The world of boxing is mourning the sudden death of Emmanuel “Manny” Steward the famed head coach at the world renowned Kronk gym in Detroit and the trainer of numerous current and former world champions including Lennox Lewis, Thomas Hearns, and Wladimir Klitchko to name a few. He also served as a regular HBO ringside commentator and always impressed the viewing audience with his insight about they fights they were watching. Boxing also mourns his passing because he was considered one of the last of a dying breed of old school trainers in boxing, with no visible successor or protégé in sight. Personally I hold him responsible for bequeathing us with the legacy of Wladimir Klitchko the current IBF/IBO/WBO champion who has been lack lustre in the ring but has been so well trained by Manny that he has managed to go undefeated since 2004, and his unexciting reign is likely to continue for the foreseeable future with Manny’s past instructions still ringing in his head as he methodically takes apart his next opponent. RIP MANNY – 10/30/12 – Michael Amakor
As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
