (Meet him?) First time I met him he was at San Diego State, he was doing some pre-fight publicity there. I had an opportunity to meet him there. I think I was maybe 10-11 years old. Just shook his hand.”

Nicknames: “None I can really think of right now.”

Hobbies/Leisure Activities: “I’m a big golfer. I love golf. Love chess. Very few people play chess. Played tennis a long time ago, don’t play any more.”

Favorite Movies: “Oh gosh man, there’s a lot of them. Hard to pin down. I’d have to say sports films – let’s say Hoosiers. Brian’s Song. Field Of Dreams I really liked a lot. I’m sure I’m missing some.”

Musical Tastes: “I’m not into [laughs]. I’m into all music. I have an appreciation for all music.”

Favorite Meal: “Breakfast. I love pancakes, man [laughs]. Pineapple upside down pancakes. You gotta go in Hawaii to get ‘em.”

Favorite Breakfast Cereal: “Granola.”

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “Chunky Monkey, man [smiles].”

Early Football Memory: “Ten years old, played Pop Warner football. I was a defensive back. And they never challenged me [smiles]. They’d run my way a few times in a game, then they figured out that wasn’t a good thing to do, so.”

Greatest Sports Moment: “That’s kind of hard to say. I’ve had so many of them. I guess really just playing my final game. For me, personally, a culmination of a long dream of playing in the NFL. And excelling at it, the level I wanted to. Because it was my last game of my professional career. That’s what I had set out to do as a kid. Just a great moment because I realized everything that I wanted to do. And that day was a special day because I was no longer gonna do what I wanted to do.”

Most Painful Moment: “Really didn’t have any. No painful moments. There’s no such thing as pain and failure in my world. By virtue of trying to succeed. And so every time I went out there, I succeeded, where most people were afraid to attempt to do. The journey, beginning and end, was great. Even what people consider painful moments with the Raiders and so forth. It was all a wonderful journey. Great experience. Learned a lot. Benefited from all those things. So there’s no pain whatsoever. It’s all perspective.”

Closest NFL Friends: “I’ve got a lot. Ronnie Lott is probably my best friend.”

Toughest Competitors Encountered: “It’s always yourself, man. It’s the one challenge. It’s really never the guys that you face. It’s about you. It’s about you excelling every single day. Crossing that line that you haven’t crossed before. Biggest challenge is self. Never the opponent. All due respect to all the players that I played against. It was me.”

Favorite Athletes To Watch: “I like to watch all the running backs. I have a lot of favorite players. I’m a fan of all the guys that are playing. I don’t choose one particular team. I have friends who play for all teams so I just sort of pull for the individual rather than the team. I’m a big tennis fan. I like all of them.”

People Qualities Most Admired: “Intellect. Courage. My two biggest qualities I admire most in people.”

Career Accomplishments: Super Bowl MVP 1983; Super Bowl Champion with Raiders in 1983; 1981 Heisman Trophy winner at USC; Six Pro Bowl appearances; Rushed for 12,243 yards, caught 587 passes and scored 145 touchdowns; inducted to NFL Hall of Fame in 2003.

Ht: 6-2 Wt: 176

DOB: May 22, 1987 In: Belgrade, Serbia

Tennis Heroes: “Well, Pete Sampras, he was always my idol. I always liked his game even if I don’t have the same game as he does. I liked his attitude and the way he played. The way he act on the court I like a lot. He was concentrated a lot during all the matches. And he was playing the best tennis on the very important points, during the very important matches. That’s what I liked about Pete Sampras. That’s why he was always my idol. He finished his tennis career – I’m really sorry that I didn’t have a chance to meet him and to play with him. But I hope in the next two years I will have a chance to meet him. And since he finished the tennis, I like a lot Federer’s game and Safin. Safin actually played, not same, but similar game to mine – very aggressive and using all the opportunities. I had the chance to play against Safin in Australian Open and it was a great moment and a great experience, my first appearance on the big center court.”

Tennis Inspirations: “A win. The feeling of winning a match or winning a tournament. The feeling of winning a tennis match is irreplacable.”

Favorite Movies: “Yeah, I’m a movie watcher. I like all kinds of movies, action and thrillers, drama and horror. The favorite one – maybe Pulp Fiction is one of the best.”

Musical Tastes: “I’m a music fan also like everybody. For me, it is also important the company you have. When you are going out, company that’s around you, then you don’t really pay attention to music so much. I like R&B, house music, I don’t like actually Serbian music, our music, so I’m not a big fan of this. So I’m listening to American, R&B, hip-hop, reggae, house. I like all kinds. Also classical sometimes when I need to relax.”

