by Geoffrey Ciani – This week’s 107th edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured an exclusive interview with Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward, who along with some of the big name fighters from his stable, including Wladimir Klitschko, Chad Dawson, Miguel Cotto, and Andy Lee, have all made recent headlines. Emanuel spoke about these topics and also touched on other matters including Pacquiao versus Mosley, Domonique Dolton, Tyson Fury, and more! Here is some of what he had to say.
His views on the breakdown in negotiations between Wladimir Klitschko and David Haye:
“Well it’s very frustrating for me as an observer just reading and watching. I spoke to Wladimir. I have not spoken to David naturally, but from Wladimir’s viewpoint this is what happened: they had completed negotiations for a fight which he was hopeful was going to be April 2. Based on I guess the Sky TV scheduling they would not two pay-per-view fights in April because they had the Amir Khan fight. They moved the fight back all the way to July and Wladimir said that was fine and he agreed to it, but he didn’t want to go that long without having a fight, because he wants to get as many fights as he can in during this last stage of his career. So he decided that he wanted to go ahead and take the fight and finish his commitment, which he felt he was obligated to do, with Chisora. So he wanted to do that fight for the 30th. That was all signed and all of a sudden I read when David went berserk.
I spoke to Wladimir about it. I understand David’s viewpoint as well as Wladimir’s, and Wladimir’s point was, ‘It’s just hard for me to just sit and wait for a July 2nd fight because I really don’t have that much faith in Haye’s commitment because he once pulled out of a fight just two weeks or ten days or whatever before a fight. He just pulled out. There was no injury, that’s bullsh*t. Then he negotiates with my brother for a fight, and at the same time they were getting ready to finalize the contract they found out he had been negotiating at the same time for Valuev. Rather than wait a whole year, I decided to just take a fight in April and then I’ll go ahead and fulfill that obligation in July. But I’m not surprised and upset with David’s reaction. I just can’t trust or depend on him with his past record with me and my brother, so I want to take this fight and I’ll still be prepared to fight July 2. So that’s where it stands’.
Now I hear Adamek is coming into the picture and whatever, but there is a lot of confusion. Anything dealing with David Haye is going to be a lot of problems like that. David Haye is a businessman more so than a boxer. That’s the best I can say. I respect him for doing what he’s doing, but I also have to respect Wladimir because Wladimir is a fighter and he wants to fight and he feels that he should fight two to three times a year minimum and that’s what he says he’s going to do. He doesn’t see a problem with fighting in July. That’s David’s situation. So I respect both of them and whatever happens, happens.”
His views on David Haye’s claim that people will say “Why didn’t you fight David Haye” when Wladimir retires:
“I think it will be just the opposite. David Haye has pulled out of a fight totally, and what’s interesting is Wladimir himself had a bad, bad shoulder injury. The fact that he had to have two operations on that same shoulder and he was willing to fight David Haye and under those conditions, and he still went through with a fight when David pulled out and he went on and fought Chagaev. Basically he had to throw the right hand, right hand, because he couldn’t even use his left hook effectively in that fight and he had to go through the two surgeries for that shoulder. Out of his whole career, amateur and professional, which goes back I guess twenty-one years now, he’s only had to pull out of one fight and I was one of the main reasons that he pulled out of this one. I said you cannot go into a fight with this type of injury because it could happen right in the middle of the second round or something and you can end up where you can’t move.
Nevertheless, he does not have the faith that David will be there. It’s not like he canceled the fight. He just said we’ll fight July 2, but I’m going to have a fight April 30 against Chisora because that’s what I should as an honorable fighter and a champion. So he wants to fulfill his commitment since it’s going to take so long in between these fights, and that gave David the excuse to go screaming and hollering. I mean look at his track record. Wladimir’s never ran from anyone, he’s damn sure not running from David Haye. But David Haye is the type of guy that has got all of his fame through the media, and drawing cartoons, and cutting heads off, and this and that. His performances in the ring to me, and I’m just saying as a neutral person not a Klitschko person—fighting a Valuev, Audley Harrison, Monte Barrett who Wladimir had knocked out nine years earlier and he was even knocked down in that fight. He’s become famous for his media hype more so than his actions. He’s never had an impressive fight over a credible opponent. This gives him the opportunity to scream and holler, but it’s not that Wladimir has canceled the fight. He said we’ll fight July 2 but I’m going to go ahead and fight in between and stay busy.”
