Trainers are often given credit for training great fighters, but it seems to me that most of the time, fighters make trainers, not the other way around. Take Virgil Hunter for example. He's best known for training Andre Ward, who was a great fighter, so that must mean Hunter's a great trainer, right? Except no. Ward was a generational talent who would have done well with any trainer. Hunter just happened to be the trainer who discovered Ward. There's a reason Hunter hasn't had nearly as much success with the other fighters he's trained.
Or, take Brian "BoMac' McIntyre. Can you even NAME a fighter he's trained besides Terence Crawford? I can't, at least, not off the top of my head. As is the case with Ward, Crawford is a generational talent who would have done well with any trainer.
I don't think much of Hunter as a trainer. He tried to turn Khan into a mini-Ward, and that doesn't play to Khan's strengths. Khan doesn't have as high of a ring IQ as Ward, and can't fight on the inside like Ward can.
I think he’s a very good motivator and brings a calmness in the corner which is something I like. I do agree he was a bad fit for Khan though, he tried to make him too technical which didn’t bring the best out of Amir. Khan looked best under Roach IMO.
Trainers are usually there to perfect their craft
So I’d say they do deserve credit
I’d say it’s a 50/50 situation especially if the fighter follows suit
Guys like Hunter, BoMac took a kid off the street and turned them into a champion, they unreservedly deserve credit for that.
I do get what you’re saying, to some extent, but one of the reasons a guy like Hunter can’t replicate that success with other fighters is he can’t replicate the relationship he has with Ward with an Amir Khan or Andre Berto. Hunter and Ward have incredible trust in each other and that’s because of what they’ve been through together going back decades. I thought that really showed in the first Kovalev fight, Hunter was excellent in the corner that night.
I don't think much of Hunter as a trainer. He tried to turn Khan into a mini-Ward, and that doesn't play to Khan's strengths. Khan doesn't have as high of a ring IQ as Ward, and can't fight on the inside like Ward can.
As they say, the difference between trainers is largely around who walks through the door, class fighters have what it takes to do well whatever gym door they walk through, the synergy harmony, and reaching full potential all comes later and has a lot to do with the trainer. so with trainers, there is a before and after.
Guys like Hunter, BoMac took a kid off the street and turned them into a champion, they unreservedly deserve credit for that.
I do get what you’re saying, to some extent, but one of the reasons a guy like Hunter can’t replicate that success with other fighters is he can’t replicate the relationship he has with Ward with an Amir Khan or Andre Berto. Hunter and Ward have incredible trust in each other and that’s because of what they’ve been through together going back decades. I thought that really showed in the first Kovalev fight, Hunter was excellent in the corner that night.
That’s one way to see it, I suppose.
But perhaps the true answer is somewhere in the middle. A trainer and a fighter with talent synergies and makes something great.