Favorite Meal: “As a tennis player I have to eat a lot because I expend a lot of energy. Mostly during the day I’m eating pasta. So this is one of my favorite meals. But I also like a lot of chicken with mashed potatoes, and some salad. That’s like my favorite [laughs].”

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “Well, I like a lot of chocolate. I have to admit that. I like sweets a lot. So I like chocolate ice cream.”

First Tennis Memory: “Yeah sure, I remember I started when I was four. My father owns a restaurant in one mountain in our country. And when I was four they were making three tennis courts in front of my restaurant. And I was helping them to make these courts. And I was interested a lot because no one in my family ever played tennis. My father was a professional skier. My mother was also skiing. And he also played soccer and wallyball, a lot of different sports, but not tennis. So I was the first to start playing tennis when I was four. The first coach, Jelena Gencic, she teach me how to play tennis and how to act on the court. She teach me a lot. This was very important to have a good coach in the period when I was seven years old to eleven. And I was really lucky to have her.”

Pre-Match Feeling: “Well, I try not to think too much because I want to be focused for the match. Before the match I do the usual warmup, stretching. I need 30-45 minutes to prepare all my racquets and everything. I’m thinking…mostly I’m speaking with my coach about what tactics we should prepare for this player. Think tactics, strategy, how I should act on the court, what should I use more. These kinds of things. I try not to think too much. I just go out on the court and do my best. I have more motivation to play and to win more Grand Slams – now more than ever, that I know that I can actually, you know, perform equally well on any surface, that I have equal chances on any Grand Slam that I play. So this is something that gives me a lot of desire.”

Early ATP Memories: “I have a few moments that I like. At Wimbledon when I reached the third round in 2005 was really great. In second round I saved five match points from 0-2, I came to 3-2 to win. This was a great moment. And this was really important match for me. Because when I won the match I got to top 100. So this was really nice feeling. And also the fact that I played the first time on the grass. So that’s really nice, I like Wimbledon a lot.”

Greatest Sports Moment: “Well, since I started the professional tennis I had great moments, I don’t have exactly the one moment. Winning Wimbledon was my dream. Becoming #1. Winning the Australian Open in 2008 and this year and winning the Davis Cup for Serbia was a very nice moment.”

Most Painful Moment “Well, I cannot say that I really had a painful tennis moment that I wanted to quit tennis or something like that. I hope that I will not have. Probably being injured or not feeling 100% healthy. But I never had any really like painful moments.”

Favorite Tournaments: “I like Australia and Wimbledon a lot. I like the grand slams. And I like to play Belgrade.”

Funny Tennis Memory: “I like to watch McEnroe playing. He was really funny on the court. And Safin, when he would throw the racquet when he was really nervous. And it was really fun watching Yannick Noah. I like watching the old matches when I was really a baby. And McEnroe was really funny.”

Embarrassing Tennis Memory: “Well, when I lost to one guy from Serbia actually. It was about seven or eight years ago when I was first in Europe. I lost to this guy and it was really embarrassing because everybody expected me to win easily, so.”

Closest Tennis Friends: “I’m really in good relationship with everybody. So I’m trying to keep it that way. I’m really good friends with Janko Tipsarevic and the players from my country.”

Funniest Players Encountered: “I don’t know. Everybody is funny. I don’t put out one. John McEnroe made me laugh.”

Toughest Competitors Encountered: “Well, all the players are tough to play against, everybody is trying their best to win the match.”

People Qualities Most Admired: “Just I like people who have a lot of sense of humor. And who are very honest. I like nice people, like really honest person, who can be good friends of yours. It’s really difficult because every where you go you meet a lot of people and it’s difficult to find your friend. Like real honest friends.”

“I wasn’t a boxer, I was a wrestler in school. My first memory of boxing is my son Derek fighting when he was eight. He lost his first few fights but he boxed for ten years, over 100 fights, went to Nationals a couple of times, but decided he wanted to go to college. Today he’s an independent contractor, he writes logistics software for the government.”

“One of the greatest fights I ever attended was Pernell Whitaker against Julio Cesar Chavez, being in that corner for that fight. There was over 60,000 people.. My wife told me going into that fight she had a dream and it was going to be a draw. The odds of being a draw were like 100-1 or something. I said, No way. It’s a Don King promotion. If it’s a draw they’ll give it to Chavez. But I didn’t imagine that Whitaker would dominate him like that. And they made it a draw to keep him from getting beat. That was a great moment. I never saw so many people leave an arena so quickly and quietly. When the decision was announced, nobody applauded or booed, they just got up and left. That was a great performance by Pernell.”

