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Exclusive Interview: Emanuel Steward
Straight From D Source: Exclusive Interview with Hall of Fame Boxing Trainer Emanuel Steward
By
Dennis Guillermo
“Pacquiao is wonderful for boxing.” – Emanuel Steward
It’s my pleasure to bring to you my interview with Hall of Fame boxing trainer and HBO analyst Emanuel Steward. It’s not everyday that you get to sit and talk to one of the legends of the sport. Emanuel has trained the best of the best from Sugar Ray Leonard to Tommy Hearns, Julio Caesar Chavez and Oscar De la Hoya. Emanuel shared his wealth of wisdom and knowledge regarding the current state of the sport of boxing and also gave his insights about the future of his star pupil Vladimir Kltichsko as well as his take on Manny Pacquiao being the new face of boxing.
***
8COUNT – D Source for 8countnews.com is here with Hall of Fame and one of the best trainers in the game, HBO analyst Emanuel Steward. Thank you, Emanuel for taking time out to do this interview.
EMANUEL STEWARD - Okay, it’s no problem. It’s part of my job.
8COUNT – How are you doing Emanuel? Happy New Year!
EMANUEL STEWARD – Oh same to you man, I’m just looking forward to the Margarito and Shane Mosley fight to kick off which looks like there’s going to be some good fights coming up this year. I’m very impressed with some of the bouts they have announced. It’s going to be good for the fight game.
8COUNT – What’s keeping you busy these days? Who are you currently training?
EMANUEL STEWARD – I’m currently working out with Andy Lee.
8COUNT – 2008 was a good year in boxing in my opinion, yet some say boxing is struggling. Can you give us your 2 cents on the matter?
EMANUEL STEWARD – Well… it’s a little bit of both. Some of the fights that were made were not that good of a fight, but still you’re going to have good and bad. I think one of the biggest and best things for boxing is that the everyday fan- people on the street- know the names of so many boxers now more than any other time in history. It used to be that they would know maybe Tyson, maybe a Ray Leonard or maybe Marvin Hagler but now you can go out and everybody knows so many everyday fighters which really amazes me. And they have varied opinions about them, strong opinions whether Margarito or Mosley… or whether Pavlik you know… Bernard Hopkins… So they know so many of these fighters now… Barrera so… I think with the proper matches being made and not just the marquee names that they just keep selling them over and over; the thing is we have not developed superstars in recent years and that’s the biggest problem in boxing. We don’t have a lot of young boxers that we develop too much.
8COUNT – Let’s talk about one of your star pupils right now- Vladimir Kltichsko. There have been talks that his proposed title defense against Chris Arreola isn’t signed yet and with David Haye lurking in the corner; what do you think is next for Vladimir?
EMANUEL STEWARD – David Haye. Simply because right now it’s the most attractive heavyweight fight in boxing out there than can be made. David has created a lot of excitement. He talks a lot, and after the talk he had a very impressive knockout over Enzo Maccarinelli, fairly impressive fight with Monte Barrett but mostly because he’s talking. He’s promoting. He’s hyping and nobody else is doing it. So he’s created a lot of excitement and I think that’s the most attractive fight for Vladimir. And after that, if things go well then David Arreola, but there’s no demand for David Arreola. The demand is for David Haye. If you mention heavyweights now to the general worldwide public, the first name that comes up as a challenger for the Kltichskos is David Haye… David Haye… So David Haye has created excitement for a big fight.
8COUNT – Awesome! We definitely want to see that too. How do you think Vladimir is going handle David Haye?
EMANUEL STEWARD – Vladimir I think is the best heavyweight in boxing. I don’t see anyone… He would handle Haye much like how he’s handled the rest of the guys. He’s just too big and too good and there’s too much basic control. I think he’s probably the best fighter that I ever saw in history that really can set and control the tempo of a fight and make a fight be exactly what he wants it to be.
8COUNT – Now let’s talk about Manny Pacquiao. You’ve seen him up-close progress as a pugilist. Tell us what you think about this guy and is he really now that face of boxing?