On whether he is disappointed as a fan that a fight between Wladimir Klitschko and David Haye is not happening:
“Yes I am. I think it should happen and I would personally have loved for it to happen somewhere in between there rather than going that long. I respect David’s opinion and I cannot go against Wladimir, not just because I’m with him but because the man just as a history, he and his brother and really if you look at it the boxing world with David Haye, of just BS’ing the public. So he said I’m not going to wait because at the last minute he is liable to come up and pull out again because he’s not getting the rights to a particular neighborhood or something. So he said I’m going to go ahead and fight and stay busy because I don’t know what David’s going to do and I am willing to fight July 2 and that’s it. I respect everybody, but I think history will show that Wladimir Klitschko has accomplished much more in his career than David has, other than drawing cartoons and cutting out pictures.”
His views on David Haye’s claim that he will retire in October of this year:
“BS. No, that’s just talk. All he is. is talk, hype, comments, and things of that nature. It’s not even worth entertaining the thought to even think about.”
On whether he believes Ruslan Chagaev poses a serious threat to David Haye:
“Nope. I spoke to Wladimir about it. Wladimir said the same thing, he said no. I don’t know, I didn’t see Chagaev’s last fight but evidently it was not that impressive and you look at the fact Wladimir beat Chagaev with just one good shoulder, his right shoulder. He says he cannot see Chagaev being a threat, and it’s not only just that. I can’t see that as a fight that anybody is going to be excited about because neither Chagaev nor Haye did anything in the last—in their careers , really if you look at it, to get the fans excited about.”
On whether he is happy that Wladimir’s fight with Dereck Chisora is back on or whether he views it as a necessary risk:
“I think it’s a necessary risk because Wladimir is an honorable person. He feels that based on him having the injury and not Chisora, he owes it to him because Chisora has nowhere to go. He would be just left out and he feels he owes this man that fight. If it was up to me, I would say, ‘No, let’s wait and fight David Haye’. But I know Wladimir. He said, ‘No, we owe this fight to this man. He was supposed to be in this fight and it’s not his fault and that’s just the way Wladimir is. So we’ll have to go, but I think he’s a very tough guy and a dangerous risk. Wladimir himself feels that after listening to me, and he respects my judgment, but he feels that he should fight Chisora, especially with the long time. He just does not want to wait that long in between fights and he’s been looking at the records and discusses often with me the great heavyweight fighters like Tyson and Ali. All of those guys were fighters who fought regularly and that’s what he wants to do because he’s going to fight a couple of more years, and he wants to get all the fights he can in and give everyone a chance to fight him, and fighting once or twice a year is not what he wants to do for the next few years.”
On the latest news regarding a fight between Andy Lee and John Duddy:
“Well as of two hours ago, I spoke to Andy. I had been unsuccessful at getting a return call back from Lou DiBella because he’s tied up doing other things, but from what I gather they will be fighting on March 12 and I believe it’s going to be at the Foxwoods Casino. It’s amazing the amount of interest that it has garnered with the fight fans, but also more so maybe the Irish. I did thirteen interviews today, and because of the time difference they were very early, too. There was one at 6 O’clock and 7, from the Irish media. Even though John hasn’t had an impressive fight in the last five years, it’s one of those fights that has been like building up among mainly the Irish fans. Also the fact that they are probably, as strange as it is, the two most recognizable names out there when you leave out the champion Sergio Martinez and Kelly Pavlik. It’s just the way boxing is. There are no other middleweights that you think of. So because of the marquee value of those two recognizable names, and both being Irish, and both being middleweights, it’s a fight that has built up a lot of momentum and interest.”
On whether he believes a big victory against John Duddy will help launch Andy Lee into the spotlight:
“You know what’s strange? I never thought this would be happening, but even though John has not had an impressive victory in a long time now, yes! It’s just what the state of the middleweight division and because of Marquee names, yes. The fact that he did go the limit with Chavez Junior and in all of his other fights and he’s never been stopped, and a few years back he was one of the most exciting fighters coming up. I know I was a big fan. I loved the excitement where he came out with that real rough, aggressive style. But still, yes. He may be the only marquee value name out there outside of Pavlik in the middleweight division that I off the top of my head can think of. Even Pirog who I’m a big fan of and who Andy was the one who told me there was a very good chance he was going to beat Danny Jacobs, who I was totally into and never thought he would do that. Pirog is still a champion and certainly a good fighter, but he still doesn’t have the marquee name in America that a Martinez, and a John Duddy, and Andy Lee has. So I think next to fighting Pavlik or Sergio Martinez, this is the biggest marquee name fighter that he could be fighting.”