“Pernell always expected to beat Chavez easy. One thing about Pernell, when you stepped into the ring with him, that was his office. One of the most amazing fights I saw was him against Julio Cesar Vasquez at 154. I thought he may have bitten off a little more than he could chew. The guy was big, strong and he was a southpaw. I remember he hit Pernell – I actually saw his toes come up off the mat a little bit. And he came to finish it and Pernell staggered him. I don’t know where the power came from but he cracked him. And he beat him. I couldn’t believe it. He told me right after, ‘I’m back down to ’47. I don’t belong here. Guy’s too big.’ He’s probably the greatest fighter I had the privilege to work with. He was something.”

“Pernell was shy. I don’t think he disliked the media, he just did his thing. Maybe a little shy around people he didn’t know.”

“The worst moment was Andrew Golota hitting Riddick Bowe in the balls. The second fight. That was painful because he had him beat. There was no reason to do that. But something clicked and he got angry and hit him again. That was bad. Not for me. I think it was painful for Andrew and everybody involved because we knew he could beat him and he was. Actually, the referee gave Bowe brain damage. He should have stopped the fight. Andrew never got that belt. If you get that belt – even if you only hold it for one fight, at least you can say you were world champion. I would have loved to see Andrew win a world title.”

“Why didn’t Andrew win a title? I’m a boxing trainer, not a psychiatrist. I don’t feel qualified to answer that but there was something in his personality that allowed him to make mistakes at the wrong time.”

“People don’t realize this business is full of comedians. You go to the gym some days laughing, not because the guys to stupid things but because they’re witty. You might see anything happen in the gym. You see guys do so many things – there’s a lot you can’t speak of [smiles]. One that I can tell…I remember one time John John Molina, Lou (Duva) told him to go to the Holiday Inn at the red light. And he was gone quite a while. And another Holiday Inn called and said, I think we have one of your fighters down here. We went down and picked him up. It was like five miles from where we started. We said, Why didn’t you go to the red light? He goes, They were all green. He didn’t stop till he got to a red light, he said every light was green [smiles]. I mean, there’s a million stories like that.”

“I met Mike Tyson when he was 17. He was fighting in the Golden Gloves in St. Louis at the national tournament. I had the honor of gloving him. At first when I called his name, I didn’t know who Mike Tyson was, he was still in the amateurs. We called his name. When I first looked at him, my first impression was, Too short. Too thick. He was a fast heavyweight. Then I watched him go in that night. It was about 11 that first night. And he knocked the guy out in about 30 seconds with a left hook. Next night he was fighting a guy from Pennsylvania, big guy, looked like a lumberjack. Same thing. About 30 seconds, left hook, it was over. Third night, left hook, it was over, first round. I called my friends. You gotta take a look at this kid. This kid is gonna be world champion.”

“Tyson was very nice. My fighter Eddie Hopson had a similar story to his. He turned 17 the day before the Olympic Trials. I had two guys that year that both beat Kelcie Banks who was a three-time world champion amateur. And they didn’t want either one to go because they didn’t have any international experience. And the international judges didn’t know them. So they screwed Eddie twice. Kelcie went over and got knocked out in the first round. But because of that, everything happens for a reason. Because of that Mike invited Eddie and I out to his house when he was living in New Jersey. Eddie was born on his birthday and they didn’t let Tyson go to the Olympics. It was really nice, a great experience for Eddie and me. Mike’s a regular guy, he’s always been courteous to me and my wife. I’ve seen him there up at Big Bear. I never had a problem with Mike. I think he’s a misunderstood young man. I think a lot of his image was manufactured. When you try to manufacture the image, sometimes they try to liven it up. The thing that impresses me about Mike Tyson – I saw him on Larry King Live – he’s so honest. Even to the point that sometimes he’s brutally honest about himself. But I understood why he’s doing that. He had to overcome certain things in his life in order to be at the point that he is in his life now. And I think he’s happy with himself now. He’s at peace. I saw him in The Hangover. I think he has some artistic talents.”

“I think the general consensus is it’s a weak era because nobody has solidified the belts. The Klitschkos happen to be very good for this time because they’re very big men. Ali, Foreman, Louis were great fighters. There might not be any Ali or Frazier’s around now, if they were around now I’m not so sure that the Klitschkos would fight ‘em. I think the public has a general perception the Klitschkos are picking and choosing their fights, to perpetuate their tenure in office, if you want to put it that way.”

