It's a lot of suburban kids,' Steward said. Per the Houston Chronicle, the gym, which has produced more than 30 world champions, was pondering moving the facility to a suburb of Detroit. Steward's Kronk Gym in Detroit, Mich., became a symbol of boxing excellence in the 1980s. Other stars, such as Oscar De La Hoya, Wilfred Benitez, Miguel Cotto, Naseem Hamed and Milton McCrory, have been trained by Steward during their careers. He cultivated the careers of legends like Thomas Hearns and Lennox Lewis. More often than not, Steward got them there.He was a successful amateur boxer before becoming a legendary trainer. Fighters came to Manny when they wanted to reach that next level. You could tell similar stories about any of the dozens of fighters the Kronk leader advised and trained during his career.

It was an incredible reign engineered by one of boxing’s greatest architects. Klitschko beat Wach, along with another five challengers, before coming unstuck against Tyson Fury in 2015. Steward passed away at the age of 68.īut Klitschko lived on as one of Steward’s many incredible gifts to boxing. Tragically, he would never accompany his illustrious charge to the ring again. It was announced in the build-up to Klitschko’s 2012 fight with Mariusz Wach that Steward would be unable to corner his fighter as he was recovering for a bowel operation. It must have tasted extra sweet considering ‘Hayemaker’ had lobbied for the fight by wearing a t-shirt depicting himself decapitating Wladimir and his brother, Vitali. Klitschko handed WBA champion David Haye a demoralising beating. Perhaps the crowning glory of Steward and Klitschko’s time together came in 2011. Klitschko even course-corrected the mistakes that had him on the canvas against Peter, winning a rematch against him by knockout. There were wins over former champions Hasim Rahman and Ruslan Chagaev. He formulated the punch-perfect gameplan to overwhelm WBO boss Sultan Ibragimov in a unification fight. Steward shepherded him through a revenge mission in which he knocked out Brewster. Klitschko 2.0 would utterly dominate the heavyweight division over the following decade. In 2006, he stopped the champion in seven ruthless rounds. In 2000, Klitschko had defeated the same opponent by unanimous decision to win the WBO championship. The improvements in the challenger were becoming clearer. There was a belt on the line for Klitschko too when he fought IBF champion Chris Byrd in his next bout. The Peter win aged incredibly well as ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ went on to reign as WBC heavyweight champion. He would not be knocked down again under Steward’s watch. Klitschko was awarded the unanimous decision. Peter won some battles but, at the end of 12 rounds, it was ‘Dr Steelhammer’ that won the war. Not only that, but he boxed brilliantly when he did so. But unlike against Sanders and Brewster, or in his first career loss to Ross Puritty, Klitschko kept getting up. Klitschko was knocked down three times over the course of the contest. The clubbing blows of the powerhouse took their toll, even if many of them did so on the back of the Ukrainian’s head. There were times in this dramatic heavyweight collision where it looked like Peter would make good on that promise. With Mike Tyson having retired just three months before Klitschko faced Peter, many were keen to anoint the Nigerian as the next incarnation of ‘Iron’ Mike. The 24-0 power puncher had racked up an extensive highlight reel of knockouts. Samuel Peter was one of the most feared men in the heavyweight division. Lewis’ rise to undisputed dominance would provide the blueprint for the Steward/Klitschko relationship.Īfter early wins over contenders DaVarryl Williamson and Eliseo Castillo, ‘Dr Steelhammer’ was ready to test his new-found style against a stiffer challenge. Under his stewardship, if you’ll pardon the pun, ‘The Lion’ had built his style around defensive genius, well-timed power shots and the best jab the heavyweight division had seen since Larry Holmes. Steward had coached the greatest heavyweight in recent memory, Lennox Lewis. Klitschko was knocked out in five rounds of a WBO heavyweight title fight with Lamon Brewster. Their first bout together could not have gone any worse. He won two warm-up bouts before enlisting Steward as his coach. Klitschko had suffered the upset of the year when being knocked out by Corrie Sanders in 2003. That was all in the distant future though.

Boxing emanuel steward