His belief on how far removed Andy Lee is from getting a title shot:
“Well I think if he gets a victory in this fight it is automatic he will be fighting for the title, because I was offered and I refused a fight with Pirog simply because I thought that Martinez is the very best and I knew Andy was the biggest marquee name of all the middleweight contenders. We wanted to fight Martinez because he is the very best and the hottest. I knew that we were in a position to choose between Pirog or Martinez. It would just be a matter of time and as I said, that offer did come up and we were told that Martinez had to do his mandatory so we will just have to wait it out, but I think he will definitely get a chance to fight Martinez.”
His views on working with Chad Dawson and how good he believes Dawson can become:
“Well Chad Dawson is, not just from my view point but I think most people who follow boxing, one of the best talents that we actually have here today. The fact that Floyd Mayweather himself as said this is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world next to me. So the fact is that he has the respect from not only the boxing crowd but also the boxing fighters themselves, but still he has not had a career defining fight and for the most part he’s been a fighter where everyone feels like he has so much talent but he still hasn’t done anything great yet. If you look at the guys he fought, they were really not the type of guys that anyone was going to do that well against. I mean you have Antonio Tarver, Glen Johnson, and I think he was the only one to beat Adamek. He is very talented but still has not had a whole bunch of knockouts and part of the problem is he’s fighting the type of guys that no one knocks out.
Then when he gets this high profile fight in Montreal it turned out to be a bad night for him and that’s what he’s had to deal with, because at this stage in his career that was his signature fight. I know when we interviewed him with HBO when he left the room, we ourselves meaning Jim Lampley and us, were speaking about the rumors about all of the personal drama that he was going through. It turned out those were factors in the fight and when he did decide to fight finally and just went out and opened up, he had Pascal out on his feet which showed what he’s capable of doing. I think then they had the accidental butt and it was technical decision or whatever and he lost, which by right he did because Pascal fought a good fight. It still has left his image in a really flux situation where he the public realizes that he has a lot of talent but he still hasn’t done anything major and they’re still waiting to see that happen.
I accepted the opportunity to work with him because like Miguel Cotto and Wladimir Klitschko and Lennox, those are fighters I got involved with mainly after they had lost fights but I knew that they had potential and so I took it as a personal challenge to myself. Rather than sit back and be frustrated and have this criticism which I have to keep inside of myself because as a broadcaster I won’t say it on the air. I say will let me take this as a challenge and see if I can develop this talent that I believe is there, but it’s still a challenge for me to see if I can bring it out. I think he’s a good fighter and very talented. I don’t put any blame on his trainer at the time, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad. As a matter of fact Eddie and I just spoke a few days ago. It was just at that point in time when he fought that fight, mentally he was not there. He did show with the explosion that he had I think it was in the eleventh, what he was capable of doing and if he had fought that way from the beginning I think the fight would have been over three rounds.
I was very impressed with Bernard Hopkins who saw the weakness in Pascal and he came out and he took advantage and fought a very intelligent fight. He exposed Pascal for what he really was, still not a complete fighter who fights in spots. He applied pressure physically and mentally and put Pascal in very uncomfortable situations and positions and showed his weaknesses. Bernard is probably one of the best, and not only just a good fighter, but just really one of the best ever for being a student of the game as we say.”