“I think Tomasz is very close to being ready to beat Wladimir or Vitali. He needs more work on the head movement, foot movement, lateral movement. Because you don’t know what they’re going to bring into the game. Sometimes they’re gonna come in and box, sometimes they come in and attack. He has to be prepared for everything. I knew Tomasz’s work ethic was very good. I guess maybe his intelligence is the most surprising thing. Not that fighters aren’t intelligent – some are more intelligent. He learns very quickly. And he’s adapting really well. When you tell him something, he goes away and thinks about it, he comes back – he might do it in his own style – but he’s learning very quickly. In some respects, Tomasz is better than Golota. I think he might be a little tougher mentally. But he’s not as big. But on the other hand, he’s much quicker. He’s very quick.”

“I’ve been blessed. I came in with Main Events when they were at the top. I got to work with so many good fighters. I’ve been blessed. I’ve had a great ride.”

Status: One of the world’s most prolific and best-known artists.

Hobbies/interests: “Exercise moderately. My work is my life. I have to keep in shape to paint … it’s a performance. Boxing is my real passion. I can go to ballet, theatre, movies, or other sporting events … and nothing is like the fights to me. I’m excited by the visual beauty of it. A boxer can look so spectacular by doing a good job.”

First job: “Army chef.”

LeRoy Neiman: “The process of art is a dream in itself.”

Favorite movies: “Gone with the Wind, Casablanca, On the Waterfront, Beauty and the Beast (1946 French version by Jean Cocteau).”

Musical tastes: “I enjoy all music … classical, Vivaldi, Verdi, Chopin, jazz, Duke, Count, Diz.”

Favorite meal: “Depends on the restaurant … cannelloni at Harry Cipriani’s. Crab cakes at ‘21′ Club. Bourride at the Cafe des Artistes. And chocolate souffle at Le Cirque. I’ve got about 15 restaurants that I eat at consistently. Eating is one of the great beauties in life. One of my favorite recreations … eating with friends, the service, the ambience.”

Favorite breakfast cereal: “Oatmeal or cream of wheat.”

Favorite ice cream flavor: “Praline.”

Greatest career moment: “There’s no greatest moment in the arts. It’s a life, it’s a continuity thing. You can’t have a great moment because it’s spiritual. It’s a belief, it’s a calling. If you’re an artist, doing your own thing on your own, it’s while you’re doing it that counts. It’s a process. If you get too elated, you can get too depressed. What you’ve got to do is maintain the control of your surface that you’re working on whether it’s canvas or paper. I don’t have any high points. Because the high points are within the doing, the process.”

Most painful moment: “The moment that I learned the most from.”

Most treasured possession: “My independence, my health, to be myself. There are few objects that I care about owning.”

Funny career memory: “I did a two-man exhibition with Salvador Dali many years ago. And they wanted to take a photograph of both of us together. The photographer wanted me to get rid of my cigar. And Dali, a man of few words, overruled and said, ‘No … (it’s a) good prop [laughs].”

Ali memory: “The time I was in the dressing room with Ali and Angelo (Dundee) before one of his fights. And Ali asked Angelo to turn off the lights, because he wanted to see if I could sketch in the dark [laughs].”

Embarrassing career moment: “[Pause] Humiliating, I’d say … you gotta shake those memories. I’m not gonna talk about that [smiles].”

Favorite athletes to watch: “Bernard Hopkins. Oscar De La Hoya. Mike Tyson. (NBA?) Allen Iverson — my all-time favorite. Because he has retained his background and he’s a real competitor. And he’s very, very, very good. And I think the new kid LeBron James — he’s great. He shows greatness very early. He’s got a long time to excel. My favorite in the old days was Wilt. Wilt was my man. (NFL?) My football is based on my hopes for Eli Manning. I’d like to see him do it for the Giants. (MLB?) Hideki Matsui. Derek Jeter. Jose Reyes. (Tennis?) Venus Williams. Venus is the first woman who I feel plays with grace and beauty. (Golf?) Right now I’m projecting. Because I’ve just been commissioned to paint the 2008 Ryder Cup in Louisville. So I’m going to watch that stuff pretty closely. I have hopes for (Sergio) Garcia. I like him. It’s unanimous who the best player is. Don’t have to mention that [smiles]. It goes without saying. There’s a lot of good great players.”

Favorite vacation spot: “I don’t take vacations. But I consider it a vacation when I go to Vegas. I do commissions there. I think Las Vegas offers more distraction than anyplace I know of.”

Childhood dream(s): “No, I never had any dreams. The process of art is a dream in itself. The artist just doesn’t … you work out something. It’s yours. You don’t have to go to sleep to do that. You do that on the canvas.”

People qualities most admired: “A person who gives their very best effort to excel in whatever they do. And the result of that should be a benefit to others, as well as to themselves and their own example.”