-On his maturity..."I've grown a lot since losing to Kostya Tszyu. I've had attitude adjustments. I'm 27 years old now and I feel older and wiser. I've been learning more and more each day through new experiences. I value my life more now, I take things more seriously. I guess I have settled down a little more since I'm married with children.

-His message to the other welterweight contenders... "If you want anything at 147, it's like they say in an old mafia movie, "you gotta come see me."

-On his future... "De la Hoya is the most intriguing fight, or the winner of Margarito-Cintron. I only want the big fights. No matter who it is, I'll give them a whuppin.

-On his perceived lack of respect... "It's key for me that the fans respect me, I think sometimes people look past me. People have only been talking about the guys who are moving back into the welterweight division (Mosley and Oscar).

-On Shane Mosley... "I think Shane is a shot fighter. He's trying to live on his past to keep people watching him. He ducked me for years at 135, and I know he moved up from 135 to avoid me.

-On life since winning the title... "Life's been beautiful, it's a dream come true. Now I know I got to try 10 times harder to keep the title.

-On the Margarito-Cintron fight... "You got two very unorthodox guys, it's a flip flop, people don't know too much about them. I don't know who will win, but I'll fight whoever wins.

-On the importance of his fight with Rivera... "This fight is as important as fighting Oscar or Shane, because if I lose there will be no Zab-Oscar or Zab-Shane.

-On how his father and himself have maintained their relationship, and broke apart like many other Father-son combos in Boxing... "We are like Batman and Robin. It's like that one marriage that actually works so well. He's my trainer in the gym, and outside he's my Dad."

4-19-2005