By Ruslan Chikov
Emanuel Steward, trainer of many past and present world champions, compared the attributes of WBO/IBF/IBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko to some of the fighters that he's worked with and been around, like Lennox Lewis and Muhammad Ali. Steward will be in Klitschko's corner when he faces the rematch challenge of Samuel Peter on Saturday in Frankfurt, Germany.
When asked about Klitschko and Lewis, Steward told reporter Alexander Pavlov the differences and similar traits between the two. Steward brought both of them to the heavyweight title.
"The movement of Wladimir better balanced. He clearly works more with his legs. I worked with five world champions in the heavyweight division, including Evander Holyfield. And I will say that Wladimir 's body of work and his coordination is better than all the rest of my students. However, sometimes he must act more aggressively. Sometimes he thinks for too long. If it wasn't for that, he would leave his opponents with no chance at all. However, he is the most powerful natural talent than any other heavyweight champion with whom I've worked with," Steward said.
He then was asked to compare the great jab of Wladimir to the great jab of Ali.
"The jab of Wladimir is considerably more powerful, it is simply shocking, and penetrates the opponent from head to toe. Ali is similar but when he tries to come in forward in a straight line he loses some of his balance and coordination. In a number of technical aspects, Klitschko is significantly superior. In terms of a jab, for me he's the best. After him, in that element, I would put Larry Holmes, and then Lewis," Steward said.
"I think that Klitschko could have been a force among the fighters of the past decade and would be a big problem for them due to his size, motor coordination and excellent work. And then you factor is his jab."
In the overall sense, Steward saw Lewis as better but he says Wladimir has the better tools.
"Lewis was a more versatile fighter, he could completely restructure the course of a fight. But in terms of boxing arsenal - Wladimir [is better]. But he is still very young, and I think he still has a chance in a couple of years to become one the best in boxing history. However, his problem is a lack of a decent opponent. Povetkin ran away from him, and Haye also ran from Wladimir, and from Vitali," Steward said.
