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Emanuel Steward: “We’re prepared to go the distance but would like a KO win!”
On March 24th, two years passed since Emanuel started working with Wladimir. While some argue that Emanuel was always very selective picking the best fighters, if you look back into boxing history and just see an endless list of fighters – fighters that were unknown, but became champions under Emanuel’s wing. Most remember Emanuel in the corner of Oliver McCall when he KO’d Lewis, and then again in Lewis’ corner when Lennox KO’d Oliver.
On April 22 Emanuel could lead Wladimir Klitschko to the IBF/IBO world championship titles, but only if Wladimir beats Chris Byrd. However, Emanuel is confident that on April 23 we’ll have a new world champion.
We got in touch with Emanuel to find out about training, Chris Byrd and other things. As the fight nears, Wladimir and Emanuel are left with one final week.
Emanuel, tell us a little bit about Wladimir’s training?
Training is going very good. Wladimir has already boxed more than a hundred rounds. He is ready, and in excellent condition. We are prepared for any type of a fight, since we don’t know what Chris’s style and strategy going to be. We prepared so that Wladimir is ready for anything.
Emanuel lets talk about Chris Byrd. What are his strengths and weaknesses?
Chris has lots of strengths. He’s very gifted in terms of his skill. I think he has good amateur background with nearly 200 fights and silver Olympic medal. I also think that he has now learned to fight the big fighters very good. He used to be a little nervous against those big guys, even when he faced Wladimir for the first time, but since then he fought Golota, McCline, Oquendo and Holyfield.
One of the things that I truly admire about Chris is his ability to think. He’s always very relax and very intelligent. And even though he won some very close fights, he has been constantly fighting. He’ll be very focused and a difficult opponent for us.
I don’t see too many weak sides that Chris has. The only thing is that Wladimir is naturally bigger, and Chris doesn’t have big punching power like Wladimir, and physically he’s not as big as Wladimir.
Chris Byrd stated that he’ll KO Wladimir. What do you think about this statement?
I don’t think it’s going to happen. He doesn’t have of success knocking out any of the quality fighter. Actually he never KO a quality fighter in his life. He’s trying…but I don’t think it’s going to happen.
What was your priority in training?
To get Wladimir in very good shape. He’s going to be prepared like he was for Samuel Peter’s fight. If it has to go twelve rounds, we want to be sure he can dominate all twelve rounds. And Wladimir wants to be in great condition.
And there is not one strategy. We want to be sure that he’s in good shape for all twelve rounds and we are learning to box all types of styles.
Tells us a little bit about Wladimir’s sparring partners. Are they experienced and qualified?
Yes they are. It’s very important to have the right sparring partners. Right now we have four sparring partners and we are happy with them. One is Tim Williamson, who we used to prepare for Samuel Peter fight. Another one is Johnathon Banks, cruiserweight. Also Andy Lee, who’s a middleweight and we use him for speed practice. He’s from Olympics. He’s a southpaw and same height as Chris. We also have a French fighter, who also fights similarly to Chris Byrd.
What are Wladimir’s chances in this fight?
Very good, Wladimir will win. I don’t worry too much since he’s fit for this fight and focused mentally. I think Chris Byrd is very good fighter and I think he’s the best and most difficult of all champions we have right now.
Are looking for a KO victory?
Yes, I want Wladimir to win by a knockout.
What’s your fight plan?
We’re prepared to go the distance but would like a KO win.
How’s everything between you and Wladimir?
We trainer earlier in the morning, just two of us on his strategy, and then again in the afternoon. We just got back from dinner and I’ll be going to see him again to watch fights and study them. I’m very happy with his attitude and his state of mind. He’s very upbeat, full of spirit.
Few years ago you did predict that the next generation of heavyweight champions are going to come from Eastern Europe?
Yeah, I was right. I mentioned it and everyone laughed at me. I said that the next generation of champions is going to be from Europe and Africa, but I don’t see any American. And if Maskayev beats Hasim and Wladimir beats Chris, then we’ll have all European heavyweight champions.
Final words for boxing fans…
On 22nd of April you’ll see Wladimir Klitschko win a championship against a very good and talented fighter – Chris Byrd. We are taking Chris Byrd very seriously. Then we’ll look to unify titles.
