Emanuel Steward in a corner is a little bit like seeing an old soldier back in uniform. It fits. Amid the clutter and craziness along the ropes of boxing’s front lines, Steward belongs there a lot more than he belongs in a tux at ringside for Home Box Office. Make no mistake, Steward is a good commentator. So is Jim Lampley.
But Lampley couldn’t train a fighter, much less guide one through adversity any more than I or anybody else could in a media section full of egos that rival the waistlines. I’ve never wondered what Lampley or Larry Merchant or Max Kellerman could have done for Shane Mosley or Juan Manuel Marquez or Ricky Hatton against Floyd Mayweather Jr. But I have wondered whether Steward might have made a difference.
I won’t have to Saturday night, not with Steward in Miguel Cotto’s corner against Yuri Foreman in a junior-middleweight fight that is historic for its place, Yankee Stadium, and intriguing for what it means to Foreman as the first Israeli champion, Cotto as a symbol of Puerto Rican pride and Steward at a crossroads in a vanishing trade. There is Freddie Roach and Nazim Richardson and Nacho Beristain. Sorry, Roger Mayweather. Floyd, Jr., is so good, he could train himself.
Great trainers are becoming as endangered as the heavyweights, who have become the Klitschko division since – and perhaps because — of Steward’s work with Wladimir. Steward will probably never get the credit he deserves for Wladimir Klitschko’s dominance because of a weight class empty of a real threat. The Klitschko division has value only in the Euro zone.
In Yankee Stadium, however, Steward takes his own trip back in time to his historical corner with the welterweight and middleweight who launched him to fame in the 1980s. Steward is forever linked with Thomas Hearns, known for classic battles with Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler, to name just two. With his 66th birthday approaching on July 7, nobody has to ask Steward about the significance of his role in Cotto’s attempt to come back from a loss to Manny Pacquiao, whose bloody victory in November made the Puerto Rican look irreparably damaged.
“It is a major challenge to me at this stage of my career,” said Steward, whose spot on the HBO broadcasting team will be filled by Roy Jones Jr.
Steward recalled a time in the post-Hearns era when he was considered a “hired gun.” There’s a mixed message in that label. On one side, it is an acknowledgement of proven skill and accomplishment. On the other, it suggests an opportunist who sweeps in for a big fight and big payday before moving on to the next target.
Steward recalled working with Evander Holyfield and Oliver McCall. He also had one fight in Oscar De La Hoya’s corner. He came in with the ability to provide a quick fix. Sometimes, however, there is no fix. A hired gun is always in danger of getting shot down. To wit: Steward also was in Naseem Hamed’s corner on a night in 2001 when The Prince was transformed into a frog in a punishing lesson delivered by Marco Antonio Barrera.
In Cotto, however, Steward’s words and tone say he desperately walks to make this corner in his career work. There is pressure because of Puerto Rican hopes, especially in New York. Steward has always been a fan of Cotto, whose admirable honesty and toughness are as evident as his scars. But he didn’t realize how much Puerto Ricans have embraced Cotto until he left the arena in Atlantic City on April 17 after working the HBO broadcast of Sergio Martinez’ upset of Kelly Pavlik.
“I was bombarded by so many Puerto Rican fans, many of whom hadn’t even come to the fight,’’ said Steward, whose second in the corner Saturday will be Cotto’s former lead trainer, Joe Santiago. “But they were waiting for me and I never had any idea that this man was so popular with the Puerto Rican fans, even though I had known of his record crowds at (Madison Square) Garden.
“I had to tell Larry Merchant and Jim Lampley to go ahead and I had to walk on the boardwalk, in the rain.’’
Soaked by the downpour and surrounded by Cotto fans, the talk was Cotto, only Cotto. Seward’s hotel was only about a 10-minute walk away. But not on this night
“It took over an hour to get there,’’ Steward said. “They were telling me that Miguel was all that they have and it really has put a burden on me. So I have put my heart and soul into this training camp, not just to win the fight. There is a lot on the line in this fight for Miguel Cotto. It is a very emotional fight in a lot of ways for our camp.’’
Emotional enough, perhaps for Steward to be more than a hired gun. His long-term relationship is just another example of how trainers and fighters are linked almost like a left jab and a right hand. It is an inseparable combination that woks instinctively. But instinct isn’t immediate. It takes time to evolve as it has with Roach and Pacquiao.
Steward knows that as well, perhaps better, than anyone. It’s why he is forever linked to Hearns. It’s why he belongs in that corner.
