?I didn?t have any dreams, all that?s happened to me is actually a surprise!?–Emanuel Steward
Emanuel Steward, the name conjures up success in nearly all facets of boxing. Now a top-notch commentator with HBO, in addition to his accomplishments as one of the most prolific boxing managers and trainers in the history of the sport. He has also designed and patented a new boxing glove and other boxing equipment used by many of today?s world champions.
Among the dozens of world champions Emanuel has managed or trained are such boxing luminaries as former Heavyweight King Lennox Lewis, Multiple titleholders Thomas ?Hitman? Hearns, Julio Cesar Chavez, and Evander Holyfield. Wladimir Klitschko, IBF & IBO Heavyweight Champion, and Kermit Cintron, the IBF Welterweight Titleholder, are among his current fighters. Compiling the list of champions and near champions seemed endless.
Emanuel put on his first pair of boxing gloves at seven years of age and it?s been a love affair ever since. As an 18-year old bantamweight, Steward won the 1963 National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions and looked forward to a future in the professional ranks. This goal was not developed as Emanuel failed to connect with a viable manager. Never losing his zest for boxing, while working full time as an electrician with the Detroit Edison Company in 1971, Steward accepted a part-time position as head coach of the boxing program at the Kronk Recreation Center in Detroit, Michigan. When his team of young men won the Golden Gloves title that same year, his name and Kronk Gyms would thereafter be synonymous with success.
35 years later Steward remains at the pinnacle of his profession and continues to enjoy all that life brings him and the constantly new adventures. I spoke with Emanuel as he was in the midst of preparing Kermit Cintron for his November 23, IBF Welterweight Title defense against the tough Jesse Feliciano, 15-5-3, 9 KO?s. I found him energetic, positive and forthright…and busy.
DH: Is there anything in particular that you haven?t said to someone else?
Well, there?s always something new. Right now, I?m pretty much trying to focus on the fight with Cintron and Feliciano. That?s what we?re training for.
DH: How is that looking?
Good. Everybody is talking about us fighting Paul Williams, WBO Welterweight Titleholder. But you can?t look ahead and get too wound up with somebody other than the guy you?re fighting. You can end up blowing it, like Edison Miranda did when he fought Kelly Pavlik.
DH: Was he looking ahead?
Yes, so I try and keep my fighters focused on what we?re doing. It?s so easy to lose a fight with just one punch…you know if a guy comes out and he?s not focused, looking at something else. Then he starts to have problems and you know he can?t call time out.
Somebody has to pay. Boxing really is so mental, more than any other sport. It?s really direct, one on one, no nothing, no time outs. The last few days before a fight I stay locked up in my room alone. I don?t go anywhere. There are so many things I have to consider and be ready if they happen. Suppose my guy gets cut or if the strategy we prepared doesn?t work, or if the guy keeps coming and we can?t stop him. I have to make these decisions spontaneously, right away; I can?t call time out or call a meeting where everybody gets together.
Right now I?ve been bombarded with so much talk about the Jermain Taylor rematch with Kelly Pavlik in an attempt to win back the WBC & WBO Middleweight Championships. Strategy wise, should they fight again? Are you going to be training him? What?s going to be the changes? Who?s gonna be in the corner? The other questions being are we training for Paul Williams, IBF & WBO Welterweight Champion, while we are preparing to fight Feliciano? And what sparring partners are we going to use to fight Williams? Questions like that.
DH: You seem to be really busy.
Yeah, we have to lay out the training program for that and we have Wladimir Klitschko, current IBF & IBO Heavyweight King, who called and said we may be ready for the 23rd of February, 2008, for him and Sultan Ibragimov. WBO Heavyweight Champion, to fight for the unification of the titles. Then we have to figure out where to train the guys for these individual fights, so it?s a full day?s job. And then I like to go out in the evening and have fine dining.
DH: Are you married?
No, recently divorced and we have two daughters and we?re still best friends.
DH: I know people that are long time married that are not best friends.
Oh yeah, she covers my back no matter what. It?s a busy, busy life right now. Dealing with these high profile fighters
DH: You must have some serious dreams that have come to reality.
