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Steward:“Wladimir is going to have to be very alert against Shannon”
http://www.doghouseboxing.com/Hender...rson071106.htm
From the years as a young child around the coal mines of West Virginia, selling ice cream in the streets of Detroit, all the way to the Kronk dynasty serving as a trainer/manager, Emanuel Steward has just about and done it all and seen it all in the world of boxing.
After pounding out as amateur record of 95-3 as a bantamweight and winning the 1963 Golden Gloves Tournament the electrician trained boxers on the side. In the early seventies Steward began trainer fighters at the Kronk gym in Detroit, and from then to this very point and time Steward has brought up many top amateur boxers to become world champions. That list includes such illustrious names as Thomas Hearns, Michael Moorer, Gerald McCellan, Evander Holyfield, Julio Cesar Chavez, Oscar De La Hoya, Lennox Lewis, Jermain Taylor and Wladimir Klitschko, just to name a few. Thirty-one world champions, six gold medal winners of the 1984 US Olympic team, an inductee of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, and a HBO boxing analyst and color commentator, Steward is a legend of the sport that continues to develop young fighters into projected world champions who has an endless list of accolades.
In this exclusive interview Manny talks about the upcoming heavyweight clash between his pupil Wladimir Klitschko and Shannon Briggs, and touches on some of the highlights of his career as well, enjoy.
Benny Henderson Jr.: First off I would like to thank you for taking the time out to speak to the Doghouse.
How have things been going for you?
Emanuel Steward: It is pretty good; you know I am not complaining about anything right now.
BH: I would like to know your thoughts on the Klitschko/Briggs fight?
ES: Well I have always told Wladimir the most difficult fighters in the world that you could fight would be Chris Byrd, I have always had more respect for Chris and I wasn’t too much worried about Sam Peter. But I always said I had a lot of fear of Chris, because Chris is a cagey gifted fighter and he has been like that all of his life. And then I told him the next person and I never thought that we would be fighting him and that was Shannon Briggs, and Wladimir asked why and I told him because Shannon Briggs has the fastest hands than anybody with power and is physically a big man, and his biggest problem was him staying focused on training but if he ever gets intense he is the most difficult guy you could ever fight. For three or four rounds he is extremely dangerous, and I never thought that we would go from one who was the trickiest fighter and then to the most dangerous. Usually Wladimir can control guys because he is just physically to big, but that won’t be the case with Shannon, so for about three or four rounds it could be another one of those Lennox Lewis repeats.
BH: A lot of people would bet that Briggs is going to come out after Wladimir going for the goal and just be swinging on him.
ES: And when you have a big guy with fast hands and especially when he doesn’t slap, Shannon is a big man with full power punches, so I don’t care who it is if he comes early then you have a problem.
BH: Can you speak a little on your keys to victory or a fight plan?
ES: I can’t really say but I know one thing Wladimir is going to have to be very alert, and be ready to with stand a real rough storm. Samuel Peter is slow, he is going to throw just that one or two clubbing punches and that is about it, so I never had that much fear about him, but Shannon can put punches together, combinations with both hands and maintain good balance while he is punching, it is going to be a nightmare and we are going to try to with stand that storm, and hope that half way through the fight we start taking control.
BH: Did you expect the outcome of the Byrd fight as it was?
ES: Yes, but not that easy, Wladimir was looking so good but I didn’t think that nobody would ever be able to do that to Chris Byrd.
BH: You are working with Wladimir now and have worked with Lennox Lewis, you probably get asked this a lot but how would you compare the two, and your thoughts on if those two ever faced off?
ES: Lennox was the more physical fighter, he could be very tricky and could change up and come in and bang you around the head and rough you up and dog you up, very diversified in changing his style, and he had a more variety of punches. But Wladimir does have one thing that can neutralize he has tremendous foot speed, his ability to move in and out and explode with short punches that are like radar punches from almost no distance where you can’t even see them, and that right there makes him extremely dangerous. The knock downs over Chris Byrd wasn’t just because Wladimir was just so much bigger then Chris but he was so much faster than Chris believe it or not. Wladimir doesn’t physically man handle you like Lennox does but he is effective in what he does. Everybody is different, Ali wasn’t able to throw left hooks effectively but he was able to move and use the fast one two and just that alone was able to maybe make him the greatest heavyweight. You don’t have to be diversified in everything; they both have their own attributes.
BH: A lot of people would say that the heavyweight division is pretty much squat, it is weak no good and son on, what are your thoughts on the division and what do you feel it needs to revitalize it?
ES: I think it needs time, basically. It comes from the amateur programs, and we don’t have good programs so it is going to take a while. The best heavyweights are going to be coming from Europe and the African countries in the next few years, we need amateur heavyweights, and the problem is our amateur program.
