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Ha ha. Straight talk from Frank
Promoter Frank Maloney believes that racism played a part in the breakdown of his working relationship with former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis.
After a hugely successful spell together, the pair parted company in November of 2001, just ahead of Lewis’ rematch with Hasim Raham, whom ‘The Lion’ had infamously lost his WBC, IBF and IBO titles to seven months previously.
The break-up was acrimonious and Maloney feels that he was forced out, not only because of his propensity for straight talking but also the colour of his skin.
“I just think he listened to the wrong person. But I think the real problem was that I was the only white guy in the camp,” Maloney claimed in an interview with The Sunday Independent.
”......Everyone would call him champ and I said, ‘he’s not, he just got his arse kicked.’ I was very blunt and that riled them. And they also needed to find a scapegoat after he got beaten in South Africa.
“I refused to accept the blame though, because I sent him a letter before he took the fight and said he had to go there for six weeks. I said he was fighting 7,000 feet above sea level. I even took out my conditioning team to monitor everything he needed to do, and they backed up everything I said.
“So the letter went to Lennox, which was then passed on to his business manager, but he said Lennox was to appear in some cameo role in some film [Ocean’s 11] and he said he couldn’t come to South Africa until seven days before the fight. Crazy!”
Lewis, of course, is rumoured to be entertaining the idea of a comeback and former trainer Emanuel Steward has already expressed his interest in linking up with the former Olympian once again.
That does not surprise Maloney, who firmly believes that Steward is solely motivated by money.
“Everyone knows Emanuel Steward goes where the pound note is,” he claimed.
"Socially, he’s one of the greatest guys in the world - but you pay the bill.
"One night I took him to Lillie’s Bordello. He ordered the biggest tray of hors d’oeuvres you have ever seen, four bottles of champagne to impress the ladies. He gets up and says, ‘I’m now going Frank’ and I was left with the bill.
”Another time in Atlantic City, I think we were fighting Tommy Morrison. My wife was sitting down having something to eat with my secretary. He asked could he join them. He ordered the best meal, the best wine and all of a sudden got up and walked.
”It gets worse. I lost a lot of respect for Emanuel Steward when he got to train a fighter called Ole Klemetsen, ‘the Norwegian Viking’. He walked into a room full of press guys and said, ‘I want to introduce you to the greatest light-heavyweight in the world’!
”Now he wants Lennox to come back because they’ve a good relationship and he can whore himself to him. He’s full of ****.”
After a hugely successful spell together, the pair parted company in November of 2001, just ahead of Lewis’ rematch with Hasim Raham, whom ‘The Lion’ had infamously lost his WBC, IBF and IBO titles to seven months previously.
The break-up was acrimonious and Maloney feels that he was forced out, not only because of his propensity for straight talking but also the colour of his skin.
“I just think he listened to the wrong person. But I think the real problem was that I was the only white guy in the camp,” Maloney claimed in an interview with The Sunday Independent.
”......Everyone would call him champ and I said, ‘he’s not, he just got his arse kicked.’ I was very blunt and that riled them. And they also needed to find a scapegoat after he got beaten in South Africa.
“I refused to accept the blame though, because I sent him a letter before he took the fight and said he had to go there for six weeks. I said he was fighting 7,000 feet above sea level. I even took out my conditioning team to monitor everything he needed to do, and they backed up everything I said.
“So the letter went to Lennox, which was then passed on to his business manager, but he said Lennox was to appear in some cameo role in some film [Ocean’s 11] and he said he couldn’t come to South Africa until seven days before the fight. Crazy!”
Lewis, of course, is rumoured to be entertaining the idea of a comeback and former trainer Emanuel Steward has already expressed his interest in linking up with the former Olympian once again.
That does not surprise Maloney, who firmly believes that Steward is solely motivated by money.
“Everyone knows Emanuel Steward goes where the pound note is,” he claimed.
"Socially, he’s one of the greatest guys in the world - but you pay the bill.
"One night I took him to Lillie’s Bordello. He ordered the biggest tray of hors d’oeuvres you have ever seen, four bottles of champagne to impress the ladies. He gets up and says, ‘I’m now going Frank’ and I was left with the bill.
”Another time in Atlantic City, I think we were fighting Tommy Morrison. My wife was sitting down having something to eat with my secretary. He asked could he join them. He ordered the best meal, the best wine and all of a sudden got up and walked.
”It gets worse. I lost a lot of respect for Emanuel Steward when he got to train a fighter called Ole Klemetsen, ‘the Norwegian Viking’. He walked into a room full of press guys and said, ‘I want to introduce you to the greatest light-heavyweight in the world’!
”Now he wants Lennox to come back because they’ve a good relationship and he can whore himself to him. He’s full of ****.”
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