On whether he believes fans will begin seeing more knockouts and more killer instinct from Chad Dawson inside the squared circle:
“One word to sum all of that up: Y-E-S, yes you will. He has a lot of talent and I love knockouts, even though I get a lot of criticism about making Wladimir a dull fighter which is funny with the fact that I’m always screaming and hollering for him to go for a knockout. In the last two knockouts that he had it was because I ended up just freaking out. The one guy I saw in there said his little trainer needs to go crazy in dressing room before the fight instead of waiting until the tenth or eleventh round. But I love knockouts. I love them and I think Chad Dawson has the ability to produce knockouts because he is an extremely accurate, talented fighter who punches very well with both hands, but to some degree I don’t criticize him as much because most of his fights if you look at his record were never with easy fighters. I mean you look at Tomasz Adamek, Glen Johnson, Antonio Tarver—those are guys who aren’t getting knocked out that much. When he did open up on Jean Pascal he did have him out on his feet and if it hadn’t have been for the cut, he would have knocked him our regardless of how much he fell behind in the earlier part of the fight. With the mental problems with his personal life coming into the fight, still once he opened up in that one round he showed what he was capable of doing. I think he has a great future fighting at light heavyweight because of his tremendous height and all around talent. He could fight cruiserweight and possibly even be able to fight eventually the winner of the Super Six and a Lucian Bute type of situation. So he’s in a very good position if he lives up to the expectations that fans have of him and because the more explosive fighter he has a lot talent and a lot of opportunities in three different weight divisions.”
On what type of path he sees for Miguel Cotto in 2011 and what opportunities exist for him:
“First of all I’m hoping that with Mayorga he will get a chance to further perfect the style that I am working with him on, which is really going back to what he used to be as an amateur. It was just being a basic fundamentally balanced, in terms of body and foot positioning fighters who operate behind a good jab. All of the fighters I train have jabs. I don’t care if you’re 5’2” fighting a guy who is 6’10”, you’re going to have a good jab but ultimately I want a knockout. I don’t want to see decisions, so I want him to finish working his basic fundamentals and work behind a good jab and knockout with Mayorga.
I think the fight with Margarito, even though Margarito didn’t look that great against Pacquiao, still sometimes just with the mental scars left on certain individuals because of the horrific beating that they suffered from Margarito, that is still is a very challenging fight for him, regardless. I think that Cotto is the type of guy that I feel will win the fight, but even though Margarito looked bad against Pacquiao we still have to deal with some psychological affects that may be there and may not be there. So it’s a very challenging fight for him with Margairto, and if he wins that I think ultimately and just based on being realistic the way that the promoter’s game is going on today and Bob Arum’s track record, who is doing an unbelievable job of keeping his fighters fighting his fighters. There is a good possibility that you will see him and Pacquiao fight.
I hope if they fight this time, if you’re going to fight for the junior middleweight title fight at the junior middleweight limit. If you’re going to fight at welterweight, then fight at the welterweight limit. Even if they had a stipulation of 150 pounds like with Pacquiao and Margarito that would not be a big problem, because one week before Cotto’s last fight with Foreman he was down to 150 pounds and we had to have him start eating to get his weight back up to the junior middleweight limit. When he fought Pacquiao the first time they had him come in at some weight like 144 or whatever which was devastating for him. It’s funny, you’re body can get to a certain point and t hen just to get that extra one or two pounds off, it’s like crossing the state lines from New York to New Jersey. Maybe it’s only about six feet or ten feet but it changes everything and he said at a certain point, he started off good, but his body just physically collapsed on him.
I would like to see them possibly fight and I think it’s a big challenge because Pacquiao is not only just a good fighter today. He’s one of the greatest boxers I ever saw in my life because he can do it all. It would be a big fight only if Cotto looks impressive in his next two fights. Right now you cannot sell that fight to the public because of the terrific one-sided beating that he suffered in the last four or five rounds or six rounds of the fight. But if he has an impressive victory over Mayorga and then an impressive victory over Margarito, it would stand historically. If he can come back and beat Pacquiao, which Margarito and Pacquiao are the only two people who defeated him, especially in the manner that they defeated him, it would make him be one of the greatest fighters of all time, not just Puerto Rican, but one of the greatest fighters ever if he can avenge those two losses.
So I think it would be very marketable to the public and I know as a fan I would love to see if he could do that, especially with a fighter like Pacquiao. It’s an interesting fight. I think it’s the only fight that would create excitement from a Pacquiao viewpoint if Mayweather doesn’t fight, and I think it’s the only fight that would make sense for Cotto. I just find it very hard for me to visualize Miguel fighting with Martinez. Even though Martinez probably could make 154, but it’s just still such a disparity in height size and Martinez is just such a fast moving type fighter in addition to being physically big. I as a fan, I just don’t get as excited about that as much as I would with a Cotto fight with someone closer to his normal height size which is about 5’7”.”
