Emanuel Steward
Posted on 10/25/2012 9:01:55 PM PDT by massmike
DETROIT — Emanuel Steward, earnest yet easygoing, proved rough and tough wasn’t the only way to win in boxing.
With a twinkle in his eyes, a smile on his face and a soothing voice, Steward developed unique bonds in and out of the ring with a long line of champions that included Thomas Hearns, Lennox Lewis, Oscar De La Hoya and Wladimir Klitschko.
Steward, owner of the Kronk Gym in Detroit and an International Boxing Hall of Fame trainer, died Thursday. He was 68. His executive assistant, Victoria Kirton, said Steward died Thursday at a Chicago hospital. She didn’t disclose the cause of death.
Steward, at the age of 18, won the national Golden Gloves tournament as a bantamweight. Instead of trying to make it as a professional boxer, he went to work for the Detroit Edison Co. and in 1971 accepted a part-time position as head coach — for $35 per week — of the boxing program at the Kronk Recreation Center.
A dynasty was born.
The Kronk’s first professional champion was Hilmer Kenty, a lightweight from Columbus, Ohio, who started training there in 1978 and won the WBA title two years later.
But It was Hearns who really put Kronk — and the trainer known as Manny — on the map. The boxer known as Hitman was the first man to win titles in four divisions — he won five overall — and topped his 155-8 amateur record by going 61-5-1 with 48 knockouts as a pro.
(Excerpt) Read more at bostonherald.com ...
Emanuel Steward
Liberals think the little guy from Webster died
What the f&ck happened?
RIP.
A great trainer, always had class.
The world of combat sports lost two great ones this week: Emanuel Steward and 1984 Olympic Greco-Roman Gold Medalist (and future UFC commentator and judge) Jeff Blatnick. May they both RIP.
This article, written after, says he has indeed passed.
HBO Sports has also put out a statement.
http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/hbo-statement-on-emanuel-steward-144305
Boxing will not be the same. RIP Emanual
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