BH: Give us your top five overall heavyweights of all time.
ES: There are two classes I would have to go by, one would be the greatest heavyweight champion of all time which would be Joe Louis, he was the greatest champion and he did more for racial relationships than any man in history. Then there is another number one guy and that is Ali, so there are two number ones, just depending on how you want to look at them. We have those two there and the we have… I would say Larry Holmes is very underrated, he should be right up there, George Foreman, a much smarter man than what people thought, and then after that who was one of my favorites and whom I thought wasn’t ever given the proper credit and that was Gene Tunney, Ali fought more like Tunney than he realized, look at Gene he modernized boxing. Then I would say Jack Johnson, but actually for his accomplishments in the ring, he beat a fellow tough guy in Tommy Burns who was 5’7” then he beat another 5’7” middleweight named Stanley Ketchel, to me that’s not to impressive. And then beating James Jeffries who was brought out of retirement just to defend a race, he was a totally retired old farmer, those are his major accomplishments, that is just major five fights but still we consider him one of the greatest and I think it is because of some other things he did that are so definite, but just his actual ring accomplishments, it would be a fighter that just isn’t that impressive to me.
BH: Your opinion on the top heavyweights of today?
ES: Well I’ll be honest, I have it Wladimir, Wladimir, Wladimir, and I am being honest. I said that when he lost to Brewster, I was asked on a radio who the best heavyweight was and I said Wladimir, and they said he lost and I said yes but that is my opinion, and time would tell in the coming months. I know things that went on before and during that fight, I told them that he was the best heavyweight and in twenty four months you will find out. Wladimir is by himself; one who is the most dangerous if he gets into shape is the one we are going against, Shannon Briggs.
BH: You have been in the business of boxing for a very long time, seen things most will never see, so what have you learned about the business in your time?
ES: You have to be able to adjust to change, and realize that the athletes and the whole business is changing. Right now you have boxers who are trying to be the promoter and they are trying all other kinds of businesses, they are more businessmen. And I am not saying that is good or bad. The industry is not so much now on being unbeatable and invincible like it used to be with guys like Tyson, Jones Jr. De La Hoya, the public has changed now, they forgive people for losing they are not so hard on them, as long as a guy loses and it was a competitive fight he comes back and fights again they are willing to go out and even pay to see them fight, to see a competitive fight, championships are not that important anymore. A perfect example in the whole industry to look at is Vargas-Mosley, no championships on the line and neither guy are in their prime, but the public will pay for the competitive match and people want to see them with out the powers. And the fans are more diversified where it used to be mostly men, then Ali brought in the women by coming to see them fight. The general public is way more knowledgeable and familiar with the fighters as well.
BH: What advice would you give to a fighter stepping in the pro ranks?
ES: Basically train hard and be prepared because a lot of fighters are losing the fights now that they shouldn’t lose, everybody gets to carried away and to overconfident by reading their own press clippings. But more so try to concentrate on being a great boxer and not this big business man and everything else or a rap star owning your own records, keep your focus and intensity on your profession.
BH: What has been your greatest moments or highlights in this sport?
ES: I would say training my first world champion Hilmer Kenty and for personal gratification was when Evander Holyfield defeated Riddick Bowe, which was something where everybody told me I was crazy to get involved in. And having Oliver McCall knocking out Lennox Lewis, and right now just enjoying seeing Wladimir Klitschko become what I had predicted he would be. And my favorite fighter of all time with the ones I worked for is still Thomas Hearns, he was the most enjoyable to work with.
BH: Is there anything you would like to add to this interview or say inclosing?
ES: No I am just fine right now, it has been a good summer for me spending time back at the gym working with my amateur boxers and a couple good professionals I have coming up which is Jonathon Banks, he is fighting on the 26th of this month.
BH: He’s fighting Eliseo Castillo, correct?
ES: Yes, it is a big jump up, I think it is going to be an intriguing tough fight. I also have Any Lee who is a 3-0 middleweight from Ireland, and then I have Geir Jorgensen and Aaron Pryor Jr. I am working most of the time rebuilding a stable of my own fighters that I manage and train, which is what I do. That is what I like to do, I don’t just like to be involved as a trainer, these supposed managers make some stupid mistakes and then I have to come in and try to help the fighters still win the fights under adverse conditions. Nevertheless, things are good. One of my greatest enjoyments is working with HBO with Jim Lampley and Larry Merchant, I love working with those guy. Contrary to what people think, those guys have so much knowledge that even thought they didn’t fight I have learned a tremendous amount working with them, even about boxing believe it or not.
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for the article.
Originally Posted by bigragu
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