The legendary Emanuel Steward has rightfully earned his status as one of the greatest trainers of all time.
Steward founded the iconic Kronk Gym and trained 41 world champions during his remarkable career, leading to his Hall of Fame induction in 1996.
Before he sadly passed away in 2012, Steward once told Boxing247 about the top three fights he ever worked with, beginning with placing Lennox Lewis in third.
“Lennox was another tremendously hard worker. When I took Lennox over, I had just trained a guy to knock him out – Oliver McCall. But I told everyone Lewis would be the next dominant heavyweight.
“Again, Lennox had natural talent, but I had to work with him to polish it. I worked on his jab and that became his most formidable weapon. The jab is the most important punch in boxing.”
Lewis claimed memorable victories over the likes of Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson, and was the last undisputed heavyweight champion until Oleksandr Usyk achieved the feat in 2024.
Next up, Steward ranked Oscar De La Hoya as the second best fighter he ever worked with.
“Oscar had tremendous natural talent. In fact, he had phenomenal talent. I’d probably say Oscar was the most naturally talented guy I worked with as a pro. Although one guy I worked with, but not as a pro, only as an amateur, was “Sugar” Ray Leonard. He was the most gifted guy I ever saw. Next to him, it’s De La Hoya.”
De La Hoya was a six-weight world champion and was regarded as the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world at one stage in the late 1990s, after defeating fellow greats like Julio Cesar Chavez and Pernell Whitaker.
Finally, Steward declared that Tommy Hearns was the best of the bunch.
“Not only was Tommy the best fighter I ever worked with, he was also the most exciting. For me, climbing in the ring whenever Tommy fought, it was just so exciting. Tommy was very special. He was probably the closest reflection to my own style of fighting.
“With Tommy, he had so many outstanding qualities it’s hard to list just one – but he was so dedicated. Tommy worked so hard in the gym. If I told him, ‘Tommy, today you spar 20 rounds.’ He’d say ‘Okay.’ That’s just the way he was – dedicated.”
Hearns was one of the legendary ‘Four Kings’ alongside fellow greats Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler and Roberto Duran, with the quartet all involved in iconic fights with one another throughout the 1980s.
‘The Hitman’ was the first boxing in history to win world titles in five weight divisions, and ended his career with a record of 61 wins, 5 defeats and 1 draw, with 48 of his victories coming by knockout.
