Was Manny Steward irresponsible?

[-Antonio-]

Did you see this place after the fight? That's why.

[RL_GMA]

Considering how bad the division is?? Hell Yea!

It's obvious Wlad doesn't care about boosting the division's credibility. So what's the point of fighting?

[Benny Leonard]

Boxing competes with many sports in today's world, especially MMA, not to mention the short attention span of young kids so Manny was telling it like it is: FIGHT, go for the KO since this is entertainment and the fans pay your bills and can stop if they find you a bore.

People come to see the Big KO. They love Power.

If you don't have that, you better have something else, like young Ali did. Young Ali was the boxing version of Mikhail Baryshnikov (in terms of physical ability/beauty) with the music being what he spit...or so I hear.

[TheGreatA]

Steward went nuts at Lewis too when Lewis didn't try to KO Tyson.

He knows how important the KO is to a man's career sometimes.

Success in the US isn't a lost case for Wlad yet but he needs to impress in his next fight and the last time Wladimir was trying to impress the Americans, it didn't end all too well for him.

[PBDS]

I cannot remember another time when in the final round the trainer of the boxer that is waaaaaaaaaay ahead on the scorecards is telling his fighter that he has to go for the knockout. Crazy.

With that being said, I understand why he did it - he knew the crowd and the fans at home were very disappointed with the fight and the only way to silence the critics is to win by KO, or at least knock Sultan down. Boxing isn't just about winning, it's about entertainment and Manny knows this.

It's a little risky but I think by the 12th round you can tell if the other fighter has anything left and clearly Sultan wasn't hurting Wlad at all. If the fight was more competitive I'm sure Manny wouldn't have done the same thing.

......I feel pretty much the same way and I definitely have mixed feelings about it. At first I didn't like it, but I know where Manny was coming from. I just didn't want Wlad to force the action to the point where he looked like the desperate fighter and ended up getting caught.

[Benny Leonard]

I will have to watch the fight again, but I thought I heard Manny say "I'm not yelling at him" (in response to someone I suspect saying "don't yell at Wlad"). If true, Wlad is sensitive. Lennox took that **** and responded even though it came with a "WTF" look in response. Manny even told Lewis to step it up or you will lose (against Holy) even though Lennox thought he was ahead. Lewis stepped up and Manny proved right with the judges b.s.

[Enayze]

Steward was looking for his own best interest. Wlad had the fight in the bag with one hand there was no reason to urge him to go for a KO. On the other hand wlads marketability would go up and indirectly so wouldve emanuels. This fight is meaningless in terms of marketability the same people who watched wladimir will continue to do so

[Scott9945]

Steward went nuts at Lewis too when Lewis didn't try to KO Tyson.

He knows how important the KO is to a man's career sometimes.

Success in the US isn't a lost case for Wlad yet but he needs to impress in his next fight and the last time Wladimir was trying to impress the Americans, it didn't end all too well for him.

I considered that, but I think the difference was that Tyson was truly ready to be taken out and also Manny feared that he still had enough power to be dangerous if he was left around for too long.

[raysan]

Steward I believe was looking out for Wlad. With a lackluster performance like that, HBO wont be in a rush to get Wlad dates so that affects Wlads purses and exposure. Unless youre a die hard Wlad fan, anyone who saw that fight probably could care less if they ever saw Wlad fight again, which Steward didnt want to happen for Wlad's sake.

[Ironside]

You NEVER tell your fighter to go for the KO when he's clearly ahead in points. The trainer is there to make you win, not to please the crowd.