EMANUEL STEWARD – I would say mostly more than anyone currently because Pavlik was starting to come along and then the upset loss to Bernard Hopkins and then you know so that kind of watered him down and Bernard just the fact he’s near the end of his career even though he had a great fight with Pavlik you know, is not really who you can say is the face of boxing just because of the point in time in his career but I’m glad to see Bernard at least get the chance to make some money, some kind of condition which has eluded him all the time when he was a middleweight. He should’ve made some with those 20 defenses but nobody was willing to fight him. He’s making more money and recognition now and I’m very happy for him. But anyway, you got Joe Calzaghe, but Joe has announced that he’s on the verge of retiring so… and Shane Mosley is on his last leg you know so… The problem is we don’t have the great new prospects or superstars coming up like we used to have and I don’t know, I think Pacquiao I would probably say would be the face of boxing now.
8COUNT – Tell us…
EMANUEL STEWARD – (interrupts) He’s exciting (Pacquiao). I have to respect that he’s an exciting fighter. He fights with excitement and recently shown a lot of boxing skill in addition to his aggression, his great punching power, not afraid of anyone, never been in bad fights, so I think he’s wonderful for boxing.
8COUNT - It’s been reported that Manny Pacquiao will be fighting Ricky Hatton on May 2nd. What do you think about that match-up?
EMANUEL STEWARD – I think it’s a very intriguing match-up and I know Manny would probably come off as the first thought- big favorite- but I don’t know. Ricky I think is still very physical, I think he’s stronger than Manny maybe not, I may be wrong. And I think even though Ricky is a much more of a rusher or brawler, a pusher, a shover, he still can get a fighter off-track and will be a very tough fight that even though most would think Pacquiao, it’s a “toss-up”. I think that Manny, as good as he is, a lot of the credit that he got really was to some degree more the combination of him being a good fighter and being that Oscar was totally physically nothing that night. But it’s not Manny’s fault. Manny came in and did what he was supposed to do, he was in great shape, fought the fight that he and his trainer Freddie Roach laid out and whatever the problem was and issues with De la Hoya, that was not his fault. He did what he was supposed to do but nevertheless I think we got so carried away with that performance that maybe we’re being a little unrealistic when we look at his talents. He’s good but he’s not that super great I don’t think. .
Straight From D Source: Exclusive Interview with Hall of Fame Boxing Trainer Emanuel Steward
By
Dennis Guillermo
“Pacquiao is wonderful for boxing.” – Emanuel Steward
It’s my pleasure to bring to you my interview with Hall of Fame boxing trainer and HBO analyst Emanuel Steward. It’s not everyday that you get to sit and talk to one of the legends of the sport. Emanuel has trained the best of the best from Sugar Ray Leonard to Tommy Hearns, Julio Caesar Chavez and Oscar De la Hoya. Emanuel shared his wealth of wisdom and knowledge regarding the current state of the sport of boxing and also gave his insights about the future of his star pupil Vladimir Kltichsko as well as his take on Manny Pacquiao being the new face of boxing.
***
8COUNT – D Source for 8countnews.com is here with Hall of Fame and one of the best trainers in the game, HBO analyst Emanuel Steward. Thank you, Emanuel for taking time out to do this interview.
EMANUEL STEWARD - Okay, it’s no problem. It’s part of my job.
8COUNT – How are you doing Emanuel? Happy New Year!
EMANUEL STEWARD – Oh same to you man, I’m just looking forward to the Margarito and Shane Mosley fight to kick off which looks like there’s going to be some good fights coming up this year. I’m very impressed with some of the bouts they have announced. It’s going to be good for the fight game.
8COUNT – What’s keeping you busy these days? Who are you currently training?
EMANUEL STEWARD – I’m currently working out with Andy Lee.
8COUNT – 2008 was a good year in boxing in my opinion, yet some say boxing is struggling. Can you give us your 2 cents on the matter?
EMANUEL STEWARD – Well… it’s a little bit of both. Some of the fights that were made were not that good of a fight, but still you’re going to have good and bad. I think one of the biggest and best things for boxing is that the everyday fan- people on the street- know the names of so many boxers now more than any other time in history. It used to be that they would know maybe Tyson, maybe a Ray Leonard or maybe Marvin Hagler but now you can go out and everybody knows so many everyday fighters which really amazes me. And they have varied opinions about them, strong opinions whether Margarito or Mosley… or whether Pavlik you know… Bernard Hopkins… So they know so many of these fighters now… Barrera so… I think with the proper matches being made and not just the marquee names that they just keep selling them over and over; the thing is we have not developed superstars in recent years and that’s the biggest problem in boxing. We don’t have a lot of young boxers that we develop too much.
