Which boxing coach/trainer do you believe is or has been the most successful? And why?
I name that always pops in my mind is Cus d'Amato.
Hoping for your insights, friends!
;D
Printable View
Which boxing coach/trainer do you believe is or has been the most successful? And why?
I name that always pops in my mind is Cus d'Amato.
Hoping for your insights, friends!
;D
There have been some great great trainers out there:
We talk about the Charley Goldmans, Chappie Blackburns, Ray Arcels and the Angelo Dundees .... and they were indeed great trainers, but (for me) they had their single biggest success with one fighter (Marciano, Louis, Duran and Ali respectively)
Emmanual Steward is also a great trainer, but nowadays he has such a reputation that all the best fighters go to him anyway .. and you could argue that they would have been successful without him just because of their talent. I think this argument may be applied to Angelo Dundee in the case of Ray Leonard.
Some trainers reallly do influence the way their fighters go around their business - you can tell a Brendan Ingle or Cus D'Amato fighter immediately. The problem with that is that all your fighters will have the same inherent strengths and weaknesses because you have given them all the same style.
Enzo Calzaghe might turn out to be one ofthe greats, but so far he has only really produced Joe at true world class levelo and I don;t know how much of that is due to his son already being a mighty talent, or how much is due to his coach. Time will tell, I think.
For me, my greatest trainer is Eddie Futch - hugely respected in the fight game, built the style around the fighter (Norton and Frazier were utterly different fighters, yet had the same trainer) His fighters had no stylistic weakness (yes, they had weknesses, but that was down to their pytsique etc, not their style .... and Futch manaaged thsi while creating and developing different styles!)
Actualy, his greatest success is as a human being .... he pulled Joe Frazier out in the 14th round of the Thriller in Manila because he protected his fighter and saved him from his own bravely. How many trainers would have the balls (or be 'in charge' in their own corner) to pull a former World Heavyweight Champ out in the second to last round of a grudge match war that we being viewed around the world.
Pure compassion and class ..... "Son, no one will forget what you have done today" he told Frazier, and I haven't forgotten what Futch did thrpoughout his career.
Rest in Peace Eddie!
X, Eddie was class, got on with him like a house on fire. He asked me over to the States to work with him, at the time I couldnt shame I liked beingaround him he always reminded me of Yoda when he spoke you listened. It isnt by chance that most of the good coaches in the States have a connection with him.
The amazing thing here is that X posted a boxing related post. But a very good one that sums up what I thought. Except he used big words like "being" and "single".
And Scrap I am sorry you didn't get to work with Futch. You should be really proud that he thought of you highly.
Your thoughts are very much appreciated! Loved it! Will further do some reads on Eddie!
Much thanks for the interesting info!
:)
Quote:
Originally Posted by X
Booze, x is a bright mind who knows his Boxing dont be fooled ;D
In my opinion X touched on a detail which makes this subject incredibly difficult. It is difficult to assess how much success is a result of the trainer and how much is a resultant of the fighter's own natural ability. Furthermore, is it correct for a trainer to accept credit for a fighters success in situations where the fighter may have had numerous amateur coaches who approached their job as diligently as the professional coach. In modern boxing there are few cases where a trainer truely builds a fighter from the ground up. Many fighters are elevated to national status, then they are promoted to an International coach...in the amateurs! So that really does question the coaches effect.
I believe one method is to survey the "mediocre" fighters that the coach trained. Eddie Futch took on Silver Olympic Medallist Wayne McCullough, who although a good amateur was not a sensational talent. Futch was an inspiration to him and he did extremely well for himself.
Cus D'amato took on Buster Mathis Sr. and had the ability to strip pounds of fat of his frame and turn him into a genuine contender.
The Pettronelli brothers took a rough and ready amateur and turned him into "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler. They also took the even rougher Steve Collins and polished him enough to win two world titles.
So, in summation I feel the value of a trainer is ascertained in his relationship with the journeyman or the mediocre fighter. I believe a coach is at his most valuable when he can take a man in need and grant him the ability to make a decent living with the skills he teachs him.