The History of Boxing with Emanuel Steward Part IV: Amateur Boxing

“A lot of guys try to emulate him, but there will never be another Pernell Whitaker”—Emanuel Steward

Exclusive Interview by Geoffrey Ciani – With his vast wealth of knowledge, experience, and an amazing track record of success, Emanuel Steward is undoubtedly one of the greatest trainers the sport of boxing has ever seen. In fact Steward has trained and/or managed 41 World Champions, including the reigning heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko. This is Part Four of an ongoing series with Emanuel that will explore past champions, historical fights, mythical match-ups, great rivalries, memorable fighters, and Steward’s own personal experiences as a world class trainer. This edition focuses on theme of amateur boxing. Steward (*pictured to the right, standing over Eddie Gonzalez during the semi-finals for the National Golden Gloves Championship, in Chicago, on March 6, 1963) spoke about his own experiences as an amateur National Champion. He also provided opinions on the American amateur boxing scene, the Cuban program, and various amateur boxers he has both seen and worked with over the years, including: Sugar Ray Leonard, Mark Breland, Floyd Mayweather Junior, Tommy Hearns, George Foreman, Pernell Whitaker, Howard Davis, Ronnie Shields, Roy Jones Junior, and more! Here is what the Hall of Fame trainer had to say:

The Stages of an Amateur Boxer:

Well the stages of a person’s amateur career I think are very important, and it’s something that I refer to in life often now. When you first go into the gym as a kid you start learning how to hold your feet and hands properly, or at least you did then. They don’t even do that nowadays, hardly. Everybody wants to just jump right on the pads now and go pop-pop-pop-pop-pop! But at the time when I came up, you learned how to do everything basically and fundamentally sound. Then you get to where you feel very comfortable doing that. It’s like a game where you can hit a bag or do whatever you’re supposed to do, and block a punch, and punch back. Then when you’re comfortable doing that, all of a sudden the actual boxing starts.

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Carl Froch Eyes Fights With Mack, Bute, Kessler, And Then Possible Retirement – If “The Cobra” Goes 3-0 From Here, Will He Be Hall Of Fame-Worthy?

By James Slater: British warrior and reigning International Boxing Federation (IBF) super-middleweight Carl Froch has not in any way said he will definitely retire after his planned rematches with Lucian Bute and Mikkel Kessler, but the 35-year-old will not be around forever and “The Cobra” has hinted that he would look at going out, on top, if he were to avenge his loss to Kessler next year, after having first taken care of next challenger Yusaf Mack and then, in a contractually-bound return, Bute.

Froch, who says he will not neglect serious training duties for the Nov. 17th defence against former light-heavyweight title challenger Mack, said in an interview with The Sun that a 2013 hometown win over Kessler would be “the pinnacle for me,” and that to finish his career in such a way would be “unbelievable.”

If this is the way Froch goes out, with three more bouts (which he of course feels would be wins) and then retirement at age 36 or 37, would the Nottingham man be Hall of Fame worthy should he quit with a 32-2 record?

Let’s look at Froch’s list of achievements:

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Alvarez-Lopez: What chance does Josesito have?

By Robert Jackson: Longtime 140lb contender Josesito Lopez will be facing 154lb champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez on September 15, 2012; so what are his chances of the fight ending in victory for him??

Coming off of a 9 round stoppage of Victor Ortiz in his first BIG fight at 147lbs it would seem as if the Riverside, California native has a good chance to dethrone Alvarez. But if you look a little deeper, Lopez’ record, it is littered journeyman fighters, and, other up-and-comers that unlike himself haven’t separated themselves – haven’t yet arrived. It can also be speculated that Ortiz dismissed and underestimated the very determined Lopez, after all Lopez said the same in the build up to their June 2012 fight.

What doesn’t need to be said is that Lopez DID defeat Ortiz in dramatic fashion when Ortiz failed to answer the bell for the 10th round after suffering a broken jaw in two places during the fight. A testament to Lopez punching power or poor boxing fundamentals by Ortiz who fought that night with his mouth open for many rounds of the fight?

