on June 16, and Klitschko for his title-retaining sixth-round knockout win against Tony Thompson in their July 7 rematch. Steward kept his usual busy schedule through the summer, training middleweight contender Andy Lee - who lived with Steward - for his loss to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. "He brought the very, very best out of me," Hearns once said of his trainer. Steward was most closely identified with his work with three superstar fighters: multi-divisional world champion Thomas Hearns, who was with Steward from the beginning former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis and reigning heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko. He often took fighters in to live with him in his Detroit home, training them by day and parenting them by night. Training fighters was not just a job for Steward. As a cornerman, he commanded respect because of his strategic genius and for having the knack of saying the right thing at the right time during the heat of battle.įighters also loved him for his generosity and for the father-figure role he often played in their lives. Often called the Godfather of Detroit boxing, Steward was a beloved figure because of his outgoing personality, seemingly endless energy to talk about boxing with anyone who would approach him and his dedication to his fighters. Victoria Kirton, Steward's executive assistant, told The Associated Press that Steward died in a Chicago hospital Thursday afternoon. A younger generation of boxing fans knew him as an expert analyst on HBO's boxing telecasts. Steward, who also managed many of the fighters he trained, worked with more than two dozen champions during his decades-long career.
EMANUEL STEWARD TRAINED UPGRADE
Other British greats trained by Steward, who was inducted into the International Hall of Fame in 1996, are former light-heavyweight world champion Dennis Andries and former featherweight world champion Naseem Hamed.You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browserĮmanuel Steward, revered as one of the best trainers in boxing history and whose Kronk Gym symbolized Detroit's gritty, blue-collar boxing scene and produced numerous world champions, died Thursday after a short illness.
Steward's roster of fighters reads like a who's who of boxing greats, with Wilfred Benitez, Julio Cesar Chavez, Oscar de la Hoya, Evander Holyfield, Mike McCallum and James Toney also trained by him. Steward was immediately enlisted by Wladimir Klitschko and, having lost his WBO belt to Corrie Sanders in 2003, the Ukrainian became world champion again in 2006.
Steward linked up with Lennox Lewis following the British heavyweight's defeat by Oliver McCall in 1994 and the partnership endured until Lewis's retirement in 2004. Under Steward, Hearns became the first boxer to win world titles in five weight divisions and engaged in classic fights with Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran and Marvin Hagler.
EMANUEL STEWARD TRAINED PRO
Having built the Kronk into an amateur boxing super-power, Hearns and Kenty came close to making the 1976 Olympic team.Īnd in March 1980, Kenty became Steward's first pro world champion when he won the WBA lightweight crown, also becoming the first world champion from Detroit since heavyweight great Joe Louis decades earlier. Steward, who had been suffering from colon cancer, was perhaps most closely associated with Hearns, whom he first trained as an amateur at the fabled Kronk. Steward handled more world champions than any other trainer, 43 in all. He made his name as a trainer at the Kronk gym in Detroit and Hilmer Kenty became his first world champion in 1980, followed by Hearns the same year. It was announced at 8:29pm this evening that Boxing Legend Emanuel Steward, who trained legendary fighters Thomas Hearns, Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko among many others, died at the age of 68.Īs an amateur boxer, Steward won 94 of his 97 fights and a National Golden Gloves bantamweight title in 1963.
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