On March 24th, two years passed since Emanuel started working with Wladimir. While some argue that Emanuel was always very selective picking the best fighters, if you look back into boxing history and just see an endless list of fighters – fighters that were unknown, but became champions under Emanuel’s wing. Most remember Emanuel in the corner of Oliver McCall when he KO’d Lewis, and then again in Lewis’ corner when Lennox KO’d Oliver.
On April 22 Emanuel could lead Wladimir Klitschko to the IBF/IBO world championship titles, but only if Wladimir beats Chris Byrd. However, Emanuel is confident that on April 23 we’ll have a new world champion.
We got in touch with Emanuel to find out about training, Chris Byrd and other things. As the fight nears, Wladimir and Emanuel are left with one final week.
Emanuel, tell us a little bit about Wladimir’s training?
Training is going very good. Wladimir has already boxed more than a hundred rounds. He is ready, and in excellent condition. We are prepared for any type of a fight, since we don’t know what Chris’s style and strategy going to be. We prepared so that Wladimir is ready for anything.
Emanuel lets talk about Chris Byrd. What are his strengths and weaknesses?
Chris has lots of strengths. He’s very gifted in terms of his skill. I think he has good amateur background with nearly 200 fights and silver Olympic medal. I also think that he has now learned to fight the big fighters very good. He used to be a little nervous against those big guys, even when he faced Wladimir for the first time, but since then he fought Golota, McCline, Oquendo and Holyfield.
One of the things that I truly admire about Chris is his ability to think. He’s always very relax and very intelligent. And even though he won some very close fights, he has been constantly fighting. He’ll be very focused and a difficult opponent for us.
I don’t see too many weak sides that Chris has. The only thing is that Wladimir is naturally bigger, and Chris doesn’t have big punching power like Wladimir, and physically he’s not as big as Wladimir.
Chris Byrd stated that he’ll KO Wladimir. What do you think about this statement?
I don’t think it’s going to happen. He doesn’t have of success knocking out any of the quality fighter. Actually he never KO a quality fighter in his life. He’s trying…but I don’t think it’s going to happen.
What was your priority in training?
To get Wladimir in very good shape. He’s going to be prepared like he was for Samuel Peter’s fight. If it has to go twelve rounds, we want to be sure he can dominate all twelve rounds. And Wladimir wants to be in great condition.
And there is not one strategy. We want to be sure that he’s in good shape for all twelve rounds and we are learning to box all types of styles.
Tells us a little bit about Wladimir’s sparring partners. Are they experienced and qualified?
Yes they are. It’s very important to have the right sparring partners. Right now we have four sparring partners and we are happy with them. One is Tim Williamson, who we used to prepare for Samuel Peter fight. Another one is Johnathon Banks, cruiserweight. Also Andy Lee, who’s a middleweight and we use him for speed practice. He’s from Olympics. He’s a southpaw and same height as Chris. We also have a French fighter, who also fights similarly to Chris Byrd.
What are Wladimir’s chances in this fight?
Very good, Wladimir will win. I don’t worry too much since he’s fit for this fight and focused mentally. I think Chris Byrd is very good fighter and I think he’s the best and most difficult of all champions we have right now.
Are looking for a KO victory?
Yes, I want Wladimir to win by a knockout.
What’s your fight plan?
We’re prepared to go the distance but would like a KO win.
How’s everything between you and Wladimir?
We trainer earlier in the morning, just two of us on his strategy, and then again in the afternoon. We just got back from dinner and I’ll be going to see him again to watch fights and study them. I’m very happy with his attitude and his state of mind. He’s very upbeat, full of spirit.
Few years ago you did predict that the next generation of heavyweight champions are going to come from Eastern Europe?
Yeah, I was right. I mentioned it and everyone laughed at me. I said that the next generation of champions is going to be from Europe and Africa, but I don’t see any American. And if Maskayev beats Hasim and Wladimir beats Chris, then we’ll have all European heavyweight champions.
Final words for boxing fans…
On 22nd of April you’ll see Wladimir Klitschko win a championship against a very good and talented fighter – Chris Byrd. We are taking Chris Byrd very seriously. Then we’ll look to unify titles.
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