![]() I know that for sure."Īlso on Epix's split-site telecast, 6-foot-6 heavyweight contender Robert Helenius (17-0, 11 KOs) of Finland will take on 5-11 Sherman Williams (35-11-2, 19 KOs), a 40-year-old journeyman from the Bahamas who lives in Vero Beach, Fla., in a scheduled 10-rounder at the Helsinki Ice Hall in Finland. He is laughing and enjoying himself and also looking forward to that fight. He is not here, but we know his spirit is with us and around us. "He was a great, great friend and one of the geniuses in boxing. "The relationship between Emanuel and me was very special - not just a regular relationship between a coach and a boxer," Klitschko said. The broadcast will include a tribute to Steward. ET) in Hamburg, Germany, at the O2 World Arena. 25 in a Chicago hospital from colon cancer.Īs happy a time as it was for Klitschko to celebrate with Steward after what turned out to be their final fight together during an exceptional nine-year run, the feeling is now one of profound sadness as Klitschko prepares to make his 13th title defense against Mariusz Wach on Saturday (Epix and, 4:30 p.m. Now, four months later, Steward, a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame and one of the sport's most beloved figures, is gone. Klitschko took the ring microphone and proceeded to lead the crowd of more than 20,000 in Bern, Switzerland, in singing "Happy Birthday" to his trainer and dear friend Emanuel Steward, who was celebrating his 68th birthday that day. “I will miss our time together.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 browserĪfter heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko polished off Tony Thompson in a sixth-round knockout victory in their July 7 rematch, there was still one more thing for him to do before he left the ring. “It is not often that a person in any line of work gets a chance to work with a legend.… I was privileged enough to work with one for almost a decade,” Klitschko said. Klitschko has trained without Steward for his title defense against Mariusz Wach next month in Germany. With Steward presiding over a “168-hours-a-week” training program in which he’d often sleep in the same room and share meals with his fighters, then train, watch film and engage in “talking, talking, talking,” Lampley said, Lewis developed to defeat Mike Tyson in 2002. Many fighters relied on Steward’s wisdom. Losing him from my life, I’m very hurt today.” Emanuel Steward is the man who taught me how to adapt, how to deal with all the different situations. “Through the good times, the difficult times, he was there for me. “I was like the son he never had,” Hearns said Thursday of Steward. In a fight often regarded as the greatest three-round bout in the sport’s history, Hearns blasted Hagler in the opening seconds, but suffered a broken right hand on his first punch, delivering what Lampley described as “the perfect step-over right cross.”Ī hurt and cut Hagler regrouped and rallied for the third-round knockout. ![]() “Now you won’t have any legs tonight, so you’ll just have to run at him and try to knock him out,” Steward said to Hearns. Steward returned to find one of the people massaging Hearns’ legs, a “terrible mistake,” Steward recounted to Lampley. In his absence, some Detroit friends entered. Steward left Hearns’ side briefly in the pre-fight training room to tend to some errands. Hearns gained another mega-bout against Marvin Hagler. Hearns was leading on all three judges’ score cards when Leonard launched a stirring rally that concluded with a 14th-round technical knockout. The next year Hearns, who developed under Steward’s hand from scrawny “Motor City Cobra” to “Hitman,” battled Sugar Ray Leonard in a highly anticipated super-fight. In 1980, Hilmer Kenty became Steward’s first champion. “His favorite quote was, ‘Who would’ve thought I’d leave West Virginia to find a gym for troubled, inner-city kids in Detroit and train an Irish middleweight, Andy Lee, and a Ukrainian heavyweight, Klitschko?’” Lampley said.
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