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Deontay Wilder-Damon McCreary Set For Sept 8th – Unbeaten Heavies Collide

By James Slater: As has already been reported, unbeaten 26-year-old heavyweight contender Deontay Wilder will make a quick return to action fowling his recent 1st-round KO win over Kertson Manswell. “The Bronze Bomber” now has an opponent: according to Golden Boy match-maker Eric Gomez, who spoke with Ringtv.com, Wilder will look for his 25th KO win in as many fights against 39-year-old Damon McCreary on September 8th, in a fight that will go out on Fox Sports Net.

McCreary, known as “Bulldog,” has a good looking pro record at 14-0(10) but, his age aside, the Detroit fighter has a number of things going against him heading into this, the biggest fight of his career by far. Number one: McCreary is just 5’11” (compared to 6’7” for Wilder) and he has had just one fight as a heavyweight – his last fight, when he came up from 185-pounds to scale 230 for his November 2010 points win over Raymundo Lopez. Number two: McCreary has been inactive, with just one bout since 2007, this being the 2010 win and three: McCreary has never before met a fighter as good, as powerful and as talented as Wilder.

Add it all up, and it looks like yet another ultra-quick win for the 2008 Olympic bronze medallist. Wilder, though, is keeping very busy and he has called out bigger, better names than McCreary, who has had who knows how much notice/time to train for the fight that will take place a week on Saturday. Wilder says he wants Tyson Fury, yet argues how the unbeaten Brit is afraid of taking him on. Who knows for sure what the real story is?

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Chavez Jr-Martinez, Sturm-Geale, Dawson-Ward: Three Significant Boxing Fights In September

By James Stillerman – Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez, 49-2-2, 28 KOs squares off against Julio Caesar Chavez Jr., 46-0-1, 32KOs for the WBC middleweight title and the right to be claimed the best middleweight pugilist in the world on September 15th at the Thomas Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, in a twelve round main event. This is an intriguing matchup of a young towering undefeated and upcoming fighter in Chavez Jr. versus the smaller crafty season veteran in Martinez, who is considered by many boxing experts as the best fighter in the world not named Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao.

Adding excitement to this bout is the fact that both men greatly despise one another other and have repeatedly said that they will end the boxing career of the other fighter in the ring, making it appear that this fight will be an all out action packed event.

Martinez has a significant advantage in experience compared to Chavez Jr. He has fought the vastly superior competition against the likes of Paul Williams, Kelly Pavlik, Kermit Cintron, Serhiy Dzinziruk and Darren Baker.

Martinez won all of those bouts in convincing fashion except for a controversial draw with Cintron, a fight he should have won and a contentious loss to Paul Williams which he got revenge in the rematch by knocking out Williams in the second round. Chavez Jr. has defeated Andy Lee, Marco Rubio and Peter Manfredo and dominated these fights; however none of these fighters are on the same level as Martinez`s competition.

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Mariusz Wach Shows Sharp Sense Of Humour – Says He’s Not Sure If He Wants To KO Wladimir Klitschko Or Not, Doesn’t Want To Hurt Him!

(Photo: Michael Freitag) By James Slater: You’ve got to hand it to unbeaten upcoming world heavyweight title challenger Mariusz Wach: not only is the Polish giant the biggest, tallest challenger of Wladimir Klitschko’s career to date, “The Viking” is also in possession of a gigantic sense of humour.

Today, at a second press conference to hype the November 10th clash set for Hamburg, Germany, Wach, 27-0(15) let loose with some good lines. Not showing any nerves at all, Wach, who does seem to truly believe he will win against the odds in November, managed to slightly annoy the cool and calm “Dr. Steel Hammer.”

“It will be almost impossible to win against a world champion like Wladimir Klitschko on the scorecards,” Wach said in Warsaw. “So, most likely, I have to knock him out. I just don’t know if I want to do it, because I’m not sure if the last guy I knocked out is still in the hospital or not.”

Wach seems to have full belief in his punching power, and being the first fighter that can look directly into Klitschko’s eyes, Wach has fans wondering if he can get some bombs off on Wladimir’s chin. Klitschko goaded his upcoming challenger to try his best to KO him – “I heard a lot about my so-called glass chin,” Wladimir said. “Wach is just one of my previous opponents predicting a KO” – and the defending champion said all the pre-fight talk is nothing more than “fun and games.”

