Evander Holyfield's speed bag odyssey:
Chip Mitchell: "Wow! Good story! Good story! Okay now, Evander, how did you get your start in boxing?"
Evander Holyfield: "Well I started at the Boys Clubs. At the age of eight years old, I wanted to hit the speed bag and this man said “YOU HAVE TO BE ON THE BOXING TEAM!” I told him I want to be on the boxing team and he said “NO!” So every day I would ask him. Eventually I wore him out! (Chuckles) So he let me come in and I wanted to hit that speed bag. He told me no and told me to hit the heavy bag. I hit the heavy bag and I knocked the skin off my knuckles, but I kept hitting it. He said, “You’re bleeding”. I said ‘I know it’ and I just kept on and he said “No, no, no, no. Come on, come, come on, and let me get this blood off your hands”. Then he said, “You tough ain’t you?” I told him ‘YES’! Then said “Don’t you know you can be heavyweight champion of the world?” I looked at him, you know, because he’s an older white guy and my mother always told me to respect my elders. I said ‘I’m eight years old’. He said, “You won’t always be eight”. And I believed him because I knew the next week I would be nine. So he asked me what did I think and I said I was only 65 pounds. He said, “You won’t always be 65 pounds”. So I looked at him and he said, “What’s next”. I asked him what the heavyweight champion is. I didn’t know nothing about no boxing. He said, “You don’t know what the heavyweight champion is?” He asked me if I ever heard of Muhammad Ali. I said yeah. He asked how I knew him and I told him they had Black History week and they talk about him. He told me that I could be just like him. That’s the first man, outside of my mother telling me, that I could be something worth being. And that’s how it started."
Chip Mitchell: "Wow! Good story! Good story! Okay now, Evander, how did you get your start in boxing?"
Evander Holyfield: "Well I started at the Boys Clubs. At the age of eight years old, I wanted to hit the speed bag and this man said “YOU HAVE TO BE ON THE BOXING TEAM!” I told him I want to be on the boxing team and he said “NO!” So every day I would ask him. Eventually I wore him out! (Chuckles) So he let me come in and I wanted to hit that speed bag. He told me no and told me to hit the heavy bag. I hit the heavy bag and I knocked the skin off my knuckles, but I kept hitting it. He said, “You’re bleeding”. I said ‘I know it’ and I just kept on and he said “No, no, no, no. Come on, come, come on, and let me get this blood off your hands”. Then he said, “You tough ain’t you?” I told him ‘YES’! Then said “Don’t you know you can be heavyweight champion of the world?” I looked at him, you know, because he’s an older white guy and my mother always told me to respect my elders. I said ‘I’m eight years old’. He said, “You won’t always be eight”. And I believed him because I knew the next week I would be nine. So he asked me what did I think and I said I was only 65 pounds. He said, “You won’t always be 65 pounds”. So I looked at him and he said, “What’s next”. I asked him what the heavyweight champion is. I didn’t know nothing about no boxing. He said, “You don’t know what the heavyweight champion is?” He asked me if I ever heard of Muhammad Ali. I said yeah. He asked how I knew him and I told him they had Black History week and they talk about him. He told me that I could be just like him. That’s the first man, outside of my mother telling me, that I could be something worth being. And that’s how it started."
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