I didn?t have any dreams. All that?s happened to me is actually a surprise.
My brother, James, wanted to box and I started him. Then one day while I still had my job with Detroit Edison as an electrician, I was working out with my brother in the evenings and this kid came to me and asked me to help with his training. He won the Olympics and then Tommy Hearns hit 18 and says he wants to turn professional and I had another case of making good with two of them together. I tried to hook them up with a professional guy and they wanted me to try to promote and manage them and I told them ?Man, I don?t know about that stuff.? That was at the end of 1977, and by 1980 I had a world champion and six months later another world champion.
DH: So it just developed…no dreams, no aspirations?
No, I never had dreams, or training, or mentoring. Nothing. Everything just falling into place.
DH: So you just put your head down and went to work?
Well, I was always good in boxing though. I started when I was seven, I put on a pair of boxing gloves I got for Christmas, and I hate to tell you the year, 1952.
DH: Give me a break, I was born in 1947, I understand.
I was born in 44. So then the next thing I know I ended up in a little fight when I was eight that summer, against another bad kid. I won when I hit him in the nose and that kid started crying. And the next thing I knew we moved to Detroit and I got in the street gang fighting trouble. And they made a deal that if I go to a recreation center they would give me a chance and not send me away. So I had to go…I didn?t have no choice. Then I won Golden Glove Championships, again and again, and the next thing I knew I was National Golden Gloves Champion and it?s just phenomenal because I was all the time accidentally doing this.
DH: You always worked with kids, didn?t you?
That?s right, I was there working with kids yesterday and I?m going back there at 4pm today. There is a whole bunch of kids. My main Kronk Gym is in the middle of Mexican Town here in Detroit. So even though we had another gym about 10 minutes away that?s been closed and they are both in the same community so that?s why we have so many Hispanic kids in there.
DH: I spoke with an acquaintance of yours, Brian Washington from Big Bear California, and he said you were best friends with his partner who passed away.
Yes, Bob Davidson. He was a wonderful man and a good friend. When he died my whole program fell apart up there.
DH: Did you establish a gym on the West Coast?
In Tucson, Arizona, my partner there died of cancer when he was only 39. Vince Gonzalez, he was my partner. It just crushed me…I loved that little guy, and when Vince died I went up to Big Bear and then Bob died in an auto accident.
DH: Brian says he?s got a good program going on up there.
Yeah, it?s nice up there.
DH: Do you still use the facilities in Big Bear?
No, not for a bit. I like the Poconos a bit better. My dream is to have a nice gym in Los Angeles, I love the LA area and I?m working with some people still trying to make it happen. If I could find a nice gym there, that would be fantastic.
DH: How many gyms are you associated with?
Just the one here and one in Belfast, Ireland. We had one in London, England, but it?s the same old thing. The people running it ordered a lot of equipment and ran up a lot of bills using my name. They were not paying the bills, it was a con game, and they were con men you know. People use my name and they send them stuff.
DH: I saw you at ringside at the Manny Pacquiao-Marco Antonio Barrera 2 fight…what did you think of the event?
I was a little disappointed in Marco Antonio. He planned it and made the fight go just as he wanted good strategy and all. All he had to do was step it up a little bit more, but he was more desirous to make sure he wasn?t knocked out. He went the distance at the pace he wanted; he didn?t want to take any chances at all.
DH: Did you feel that Manny deserved the decision?
You had to give it to him and I?m a big fan of Marco Antonio. I like him and everything but he didn?t do enough to win.
DH: Hilmer Kenty was your first champion, is that right?
Yes, I just saw him yesterday as a matter of fact. He is doing well politically and business wise.
DH: So he?s always been sharp then?
Yes and I?m very satisfied with him too.
DH: How did you meet Hilmer originally?
Hilmer and his manager didn?t get along so they called me and asked if I would manage him and I said he?s your guy and they didn?t want anything to with him. So I asked Hilmer to come here and I moved him to Detroit and signed him to a managerial contract. Then we got a chance, we were called and told that the WBA Lightweight Title holder, Ernesto Espana was looking for an opponent. Sean O?Grady had been scheduled but that fight fell out and they needed a replacement to fight for the title. At that point Hilmer had not even fought a 10 round fight in his life, and from being a 16 to one underdog, he came out of nowhere and stopped Espana to become the first Kronk champion?
