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EMANUEL STEWARD: Klitschko may fight Toney next! Speaks on Taylor/Wright and More!
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: EMANUEL STEWARD
By Brad Cooney
B-talk was able to sit down with famed boxing trainer and broadcaster, Emanuel Steward. Emanuel gives us a very in depth interview, included are his thoughts on Wladimir Klitschko's performance against Chris Byrd, and an in depth explanation on how he got the call to join the Jermain Taylor camp. You don't want to miss what else Emanuel had to say! b-talk welcomes Emanuel Steward.
BT - Manny firstly, thank you very much for joining b-talk.com
ES - It's a pleasure to be here.
BT - Talk about Wladimir's performance against Chris Byrd, to me it looked like an almost perfectly executed game-plan.
ES - Well, yes it's true, Wladimir came into the fight very, very focused. Wlad knew exactly what he wanted to do, and the fight went exactly, exactly, exactly, the way we planned it.
BT - Were you surprised by how dominant Wladimir was against Chris Byrd?
ES - I was somewhat surprised, yes. It wasn't that Chris Byrd was slow, Chris Byrd was not slow if you look at it, he had the same speed and upper body movement, it's just that Wladimir was faster with of both his hands, and his feet. Wladimir was able to move in, and move out. When Chris attempted to even move forward, Wladimir moved back at a faster speed than Chris was moving. Wladimir was very focused for this fight, he had great sparring. Wladimir's main sparring was with Jonathan Banks, who is an undefeated Crusierweight that I manage. The last few weeks of sparring was with Andy Lee, the Middleweight from Ireland. Our thinking was if Wlad can adjust to his speed, he can adjust to anyone's speed. The last week of sparring, Wlad was actually faster than Andy was with his left jab. So, you got a 6ft 7in 240lb man with power, and speed like that ? it's difficult to beat someone like that.
BT - What's next for Wladimir ?
ES - I just talked to Wladimir about 20 minutes ago, the fights that they had offered him immediately, because he's going to fight in September, were Calvin Brock, Sergei Liakhovich, and James Toney. Those are the fighters available right now, Hasim Rahman after that. My response was, which ever one is the easiest to make, it doesn't matter, none of them are going to beat you, you're in a class of your own right now. It may be James Toney, because of the promotional, and contractual problems with the other guys right now. Following that, in November we would preferably like Hasim Rahman.
BT - I know you said you believe Klitshcko beats any of those guys, but out of the names you mentioned, who do you think matches up the best for Wladimir?
ES - Pardon me for being arrogant, but nobody. That's the way I feel, and if I were to tell you differently, I would be lying to you just trying to be a gentleman. Nobody will beat Wladimir Klitschko. Wladimir wants to unify the titles, he's not really interested in making a bunch of beef, he wants to unify the titles, then fight the Calvin Brock's after that.
BT - You have been asked by Team Jermain Taylor to come on board, how do you like Jermain's chances against a very difficult fighter in Winky Wright?
ES - About a month ago in my mind I had Winky a 3 to 1 favorite to win the fight, based on watching Winky for the last 10 yrs, and watching Jermain's particular last 2 fights. Since then, my mind has changed, and not because I am working with him, but I see Jermain Taylor has a wealth of talent. I am amazed by his power, and his speed. In fact, just yesterday he and Andy Lee, (the same Andy Lee that was preparing Wladimir), were working together. Andy being a left handed Middleweight is working double duty now. It's a lot easier for me to get Jermain ready for this fight, being I am coming off of a fight against a very difficult left hander in Chris Byrd, my mind is still in that southpaw pattern. Yesterday, I watched Jermain workout 8 rounds, and it was electrifying. Jermain has so much talent that hasn't even been developed yet, and I believe he is going to win this fight. I have
a lot of respect for Winky Wright, as many people know he is one of my favorite fighters. I have always picked Winky, even in those under-dog fights against Mosley, and with Trinidad, and I got a lot of criticism for it.
BT - Do you see Jermain Taylor knocking out Winky Wright?
ES - It's a good chance this fight will be a knockout.
BT - Manny, tell the readers how you got involved with Jermain Taylor.