His views on Ricardo Mayorga’s value as an opponent for Cotto at this stage in their careers:
“Well Mayorga I think is a good opponent when you consider quite a few factors. One, Miguel has fought everybody and anybody from 140 to 147. Now he’s just starting at 154. He’s a fighter if you look at his resume it’s unbelievable. You look at Torres who had him down a few times in a war, and the guy who beat him in the Olympics, Shane Mosley, Margarito, Pacquiao, Clottey, Judah—I mean you through and he fought nearly everybody from 147 and now he’s starting in 154, so it was one of only a few marquee names out there outside of Mayweather that he hasn’t fought is Mayorga. So I think it will be a good fight for him. I feel that if he’s fighting at 100% it’s a fight that he should control. He should have an impressive knockout, but you never can tell with a guy like Mayorga. Guys who fight with that crazy wild style, it gets everyone to some degree a little uncoordinated. I was very surprised at the trouble that Shane Mosley had for the first half of his fight. I talked to Shane after, he said ‘Emanuel, he just comes at you from all different angles and it’s against everything that you’re used to dealing with and it gets you totally unorganized’. That could be the case here in this fight, but I think it’s good for him to have a name like that which just adds to his resume of fighting the biggest name fighters of his era and also I think it’s a fight that he should win, but in dealing with Mayorga you never know what to expect. I think he should win the fight and I’m hoping everything works out good in this fight.”
His views on whether his current stable of fighters is one of the best that he has ever worked with in his experiences as a trainer:
“I would say it’s one of them, and we keep forgetting I still have the IBF junior middleweight champion Cornelius Bundrage which I’m very frustrated that he’s not fighting like he should. Right now they have a show here in Detroit on January 29, and definitely since I gave Don King options, which I didn’t have to, to give him fights that he’s not fighting. It’s frustrating to me because when we mention fighters that I’m involved with he’s not even mentioned because of his inactivity.
But yeah this is one of the better teams that I have, and one of them t hat you mentioned Domonique Dolton, remember, I will put him in there with any junior middleweight in the world and he will have a problem with him. He’s boxing Wladimir Klitschko, he boxed Miguel Cotto, and all of the fighters that I’ve been training throughout the years. He’s a very, very fine prospect and maybe one of the best prospects in boxing simply because he’s not tied in with a key promoter. He can’t be seen on TV. But I would put him with anybody. This Lara from Cuba, I would put him in there with him right now at this stage and I would feel very comfortable with him winning.”
His evaluation of Tyson Fury’s performance in his unanimous decision victory against Zack Page:
“I believe that Tyson will be the next dominant heavyweight after Wladimir Klitschko. He’s very intelligent in the ring and outside the ring and as you heard on your show, he’s extremely confident in himself. That’s the truth. He uses his jab very well and I was kind of surprised when I spoke to him and really got to know him. He stayed and trained here with me at my home for awhile with Andy, hius cousin. He basically had just been trained by his uncle. Even his rematch he had with McDermott, he said, ‘I just decided to shut up the crowd and the people for the bad criticism I got. I just went out there and beat him up without good sparring or anything. I’m very impressed with him. I think that he will be a dominant force in the heavyweight division. He’s what boxing is looking for and what’s necessary to survive. He’s a big tall guy, he uses his height fairly good, has great instincts, and he has an extremely colorful personality and a lot of charisma and I think we need that in boxing today.”
His views on the upcoming fight between Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley:
“I can never find a reason to knock Manny Pacquiao because in the last six years he has not just worked hard to earn his reputation as the pound-for-pound best because, and I’ll be honest with you, the fights he fought in maybe the last couple of years, I haven’t been over impressed too much with them in terms of the opponents. In his earlier years here, when he first came to this country about six years ago and the fights now where they are fighting in all of these weight divisions, where you got to lose four pounds, you can’t come in doing this, you can’t do that, the Margarito fight. That is more of a great art and I give more credit to some degree to his great promoter who is phenomenal with what he did and his great matchmaker Bruce Trampler. What made him impress me so much is what he did earlier. When he came here I was shocked when he beat Barrera and he beat him again, and then the great fights with Morales and Juan Manuel Marquez. I mean I can go on and on and on and on. He has just been totally phenomenal fighting the best and beating the best and competing on the top level, and only lost one I think to Morales. So that’s what really earned in my mind and my heart for him to be the best out here.