The headlines all over Detroit asked, ?Who is Hilmer Kenty?? Up to that point nobody even knew him, it was Tommy, Tommy, Tommy, and all of a sudden Kenty is champion. Then on August 2, 6 months later, Tommy Hearns knocks out Pipino Cuevas for the WBA Welterweight Title. We hadn?t been in the professional game more than 24 months and here we were with two world champions.
DH: Sometimes the stars are aligned just right, aren?t they?
Yeah, that set up a good run. Even the recent Jermain Taylor loss was the first loss for us in more than two years.
DH: Jermain is a very good fighter, but something was missing. Was it heart?
A lot of people say that but we have to just take it up and move on from here.
DH: There was talk about you and Taylor breaking off your contract prior to the fight.
No, that was just rumors…we?re strong, and in fact he just called yesterday.
DH: I spoke with Dominic Salcido who said he was with you awhile. Is he as good as they say?
He?s a very good fighter. The only reason we broke off is that he likes to stay near his home; he has very strong family ties. He went with us to New York and other places and even though I had given him a nice signing bonus and monthly check and everything I let him go. I said: ?Look, I?d rather you be happy and close with your family.? I just let him go. I treat people as if they were my sons and I would never put a fighter in a fight that I thought he couldn?t win. I don?t care what the money is; I say no we?re not taking this fight. That?s why I don?t have any money and I?m poor. I just keep ahead of my mortgage payments, I?m happy with myself though.
DH: Do you like what you do?
It?s great and it?s not work. Liking what you do makes a major difference and I?m just staying busy.
DH: Is it hard to be neutral as a commentator?
I had to start looking at things different when I started broadcasting. And I have been fortunate to have two of the greatest fight commentators to work with me and help me make that transition. I have been very, very blessed.
DH: Is there anything special that you?d like to add?
I appreciate all the great comments that I?ve had from people through all of my careers as a manager, trainer, and even broadcasting. I say this here I love broadcasting and it?s one of the best things that have happened in my life. And the best part is being able to work with Jim Lampley and Larry Merchant. These are two of the best guys I?ve met in anything I?ve done. First of all, Larry is so knowledgeable about boxing, you have no idea, and he?s a very fair guy. He is a little blunt sometimes but I guess that goes with age. Sometimes he?ll say things that really are the truth that Jim and I won?t say because we?re both a little more political. Like when he spoke with Lennox Lewis about his fight with Vitali Klitschko he told Lennox, ?Lennox you look like you came unprepared, not really focused and a little bit overweight and if Vitali hadn?t gotten those cuts you might have been in danger of losing your title.? That?s what everybody said, but not out loud. Everybody thought he was so rough on Lennox, but it was the truth? As far as Jim Lampley, this guy is so sharp.
We don?t have scripts or anything and they could just give the mike to Jim and he could ad lib right on cue. His voice is so clear in all his 25 years of announcing the fights. Sometimes I?m there watching the fight and I?m so used to being a manager and a trainer that I?m sitting there studying a guys style and looking at his mistakes and he?ll make me get into the broadcast cause I just shut up and don?t say a damn thing. He knows how to twirl you and make you talk and if I am talking low he?ll push me and make me raise my voice. Working with those two legends has been a great, great experience. I hate to hear people say ?if you haven?t been a boxer, you can?t be a good broadcaster.? That?s BS, I?ve had all this experience, amateur and pro and these guys having watched hundreds and hundreds of fights have picked up a lot and they can see things neutral. They don?t have any hang-ups about styles and all of that and they tell me a lot of things that they see and their opinions about fights and you?d be surprised how they would be right on the money.
That?s why I?ve been a successful trainer, because I learn from all the fighters I?ve trained. I?ve learned that you have to have that watermelon on the way home from a workout to get that salt and potassium back and then when you eat you don?t eat as much and you?re stronger. And to get your stamina up, you have to do it slowly, build up. I?ve learned these things and much more from the fighters I?ve trained.