ES - I have always been a big admirer of Jermain Taylor. A few years ago I predicted that Jermain will eventually beat Bernard Hopkins, it was during one of Jermain's fights. Naturally I got a lot of criticism for that. Jermain is a natural athlete, he won the Middleweight Championship of The World, and he still has not developed all of his skill. I got a call from Ozell Nelson, who was his amateur coach, and people don't realize this, but Ozell has a lot to say about who trains Jermain, and has a lot to say about Jermain's career in general. Ozell called, and I told him that I didn't want to get involved with Jermain, because first of all, I am a big Winky Wright fan. I tried to set him up with other trainers, like Ronnie Shields, and some others. Ozell kept coming back to me, so I finally told him that I would just work with Jermain as an adviser and show him the best I can, since coming off of training Klitschko against Chris Byrd, I am used to southpaws. Ozell said that they just barely got by against Bernard, and I had been saying that I thought Winky Wright was going to beat Jermain. Ozell asked me to come in as an adviser.
So at first I agreed to do that, and Pat Burns would work the corner, and I said "ok". At that time I could see that Winky would probably win the fight, and rather for that to happen, I agreed to help them out with all that I could to prevent that from happening. So, that was the deal, I would be an adviser like I was with Vitali Klitschko vs Cory Sanders. Pat Burns would work the corner, I would stay out of the corner, be a consultant. Just two weeks ago, the day they were leaving to come into training, Ozell got a call from Jermain Taylor. Jermain said that for this in particular fight against Winky, it would be too much of a problem with two coaches. Jermain said that he didn't think it would work out that way, it would be too stressful on him. Jermain made arrangements with Pat Burns to pay him as he normally would, but to stay home for this fight. Jermain thought it would be best that way since training would be in Detroit at the Kronk gym, and I was coming off training Wladimir against a tough southpaw in Chris Byrd.
BT - So as you know it, Pat Burns is still a part of Jermain Taylor's team, just not for this fight against Winky Wright?
ES - Just for this fight, and I understand that. Ultimately the decision to make the changes in the camp was by Ozell Nelson, because he didn't believe that they would be successful going up against Winky, based on what Jermain did in the last two fights. That was what the general perception was including me. Then the decision was made at the last minute for it to be just me, and I didn't have much of a choice after that, because I wasn't intending on doing everything. I know one thing, I am very impressed with what I see in Jermain Taylor so far.
BT - Winky has had about 2 1/2 weeks jump start in training, any concerns with that?
ES - I'll put it to you this way, Winky is training in Las Vegas (laughs).
BT - What are your thoughts on Tarver vs Hopkins?
ES - Bernard is a very good, and smart fighter. Tarver is the bigger guy, but I think Bernard has a very good chance of winning this fight.
By Brad Cooney
B-talk was able to sit down with famed boxing trainer and broadcaster, Emanuel Steward. Emanuel gives us a very in depth interview, included are his thoughts on Wladimir Klitschko's performance against Chris Byrd, and an in depth explanation on how he got the call to join the Jermain Taylor camp. You don't want to miss what else Emanuel had to say! b-talk welcomes Emanuel Steward.
BT - Manny firstly, thank you very much for joining b-talk.com
ES - It's a pleasure to be here.
BT - Talk about Wladimir's performance against Chris Byrd, to me it looked like an almost perfectly executed game-plan.
ES - Well, yes it's true, Wladimir came into the fight very, very focused. Wlad knew exactly what he wanted to do, and the fight went exactly, exactly, exactly, the way we planned it.
BT - Were you surprised by how dominant Wladimir was against Chris Byrd?
ES - I was somewhat surprised, yes. It wasn't that Chris Byrd was slow, Chris Byrd was not slow if you look at it, he had the same speed and upper body movement, it's just that Wladimir was faster with of both his hands, and his feet. Wladimir was able to move in, and move out. When Chris attempted to even move forward, Wladimir moved back at a faster speed than Chris was moving. Wladimir was very focused for this fight, he had great sparring. Wladimir's main sparring was with Jonathan Banks, who is an undefeated Crusierweight that I manage. The last few weeks of sparring was with Andy Lee, the Middleweight from Ireland. Our thinking was if Wlad can adjust to his speed, he can adjust to anyone's speed. The last week of sparring, Wlad was actually faster than Andy was with his left jab. So, you got a 6ft 7in 240lb man with power, and speed like that ? it's difficult to beat someone like that.
BT - What's next for Wladimir ?
ES - I just talked to Wladimir about 20 minutes ago, the fights that they had offered him immediately, because he's going to fight in September, were Calvin Brock, Sergei Liakhovich, and James Toney. Those are the fighters available right now, Hasim Rahman after that. My response was, which ever one is the easiest to make, it doesn't matter, none of them are going to beat you, you're in a class of your own right now. It may be James Toney, because of the promotional, and contractual problems with the other guys right now. Following that, in November we would preferably like Hasim Rahman.
