Everybody was a champion from every city. Then all of a sudden I would wake up and I’m in Chicago with all of the roughest guys in the United States all right there in the same building where I am. It’s the same as if you have a boxer that starts off fighting locally in his hometown, and he’s the king of that town-like I was myself in Detroit. You have to be mentally comfortable and you have to grow into that situation. ![]() But the point that I’m trying to make is that every stage of boxing, from the beginning to the end, is a different level. That was how I started, but basically that’s the way amateur boxing starts off. You had me and another little boy just barefooted, and we just jumped around there and threw punches until one of us quit and started crying, and then that was the end of that. Mine was just a little different because mine started off with just a bunch of guys just betting money and throwing whiskey and stuff. So those are the different stages that boxers go through. The game gets to be more about rules than it is about actually boxing. That’s a whole different environment where you see people coming in from all parts of the world, and there are different systems. Now if this is a national thing, then the next thing you know you might enter one internationally. So you have to develop a certain type of comfort on the psychological level and you have to be comfortable at that level. That’s going to be your reward if you win. So you’re nervous, you’re uncomfortable, and it’s a whole different psychological, and emotional, and spiritual experience that you’re going to go through that you hadn’t been through before.Īfter that, maybe you would enter a tournament where you have crowds of people screaming and hollering, and if you win you know you’re going to fight another guy-maybe a guy that you’re watching winning who is knocking someone out. At the time I was boxing as an amateur we didn’t wear headgear, but today all of a sudden you have a different element. You come out, and you have crowds of people screaming. Then finally you adjust to that, and the next thing you know you’re having an actual boxing match. You’re getting hit and you’re trying to punch, and things are not the way they were before when you were just on the floor working with a teacher, where everything was simple and basic like a game. There is another human being that is in the ring with you. There is a different element of anxiety then because punches are coming at you. Then when you’re comfortable doing that, all of a sudden the actual boxing starts. 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 you get to where you feel very comfortable doing that. 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. They don’t even do that nowadays, hardly. 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. ![]() 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. 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: 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. This edition focuses on theme of amateur boxing. 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. ![]() ![]() In fact Steward has trained and/or managed 41 World Champions, including the reigning heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko. “A lot of guys try to emulate him, but there will never be another Pernell Whitaker”-Emanuel StewardĮxclusive 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.
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