By David Martinez / Boxing Historian / dmboxing.com
One of the nicest and most knowledgeable persons that I have met in my 59 years of involvement in boxing has to be – Emanuel Steward . I consider him to be one of the most successful trainers and managers in the history of boxing.
Steward was born on July 7, 1944, in Bottom Creek, West Virginia . His interest in boxing began as an eight year old boy when he was given a pair of Jack Dempsey gloves as a Christmas gift. At that young age he began to box in neighborhood smokers and organized boxing venues . At the age of twelve, he began to actively train at Brewster’s Gym in Detroit, the same gym where Joe Louis started his training.
Fighting as an amateur, he would achieve an amazing ring record of 94 wins, 3 losses, and would win a 1963 National Golden Gloves Bantamweight title . He would go on to coach young kids while working various odd jobs and later would study to learn the trade of an electrician.
In 1969, Steward took his younger brother James, who was 15 at the time, to a local gym named after a Detroit City Councilman, John Kronk . It was there that Steward worked with James and guided him to win a Detroit Golden Glo
ves title. This led to Steward becoming a part-time coach at the gym, while also working full-time as a lineman and an electrician supervisor for the Detroit Edison company. In 1971, seven of his boxers from the gym went on to win Golden Gloves titles.
The following year Steward would officially leave his job at Edison to work as a full-time coach at the gym. Under Steward’s guidance, by the mid-1970s the Kronk Gym had established a reputation as one of the top amateur boxing programs in the country. His fighters proudly wore gold trunks, with blue piping, and gold robes trimmed in red. His kids were always well conditioned and prepared to the highest degree.
In 1980, Steward had his first two professional world champions. On March 2, Hilmer Kenty knocked out Ernesto Espana in nine rounds to win the WBA Lightweight Championship, and exactly five months later, on August 2, Thomas Hearns knocked out Pipino Cuevas in two rounds to win the WBA Welterweight Championship.
In addition to Kenty and Hearns, Steward was instrumental in the development and training of many greats in boxing – these include but are not limited to: Mike McCallum, Milton and Stevie McCrory, Jimmy Paul, Duane Thomas, John David Jackson, Michael Moorer, Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko, Lennox Lewis, Mark Breland, Julio Cesar Chavez Sr., Miguel Cotto, Oscar De La Hoya, Jeff Fenech, Naseem Hamed, Evander Holyfield, Aaron Pryor, Tony Tucker, Sugar Ray Leonard and Lucia Rijker.
Steward was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1996, and into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 2000.
The boxing world truly lost a friend, great teacher, and outstanding human being when on October 25, 2012, Emanuel Steward passed away at a Chicago hospital, at the age of 68.