BT - I know you said you believe Klitshcko beats any of those guys, but out of the names you mentioned, who do you think matches up the best for Wladimir?
ES - Pardon me for being arrogant, but nobody. That's the way I feel, and if I were to tell you differently, I would be lying to you just trying to be a gentleman. Nobody will beat Wladimir Klitschko. Wladimir wants to unify the titles, he's not really interested in making a bunch of beef, he wants to unify the titles, then fight the Calvin Brock's after that.
BT - You have been asked by Team Jermain Taylor to come on board, how do you like Jermain's chances against a very difficult fighter in Winky Wright?
ES - About a month ago in my mind I had Winky a 3 to 1 favorite to win the fight, based on watching Winky for the last 10 yrs, and watching Jermain's particular last 2 fights. Since then, my mind has changed, and not because I am working with him, but I see Jermain Taylor has a wealth of talent. I am amazed by his power, and his speed. In fact, just yesterday he and Andy Lee, (the same Andy Lee that was preparing Wladimir), were working together. Andy being a left handed Middleweight is working double duty now. It's a lot easier for me to get Jermain ready for this fight, being I am coming off of a fight against a very difficult left hander in Chris Byrd, my mind is still in that southpaw pattern. Yesterday, I watched Jermain workout 8 rounds, and it was electrifying. Jermain has so much talent that hasn't even been developed yet, and I believe he is going to win this fight. I have
a lot of respect for Winky Wright, as many people know he is one of my favorite fighters. I have always picked Winky, even in those under-dog fights against Mosley, and with Trinidad, and I got a lot of criticism for it.
BT - Do you see Jermain Taylor knocking out Winky Wright?
ES - It's a good chance this fight will be a knockout.
BT - Manny, tell the readers how you got involved with Jermain Taylor.
ES - I have always been a big admirer of Jermain Taylor. A few years ago I predicted that Jermain will eventually beat Bernard Hopkins, it was during one of Jermain's fights. Naturally I got a lot of criticism for that. Jermain is a natural athlete, he won the Middleweight Championship of The World, and he still has not developed all of his skill. I got a call from Ozell Nelson, who was his amateur coach, and people don't realize this, but Ozell has a lot to say about who trains Jermain, and has a lot to say about Jermain's career in general. Ozell called, and I told him that I didn't want to get involved with Jermain, because first of all, I am a big Winky Wright fan. I tried to set him up with other trainers, like Ronnie Shields, and some others. Ozell kept coming back to me, so I finally told him that I would just work with Jermain as an adviser and show him the best I can, since coming off of training Klitschko against Chris Byrd, I am used to southpaws. Ozell said that they just barely got by against Bernard, and I had been saying that I thought Winky Wright was going to beat Jermain. Ozell asked me to come in as an adviser.
So at first I agreed to do that, and Pat Burns would work the corner, and I said "ok". At that time I could see that Winky would probably win the fight, and rather for that to happen, I agreed to help them out with all that I could to prevent that from happening. So, that was the deal, I would be an adviser like I was with Vitali Klitschko vs Cory Sanders. Pat Burns would work the corner, I would stay out of the corner, be a consultant. Just two weeks ago, the day they were leaving to come into training, Ozell got a call from Jermain Taylor. Jermain said that for this in particular fight against Winky, it would be too much of a problem with two coaches. Jermain said that he didn't think it would work out that way, it would be too stressful on him. Jermain made arrangements with Pat Burns to pay him as he normally would, but to stay home for this fight. Jermain thought it would be best that way since training would be in Detroit at the Kronk gym, and I was coming off training Wladimir against a tough southpaw in Chris Byrd.
BT - So as you know it, Pat Burns is still a part of Jermain Taylor's team, just not for this fight against Winky Wright?
ES - Just for this fight, and I understand that. Ultimately the decision to make the changes in the camp was by Ozell Nelson, because he didn't believe that they would be successful going up against Winky, based on what Jermain did in the last two fights. That was what the general perception was including me. Then the decision was made at the last minute for it to be just me, and I didn't have much of a choice after that, because I wasn't intending on doing everything. I know one thing, I am very impressed with what I see in Jermain Taylor so far.
BT - Winky has had about 2 1/2 weeks jump start in training, any concerns with that?
ES - I'll put it to you this way, Winky is training in Las Vegas (laughs).
BT - What are your thoughts on Tarver vs Hopkins?
ES - Bernard is a very good, and smart fighter. Tarver is the bigger guy, but I think Bernard has a very good chance of winning this fight.
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