I think his fight with Shane Mosley, I can’t knock him. We all feel in boxing Shane is passed his prime. His last couple of fights with Mayweather and Mora were definitely not impressive. I think that he is entitled to have a fight of this type. To stay busy you cannot keep going. Every fight is not going to be a super fight. I mean you look at the history of all the great fighters, he did more than almost any fighter that I know of in modern times. I myself would definitely have preferred to see him with Juan Manuel Marquez, but based on the politics and promotional things that go on in boxing that’s not going to happen. I think I can accept the fight he’s fighting Mosley but I would prefer Marquez. I can justify it to some degree because Mosley has still been a marquee fighter and he deserves a break.
I think that Manny wins the fight but I cannot knock this fight, and if I was not doing the broadcast for this fight I would definitely buy it on pay-per-view or whatever it’s shown on because I think Manny has proven himself to be an exciting fighter in all of his fights. He’s never been a boring fighter, and Shane until his skills have started to wane a little bit has always fought with his heart. I think it’s going to be an interesting fight even though I feel Manny is going to win the fight, but whenever you have a fighter who has a lot of heart and determination you never can tell. Just during a fight where Manny Pacquiao’s mind can drift off for one minute or he’s not focused the way he should be because of his political job now, and this or that. When you have a fighter that’s in that situation going against a guy like that and he’s got a lot of determination, you’d be surprised how you could get an upset. So I think Shane with his track record of being a true warrior is a fighter that I can never count out. Even though I don’t believe he is going to win this fight, I would not be surprised if he fights a good fight or even wins if Manny is not focused or not prepared physically. That can happen in a fight with a guy like Manny because he’s legendary, and the fans are going crazy, and all of a sudden you start reading the clippings or whatever and you can slip. That’s why I think Freddie Roach is doing a good job, to the best of his ability of trying to keep him grounded.”
On where he believes Manny Pacquiao ranks amongst all time greats:
“Among all time greats, I would say he has to be in the top dozen, not so much for what he did not so much for what he did in the last couple of years, it’s the earlier part of his career that lasts about two or three years ago. When you keep fighting against the best continually, and that’s what I rank greatness on—performance against the best, not just all of these records and eight or nine championships. To me that doesn’t really mean anything. You got four different organizations, maybe five depending on what you want to respect, and every five pounds is a different weight division. But the fact that he’s fought some of the best, and most of the guys were future Hall of Fame guys themselves. He has performed on a top level and only lost one fight and knocked out that opponent, which was Morales, twice. Just to have this longevity, I would have to rate him in the top dozen fighters of all time.”
His views on a rumors of a match-up between Wladimir Klitschko and Tomasz Adamek later this year:
“Well I spoke to Wladimir and he just said, ‘Emanuel, don’t believe everything that you read about that fight’ so that’s why I won’t even make a comment. It’s really weird. I’m doing an interview about David Haye and Klitschko, and within 48 hours I was getting calls for interviews about Adamek. I really don’t know what’s happening. I wouldn’t put a lot of credibility on any of this right now and that’s why I don’t really want to speak about it. I just have to play it by ear. It’s hard for me to visualize all of this fighting in Poland, doing this, and doing that, I don’t know. Maybe there is money being paid that’s crazy money that I don’t know about or whatever.
I think that Adamek himself physically is not a big guy compared to today’s super heavyweights, but his competitive spirit, his condition, and what surprised me when he fought Arreola—his newfound boxing skills surprised me. You can never underestimate a guy like him, but at this point in time it’s very hard to see anyone beat Wladimir Klitschko with the size, the experience, and the all around skills that he’s got. The fact that he has that competitive spirit inside of him, which is something that Wladimir has not had to deal with too much in recent years because most guys came in with the defeatist type/put up a good performance mindset. Outside of Chisora and possibly David Haye, those are the only two guys with that attitude other than Adamek.
So I think Adamek has to be taken seriously because of the spirit inside of him and that’s what surprised me when he beat Arreola. I was totally convinced that Arreola was going to beat him with the physical size, the location in California, Adamek had not fought much beyond the east coast where he had a strong Polish following. He put on an unbelievable performance that day and it made me have a lot more respect for him than I had in the past. So I think he has to be considered as a serious opponent simply because of the competitive spirit inside of him and he’s always in good condition.”
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For those interested in listening to the Emanuel Steward interview in its entirety, it begins approximately one hour and one minute into the program.
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