8COUNT – Let’s talk about one of your star pupils right now- Vladimir Kltichsko. There have been talks that his proposed title defense against Chris Arreola isn’t signed yet and with David Haye lurking in the corner; what do you think is next for Vladimir?
EMANUEL STEWARD – David Haye. Simply because right now it’s the most attractive heavyweight fight in boxing out there than can be made. David has created a lot of excitement. He talks a lot, and after the talk he had a very impressive knockout over Enzo Maccarinelli, fairly impressive fight with Monte Barrett but mostly because he’s talking. He’s promoting. He’s hyping and nobody else is doing it. So he’s created a lot of excitement and I think that’s the most attractive fight for Vladimir. And after that, if things go well then David Arreola, but there’s no demand for David Arreola. The demand is for David Haye. If you mention heavyweights now to the general worldwide public, the first name that comes up as a challenger for the Kltichskos is David Haye… David Haye… So David Haye has created excitement for a big fight.
8COUNT – Awesome! We definitely want to see that too. How do you think Vladimir is going handle David Haye?
EMANUEL STEWARD – Vladimir I think is the best heavyweight in boxing. I don’t see anyone… He would handle Haye much like how he’s handled the rest of the guys. He’s just too big and too good and there’s too much basic control. I think he’s probably the best fighter that I ever saw in history that really can set and control the tempo of a fight and make a fight be exactly what he wants it to be.
8COUNT – Now let’s talk about Manny Pacquiao. You’ve seen him up-close progress as a pugilist. Tell us what you think about this guy and is he really now that face of boxing?
EMANUEL STEWARD – I would say mostly more than anyone currently because Pavlik was starting to come along and then the upset loss to Bernard Hopkins and then you know so that kind of watered him down and Bernard just the fact he’s near the end of his career even though he had a great fight with Pavlik you know, is not really who you can say is the face of boxing just because of the point in time in his career but I’m glad to see Bernard at least get the chance to make some money, some kind of condition which has eluded him all the time when he was a middleweight. He should’ve made some with those 20 defenses but nobody was willing to fight him. He’s making more money and recognition now and I’m very happy for him. But anyway, you got Joe Calzaghe, but Joe has announced that he’s on the verge of retiring so… and Shane Mosley is on his last leg you know so… The problem is we don’t have the great new prospects or superstars coming up like we used to have and I don’t know, I think Pacquiao I would probably say would be the face of boxing now.
8COUNT – Tell us…
EMANUEL STEWARD – (interrupts) He’s exciting (Pacquiao). I have to respect that he’s an exciting fighter. He fights with excitement and recently shown a lot of boxing skill in addition to his aggression, his great punching power, not afraid of anyone, never been in bad fights, so I think he’s wonderful for boxing.
8COUNT - It’s been reported that Manny Pacquiao will be fighting Ricky Hatton on May 2nd. What do you think about that match-up?
EMANUEL STEWARD – I think it’s a very intriguing match-up and I know Manny would probably come off as the first thought- big favorite- but I don’t know. Ricky I think is still very physical, I think he’s stronger than Manny maybe not, I may be wrong. And I think even though Ricky is a much more of a rusher or brawler, a pusher, a shover, he still can get a fighter off-track and will be a very tough fight that even though most would think Pacquiao, it’s a “toss-up”. I think that Manny, as good as he is, a lot of the credit that he got really was to some degree more the combination of him being a good fighter and being that Oscar was totally physically nothing that night. But it’s not Manny’s fault. Manny came in and did what he was supposed to do, he was in great shape, fought the fight that he and his trainer Freddie Roach laid out and whatever the problem was and issues with De la Hoya, that was not his fault. He did what he was supposed to do but nevertheless I think we got so carried away with that performance that maybe we’re being a little unrealistic when we look at his talents. He’s good but he’s not that super great I don’t think. .
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