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Peter Quillin-Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam WBO Middleweight Title Bout Added To “Brooklyn Pride” Show: Someone’s “O” Must Go

By James Slater: The October 20th “Brooklyn Pride” Show just got even better. The quality, value for money card will be topped by Danny Garcia’s rematch with Mexican legend Erik Morales at 140-pounds, with “Magic Man” Paulie Malignaggi defending his 147-pound belt against former Morales foe Pablo Cesar Cano as the chief support.

Richard Schaefer has now told Ringtv.com that hot middleweight contender Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin will challenge for his first world title on the card – against fellow unbeaten and reigning WBO 160-pound champ Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam of France.

“Peter Quillin, Kid Chocolate, will be the first fight on the Brooklyn card, and he will be fighting for the WBO middleweight championship of the world. So now, it’s going to be a triple-header, world championship card,” The Golden Boy CEO told Ring.

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Pacquiao and Mayweather Should Learn from Dawson and Ward

By Emilio Camacho, Esq: On Saturday September 8th, two of the top fighters in the sport will meet in the ring. This will be a great day for boxing fans. Both, Andre Ward and Chad Dawson, are in their prime, highly skilled, and tend to bring their best with them to the ring. What is interesting to me, and the main argument of this article, is that Pacquiao and Mayweather can learn something from Dawson and Ward. Let me elaborate on this point.

First, after Dawson fought Hopkins and he was asked what was next in his career, he clearly and unambiguously stated that he wanted Ward for his next fight and was willing to compromise to make the fight happen (regarding weight). He did not say, “…whatever my promoter wants…,” “…I need some rest and will think about it after a deserved vacation…,” “…I need to talk to my team…,” etc. Essentially, Dawson knew the type of match up that the public expects to see, and he delivered just that.

In comparison, Manny Pacquiao has often been asked what he wants next in his career and, most of the time, he defers to his promoter, Bob Arum. Many would argue that this is exactly the problem; the fact that Manny will not stand up for himself and tell Arum to make the best fight available—Pacquiao v. Mayweather. It would seem to some that this is Manny’s way to avoid the fight because the blame is shifted away from him and onto other people around him, such as Bob Arum. This is tragic when we are facing a fight of such a magnitude. In short, Manny could learn something from Chad Dawson and stand up for himself if he really wants the fight. His legacy will be deficient without Mayweather.

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Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez on November 10th?

By Rob Smith: 39-year-old Juan Manuel Marquez (54-6-1, 39 KO’s) and Manny Pacquiao (54-4-2, 38 KO’s) have reportedly reached agreement to fight on November 10th, according to fightnews.com. It’s still not official but the word is that Marquez and Pacquiao have reached an agreement for a fourth fight between them, which will take place the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tim Bradley, the WBO welterweight champion, has been passed over for a rematch with Pacquiao, no doubt due to the poor pay per view figures that the Pacquiao-Bradley fight brought in last June.

Pacquiao has to beat Marquez in order to get a much bigger payday against unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr next year. It’s still unclear whether that fight can even be made unless the two fighters can agree on the purse split and other issues.

A fourth fight between Pacquiao and Marquez might be well received by some boxing fans who have enjoyed the two fighters three previous fights together. However, other boxing fans are plain sick of seeing these guys fight each other so often and they prefer to see them go their separate ways. The fights have always been controversial and that’s really taken away from them, as Marquez has fought well enough to deserve a decision in all three fights, and yet he’s got two losses and a draw to show for them.

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Michael “Second To” Nunn: How Good Was The Former Middleweight Ruler, And How Great Could He Have Become?

by James Slater: How great was Michael Nunn. Or, perhaps a better question: how great could he have become? Michael “Second To” Nunn, who captured the IBF middleweight title by stopping former Olympic gold medallist Frank Tate almost a quarter of a century ago, was certainly a fighter who once seemingly had it all. The Davenport, Iowa southpaw was a tall, athletic, naturally gifted and hardworking boxer; one who was being referred to at the time of his 9th-round stoppage of Tate as a future great. Back in the mid-1980s it was rumoured how even the legendary “Sugar” Ray Leonard was reluctant to face the peaking star.

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