Legendary trainer Emanuel Steward once revealed the hardest punching fighter that he ever worked with.
Based out of the world-famous Kronk Boxing Gym in Detroit, Steward began his coaching career back in 1971 after he decided not to pursue a professional career of his own.
He would go on to work alongside over 40 world champions throughout the course of his tenure, including the likes of Thomas Hearns, Evander Holyfield, Oscar De La Hoya and Lennox Lewis.
Steward is often commended for his outstanding work with heavyweight fighters, where he played a key role in the career of British-Canadian great Lewis, who became the undisputed heavyweight champion back in 1999.
Another legendary heavyweight that Steward coached was former long-reigning unified world champion Wladimir Klitschko, who is considered to be one of the greatest of his generation.
In a resurfaced interviewa resurfaced interview, Steward admitted that Klitschko was the hardest punching fighter that he worked worked with, as he claims that the Ukrainian icon had ‘unbelievable’ punching power.
“Never, ever, ever have I been involved with a fighter who has so much one punch punching power. Wladimir is the only fighter I’ve ever worked with that everything can be normal like a big party — everybody is having champagne, on the floors, in the tuxedos, with the music —and the lights go off completely at one time.
“I never saw anyone who knocked out people in a gym when they block punches and he did that about three weeks ago with a sparring partner — two weeks ago, prior to the fight. He has unbelievable one punch punching power and that’s why maybe he doesn’t put combinations together because he punches so effectively and with so much power with one punch.”
Klitschko established himself as one of the best heavyweights of the 2000s, a period where he reigned as the unified heavyweight champion from 2008 until 2015.
The Ukrainian great racked up 64 victories during his professional career, defeating the likes of Alexander Povetkin, Hasim Rahman and David Haye before he announced his retirement from the sport in 2017.
