Muhammad Ali was Holyfield's inspiration from time he started

After learning Friday that Muhammad Ali unfortunately wouldn't be with us much longer, I phoned Evander Holyfield, knowing the impact Ali had on him from long before his career started. I shared a special memory of Holyfield's from the 1996 Olympic touch lighting, as well as my own reflections and my contact with Ali, in a full column on MyAJC.com, which is linked here.

Ali and Holyfield were different in many ways, both in boxing styles and their personalities outside the ring. But they were alike in that both competed as light heavyweights in the Olympics and were widely viewed as undersized for the heavyweight division as professionals. Both also had the toughness and determination to succeed regardless.

"I just remember going to the Boys Club and it took so long for the boxing coach to even come up to me," Holyfield said. "But he saw how tough I was and he came up to talk to me and he said, 'You know, you can be like Muhammad Ali.'  And I said, 'I’m only eight years old.' He told me, 'You won't always be eight,' and that's how it started. He asked me, 'Do you know who Muhammad Ali is?' and I said, 'Yes, I know Muhammad Ali and I know Jackie Robinson because I learned about them in Black History Week.' And then he told me again I can be Muhammad Ali and I ran home and I said, 'Momma, this white man said I can be Muhammad Ali!' and she started laughing."