an interview with me. Just before the taping he told me he thought the decision was correct, and we debated it a little. It was a nice conversation, very friendly, no big deal, but once the cameras got rolling, Cosell reached deep into his legendary vocabulary and started hurling twenty-dollars words at me. I had no idea what he was asking me. Rather than look silly by answering questions he wasnât asking, I just shook my head. Cosell paused, because he hadnât asked a Yes-No question and didnât understand what I was doing, then he asked another one. That one I understood even less, so I shook my head again. He tried one more; same thing. Finally the director broke it off, and as I walked away he said, âWhatâs the matter with you?â
I pointed at Cosell. âHeâs using all of these big old words,â I explained, âand I donât know what heâs talking about.â It left Cosell and me feeling less than warm about each other, and the interview was never shown on television.
My next stop was the Golden Gloves in St. Louis, and thatâs where I met Mike Tyson for the first time. Although we werenât going to fight each otherâMike was in a higher weight classâwe were the top candidates for the âMost Outstanding Boxerâ title and badly wanted to outperform each other. The title went to the fighter who scored the most convincing wins. Mike won all five of his bouts, four by knockout. I won all five of mine as well, but knocked out every opponent. This didnât sit well with Mike, even though he was awarded the âMost Outstanding Boxerâ title anyway.
Then in June the Olympic trials were held in Fort Worth, Texas. This time it was Rickey Womackâs turn to beat me, but I wasnât out of the Olympics yet. Iâd beaten Sherman Griffin earlier so I still had a chance, but Iâd need to win a box-off just to get another shot at Rickey. The box-off was to be against Bennie Heard in Colorado, but he dropped out for some reason, and so it was down to Rickey and me for the top spot. To decide which of us would get to go to the Olympics, there would be yet another box-off a month later, July 7 and 8, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
The box-off was a tense competition for me because by that time Womack was ranked number one in the world, so in order for me to get the Olympic spot, I had to fight him twice, on consecutive days, and win both bouts. I did just that, making my next stop Gonzales, Texas, to train with the rest of the U.S. Olympic team. But the toughest part of the Olympicsâgetting thereâwas already over for me. No fighter I would go up against during the Games was as good a fighter as Womack.
But I wasnât ready to leave Las Vegas just yet. Mike Tyson was there for his own box-off, against Henry Tillman, and still hadnât forgotten my five knockouts at the Golden Gloves versus his four. As we were sitting together after the dayâs formal bouts were over, somebody said, âHey, wouldnât it be cool to see Mike and Evander go at it!â This despite the fact that Mike was in the heavyweight division and I was two categories smaller. But with a lot of urging from the other guys, Mike and I got into the ring together. It probably didnât help Mikeâs mood any that his Olympic Trials roommate, Rickey Womack, had just lost the Olympic spot to me. What was supposed to be âa little friendly sparringâ turned into such an all-out slugfest that an official ran over to call it off and warned us not to âsparâ with each other again.
Sadly, Mike lost two controversial decisions to Henry Tillman and didnât go to the Olympics.
After the trials, Howard Cosell wanted to interview me again, and promised that he wouldnât make me look bad. He was true to his word. We quickly became friends and he remained a supporter of mine for the remainder of his career.
When I arrived in Los
I pointed at Cosell. âHeâs using all of these big old words,â I explained, âand I donât know what heâs talking about.â It left Cosell and me feeling less than warm about each other, and the interview was never shown on television.
My next stop was the Golden Gloves in St. Louis, and thatâs where I met Mike Tyson for the first time. Although we werenât going to fight each otherâMike was in a higher weight classâwe were the top candidates for the âMost Outstanding Boxerâ title and badly wanted to outperform each other. The title went to the fighter who scored the most convincing wins. Mike won all five of his bouts, four by knockout. I won all five of mine as well, but knocked out every opponent. This didnât sit well with Mike, even though he was awarded the âMost Outstanding Boxerâ title anyway.
Then in June the Olympic trials were held in Fort Worth, Texas. This time it was Rickey Womackâs turn to beat me, but I wasnât out of the Olympics yet. Iâd beaten Sherman Griffin earlier so I still had a chance, but Iâd need to win a box-off just to get another shot at Rickey. The box-off was to be against Bennie Heard in Colorado, but he dropped out for some reason, and so it was down to Rickey and me for the top spot. To decide which of us would get to go to the Olympics, there would be yet another box-off a month later, July 7 and 8, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
The box-off was a tense competition for me because by that time Womack was ranked number one in the world, so in order for me to get the Olympic spot, I had to fight him twice, on consecutive days, and win both bouts. I did just that, making my next stop Gonzales, Texas, to train with the rest of the U.S. Olympic team. But the toughest part of the Olympicsâgetting thereâwas already over for me. No fighter I would go up against during the Games was as good a fighter as Womack.
But I wasnât ready to leave Las Vegas just yet. Mike Tyson was there for his own box-off, against Henry Tillman, and still hadnât forgotten my five knockouts at the Golden Gloves versus his four. As we were sitting together after the dayâs formal bouts were over, somebody said, âHey, wouldnât it be cool to see Mike and Evander go at it!â This despite the fact that Mike was in the heavyweight division and I was two categories smaller. But with a lot of urging from the other guys, Mike and I got into the ring together. It probably didnât help Mikeâs mood any that his Olympic Trials roommate, Rickey Womack, had just lost the Olympic spot to me. What was supposed to be âa little friendly sparringâ turned into such an all-out slugfest that an official ran over to call it off and warned us not to âsparâ with each other again.
Sadly, Mike lost two controversial decisions to Henry Tillman and didnât go to the Olympics.
After the trials, Howard Cosell wanted to interview me again, and promised that he wouldnât make me look bad. He was true to his word. We quickly became friends and he remained a supporter of mine for the remainder of his career.
When I arrived in Los
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