SugarHill Steward, the newly appointed trainer of Tyson Fury, was under the impression that he would be working alongside former Fury trainer Ben Davison before Davison and the undefeated heavyweight suddenly, yet amicably, split in December.

“I was brought in as the head trainer, but my understanding was that Ben was going to be there as well,” Steward told BoxingScene.com in an interview.

“When news came out that Ben was going to be out of the camp, that was news to me when I heard about it. It was my understanding that Ben was going to be a secondary trainer, but it didn’t turn out that way, and here we are now. I was happy with it either way.”

The 27-year-old Davison was scouting Wilder for the Alabaman’s KO over Luis Ortiz in Las Vegas on Nov. 23.

By mid-December, Wilder and Davison were no longer a tandem, just as Fury prepared to meet Wilder on Feb. 22 against at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Fox and ESPN pay per view.

“Tyson talks about him, and he doesn’t say anything bad about Ben,” said Steward. “They said it was a mutual agreement. I’m not going to overthink their relationship when Deontay Wilder is in front of us.”

Steward, the nephew of the late great trainer Emmanuel Steward, said he and Fury have kicked it off right where they left off when they originally met in 2010 at the Kronk Gym in Detroit.

“We worked together, we played together and we trained together. He knows my family history and my bloodlines,” said Steward. “People say I train just like Emmanuel. He taught me everything I know. You can’t get him anymore, but here I am, SugarHill, continuing the legacy of a legend.” 

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist and member of the Boxing Writers Assn. of America since 2011. He has written for the likes of the LA Times, Guardian, USA Today, Philadelphia Inquirer, Men’s Health and NFL.com and currently does TV commentary for combat sports programming that airs on Fox Sports and hosts his own radio show in Los Angeles. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan or via email at manouk.akopyan@gmail.com.