DETROIT (AP) - Emanuel Steward, earnest yet easygoing, proved rough and tough wasn't the only way to win in boxing.
With a twinkle in his eyes, a smile on his face and a soothing voice,
Steward developed unique bonds in and out of the ring with a long line
of champions that included Thomas Hearns, Lennox Lewis, Oscar De La Hoya
and Wladimir Klitschko.
Steward, owner of the Kronk Gym in Detroit and an International
Boxing Hall of Fame trainer, died Thursday. He was 68. His executive
assistant, Victoria Kirton, said Steward died Thursday at a Chicago
hospital. She didn't disclose the cause of death.
"It is not often that a person in any line of work gets a chance to
work with a legend, well I was privileged enough to work with one for
almost a decade,'' Klitschko said Thursday. "I will miss our time
together. The long talks about boxing, the world, and life itself. Most
of all I will miss our friendship.''
Steward, whose father was a coal miner and mother was a seamstress,
was born in West Virginia. He got boxing gloves as a Christmas present
at the age of 8, the start of what would become a long career in the
sweet science.
He moved to the Motor City just before becoming a teenager and
trained as an amateur boxer at Brewster Recreation Center, which once
was the home gym of Joe Louis.
Steward, at the age of 18, won the national Golden Gloves tournament
as a bantamweight. Instead of trying to make it as a professional boxer,
he went to work for the Detroit Edison Co. and in 1971 accepted a
part-time position as head coach - for $35 per week - of the boxing
program at the Kronk Recreation Center.
A dynasty was born.
The Kronk's first professional champion was Hilmer Kenty, a
lightweight from Columbus, Ohio, who started training there in 1978 and
won the WBA title two years later.
But It was Hearns who really put Kronk - and the trainer known as
Manny - on the map. The boxer known as Hitman was the first man to win
titles in four divisions - he won five overall - and topped his 155-8
amateur record by going 61-5-1 with 48 knockouts as a pro.
Even though Steward had a lot of success with Hearns, some of his
setbacks from his corner were among the most memorable in the sport.
Hearns was knocked out in the 14th round by Sugar Ray Leonard in 1981 -
Steward said that was the most painful experience of his life - and
Hearns was on the short end of a three-round fight with Marvin Hagler in
1985 that is considered one of the best bouts in boxing history.
"He brought the very, very best out of me,'' Hearns once said of Steward.
Hearns wasn't alone.
Steward trained, helped train or managed some of the greatest
fighters - and some kids who just needed to get off the streets - of the
past 40 years out of Kronk and in other facilities across the globe,
putting fighters from many countries in red and gold trunks.
"Lennox used to say when fighting as an amateur that everyone was
afraid of the Kronk guys,'' Steward once said. "He saw the respect when
they saw the colors.''
The gym for years was seen as a way to keep kids out of trouble in southwestern Detroit.
"A lot of these kids would be in the streets,'' Steward once said. "They live for this.''
And, Steward lived for it, too.
He loved boxing - and boxers - but like the Motor City, the gym he adored fell on hard times.
The city closed the original Kronk Recreation Center - a hot, sweaty
basement gym - after vandals stole its copper piping in 2006. It was
allowed to remain open, but it put Steward in a difficult financial
situation and he later rented space at a gym in Dearborn so his young
fighters could train.
"With the loss of Emanuel Steward, we have lost a true Detroit
icon,'' Detroit Mayor Dave Bing said. "Emanuel Steward embodied our
city's toughness, our competitive spirit, and our determination to
always answer the bell.
"We are grateful for Emanuel Steward's many contributions to our city and his impact on generations of young people.''
In the early years at Kronk, most of his fighters were black. In
recent years, his melting pot of boxers included a Ukrainian
heavyweight, an Irish middleweight and scores of young men from Eastern
Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.
Steward was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1996.
"It brings me great grief and sadness to hear of the passing of one
of the best and most respected trainers of this era,'' De La Hoya said.
"I learned a lot from him during our professional relationship and I
will be forever grateful for his help during that time. We were also
friends and I know I am going to miss him as so many others will, too.
He was an important part of our boxing community.''
Lewis, a former heavyweight champion, was trained by Steward from
1994 to 2004, a period which included victories over Evander Holyfield
and Mike Tyson.
"This has been a very tragic year for the boxing world, but today
we've truly lost one of its crown jewels,'' Lewis wrote on his official
website. "Manny always told me I was the best, but the truth is, he was
the best and I'm grateful, privileged and honored to be counted among
his many historic successes.
"Manny was giving, selfless, compassionate and stern,'' Lewis said.
"I'm proud to have had him in my corner for so many years. ... I'll miss
his smile, his frank no-holds-barred truthfulness and our discussions
on boxing and life.''
Steward also worked Klitschko, the current heavyweight champion, as
recently as July when the boxer led 22,000 fans in singing "Happy
Birthday,'' to the beloved trainer.
Klitschko had to train recently without Steward for his fight against Mariusz Wach next month in Germany
"His spirit is always here,'' Klitschko said. "I can hear his voice
in sparring while doing things, whispering in my ear. As the famous
saying goes, `The show must go on,' and that's exactly the case.''
Steward also trained actor Wesley Snipes for his role as a boxer in
"Undisputed'' and appeared briefly with Lewis in "Ocean's Eleven.''
Steward worked since 2001 as a boxing analyst for HBO, sharing his
rich knowledge of the sport and warm personality with a younger
generation of fans.
"Manny was a respected colleague who taught us so much not only about
the sweet science but also about friendship and loyalty,'' HBO Sports
President Ken Hershman said. "His energy, enthusiasm and bright smile
were a constant presence. Ten bells do not seem enough to mourn his
passing.''
HBO Sports commentator Jim Lampley - a friend of Steward's since the
early 1980s and broadcast partner for more than a decade - said
Steward's wisdom and common touch made him special.
"He was the most loyal, generous, positive spirited, broadly
accepting man I've ever known,'' Lampley said. "He had a positive impact
on everyone he encountered.''
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AP Sports Columnist Tim Dahlberg contributed to this report.
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Follow Larry Lage on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/larrylage
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