How significant was what happened at Seoul ’88 in shaping your career?
It was very significant, because if that didn’t happen to me, the rest may not have happened. But what happened, happened. It drove me for a long time. It drove me a whole lot, because being that I had gotten robbed, it pushed me to a place that I didn’t want to go – that I wouldn’t have gone if it was me by myself. You feel me?
I came to peace with it when I became [WBA] heavyweight champion of the world [by beating John Ruiz in 2003]. When I became heavyweight champion of the world, I made history, so I was good… I probably never got to peace.
How much do you owe your father, Roy Snr, for your success?
A lot. He taught me about great foundations, so I owe him a lot. Those great foundations carried me a long way.
What’s your relationship with him like today?
We don’t have a relationship today. It made me a lot different [as a father] and me and my [six] kids are a lot closer [than me and my father were] because of what I went through. It made me better, because I knew what to do and what not to do with my own.
[But] what is meant
