The boxing world paused on Wednesday to give proper sendoff to all time great trainer Emanuel Steward in his hometown of Detroit.
HBO’s Jim Lampley was the emcee and among the ring greats gathered in Motown to honor the man who made the city’s Kronk Gym know all over the globe as a cradle of champions including “Hitman” Thomas Hearns were Sugar Ray Leonard, Roy Jones, Lennox Lewis, Hearns, Wladimir Klitschko and Evander Holyfield.
Detroit’s own “Queen Of Soul’ Aretha Franklin sang a song in tribute to the all around boxing man whose string of world champions has never been matched.
Steward, age 68, recently died in Chicago. In recent years, the poplar “Manny” was chiefly known for his work as an HBO fight analyst and a head trainer for world heavyweight champion Wladimir.
An upbeat Roy Jones compared Steward to Detroit Lions football great Barry Sanders and Chicago Bulls superstar Michael Jordan.
? 2012 Nokia? 2012 Microsoft Corporation Location: Greater Grace Temple Detroit 42.331680297852 ; -83.047920227051
Jones noted he never fought under Steward’s tutelage but called himself a “Kronk fighter by heart.”
Nice touch, Roy.
(Thanks to Steward’s longtime friend and constant Kronk supporter Teddy Blackburn for the photo from the memorial service. Blackburn comes from nearby Ann Arbor and was an amateur boxer before moving to his Bronx base and becoming one of the sport’s top photographer. Blackburn has led charitable efforts to aid another Kronk star and world champ, Gerald “GMan” McClellan, who was badly injured in a title bout in London against Nigel Benn.)
We miss you, Coach, but you will never be forgotten.
