EMANUEL STEWARD TRAINED PROFESSIONAL

But then he moved on and trained an English heavyweight champion, a Ukrainian heavyweight champion and an Irish middleweight. 'What tells you a lot about the man he was is that he made a tremendous mark in his early days training what one would think was his natural constituency, black American fighters in the middle weight classes.

But he is the man who groomed Thomas Hearns and who built an iconic inner city gym in the working class capital of America. He's my best friend and it's on a personal level I have the most appreciation for him. That's the central element of his identity. If there was ever someone who stayed the same despite gaining fame, that person was Emanuel Steward.Īlthough he passed away too soon, the boxing world can at least continue to recognize and spread the knowledge that he so openly shared.'He's going to be most known as one of the greatest trainers in the history of the sport. And I say that not just in regards to his boxing knowledge, but also the way that he carried himself and treated others. In summary, it is safe to say that we can all learn from Emanuel Steward’s wisdom and experience.

EMANUEL STEWARD TRAINED PROFESSIONAL

Throughout his career, he continued to develop amateur and professional champions. As for results, Emanuel Steward’s track record speaks for itself. The sport itself was the primary emphasis (along with excellent coaching of course). The approach was simple yet highly effective. On non-sparring days, there was mitt work and then more of the same. After sparring, there was work on the heavy bag, speed bag, and plenty of calisthenics. Sparring was the most important aspect of camp. While we were in camp, the emphasis on boxing was as apparent as ever. Manny’s philosophy was perhaps best summarized with this single line,Īlthough the quotes above came from 1981, I can testify to the fact that Manny’s approach did not change. You can train and work on the speed bag and heavy bag, but when you get in the ring with another fighter, it’s a different story.” “If there is one abiding theme in the gym, it’s the withering work in the ring. Everything was secondary to lacing up the gloves and boxing.įor instance, in one past interview, Manny stated the following, If you trained under Manny Steward, you were going to spend a lot of time inside the ring. One of the biggest changes he made to Klitschko when he began training him was to get him boxing more. He acted like he was just another guy in the gym.Īs for Steward’s approach to training, he was a huge advocate of getting fighters to spend more time boxing. You would have never guessed that this man was known around the world. He was obviously extremely knowledgeable, but there wasn’t even the slightest sign of ego. It was a tremendous opportunity that I will never forget. The brief video below highlights these qualities, as well as his endless devotion to the sport (amateur boxing in particular).īack in 2008, I was fortunate to be in training camp with Emanuel Steward for a few weeks while Wladimir Klitschko prepared for his bout with Sultan Ibragimov. Yet, no matter how much recognition Steward gained, he remained as humble and down to earth as anyone you will ever meet. More recently, Steward was known for his tremendous work with heavyweight champions Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko. His small Kronk gym became home to numerous world champions. It is where Steward first gained fame through his work with Thomas Hearns. Manny Steward was known by many as the Godfather of Detroit boxing. Before passing away in 2012, Manny Steward developed several amateur and professional champions. To no surprise, one of the trainers involved in that bout was the legendary Emanuel Steward. That 1976 National Golden Gloves championship match is one of the best amateur fights you’ll ever see. Within that article, I shared a classic amateur bout between Thomas Hearns and Aaron Pryor. A few weeks ago, I wrote an entry that emphasized the importance of amateur boxing (see here).

Emanuel steward trained