It was a great experience, much to Steward's delight, according to Lewis. Lewis, who had Steward in his corner for many of his big fights, recalled a light-hearted episode in England, where the pair went clubbing late at night. I'm just pouring water on the seed he already planted.Current world heavyweight champ Wladimir Klitschko, former heavyweight champions Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield and Michael Moorer, and former muti-division champ Thomas Hearns, the signature fighter of the famed Kronk boxing team, shared their powerful stories and humorous anecdotes recalling their experiences with Steward, who at one time or another, trained them all.įor some, it was easy. "But those are shoes that will never be filled. "I never expected that to come out of her mouth, especially to me," he said softly. "It's your time now," the trainer's eldest daughter whispered in his ear. When Banks arrived at Steward's house on Tuesday, Sylvia Steward-Williams hugged him and shared four words that left him in awe. Klitschko's new trainer is fellow heavyweight Johnathon Banks, a Detroit native who was trained by Steward. "Not just the people present in this room - the people around the world." "Emanuel Steward lives in the hearts of each of us," he said. Just three days after retaining his three heavyweight titles in Germany, Klitschko traveled to Detroit with fresh bruises and cuts on his face to honor Steward, his trainer and friend. Steward suffered cardiac arrest while he was hospitalized near Chicago last month, and it proved too much to overcome as he also fought cancer. "I may not be a Kronk fighter by contact, but by heart I am." "There was no other gym on the planet that produced that much talent," he said. When Jones got behind the microphone at the memorial, he compared Steward to Michael Jordan and Barry Sanders - one-of-a-kind talents that can't be replaced - and said he has always carried a red-and-yellow Kronk Gym bag to every fight. Jones was trained by his father, and he told the AP he wished his mother hadn't talked him out of hiring Steward to be his trainer when he turned pro. "He wasn't just a trainer to me, he was like a dad." "If it wasn't for Emanuel Steward, it would be very difficult to be where I am today," Hearns said. On an emotional day, which started in the morning with family, close friends and former fighters gathering at two homes Steward owned, Hearns was so overcome with emotion when he stepped up to the pulpit that he had to step back, wipe tears off his cheeks and gather himself. Hearns was knocked out in the 14th round by Leonard in 1981 in what Steward later said that was the most painful experience of his life and was on the short end of a three-round fight with Marvin Hagler in 1985 that is considered one of the best bouts in history. The boxer known as Hitman lost some of his most famous bouts. Hearns was the first man to win titles in four divisions and he won five overall. Hearns put the gym - and the trainer affectionately called Manny - on the map. Steward was an accomplished amateur boxer who chose to become a coach in the ring, starting in 1971 with a part-time position at Kronk for $35 per week. "And I say, he is the greatest trainer that ever lived." "I've been interviewed by a lot of TV stations around the world, they have put Emanuel Steward a league of great trainers," Lewis said. Lewis was trained by Steward from 1994 to 2004, a period that included victories over Holyfield and Mike Tyson. He was hired by boxers from all over the globe. Steward, who was born in West Virginia in 1944 and moved 11 years later to the Motor City, trained boxers born and raised in Detroit such as Hearns. "We want to get a good foundation, like it was in the beginning, and build it back up." "We closed it after he passed, but we're going to restructure it and we want it done correctly," Sylvia Steward-Williams told The AP, sitting in her father's second-floor office at his brick home on Detroit's west side. Now, there isn't a Kronk Gym anywhere - and his family is hoping to change that. 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. The city closed the original Kronk Recreation Center - a hot, sweaty basement gym - after vandals stole its copper piping in 2006. A private dinner and party in Detroit followed the service.
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