Wladimir Klitschko is an all-time boxing great, his safety first style was not for everyone but it was highly effective.
After Tyson Fury ended his long reign, he went more aggressive though and was involved in classic fights again, the one with Anthony Joshua of Wembley being one of course.
Speaking to The Ring Magazine Podcast Wladimir Klitschko said of his old legendary trainer, Manny Steward:
“Yes, as I said, there were a lot of fighters. Joseph Parker, and so basically, I know my crowd, my people, because they were in the training camp before when I was an active athlete. Emanuel (Steward), who was a beloved figure, believed that iron sharpens iron.”
He added:
“Back then, I didn’t understand that much, but Emanuel was sharing with me that a lot of fighters, and he named all of them, in the past were actually having great sparring partners because you can sharpen iron with iron. You need seasoned fighters; you need great competitors in sparring sessions. That’s how you’re going to get better and prepare for your upcoming challenges and title defenses. We were just doing what was done before, and Emanuel was sponsoring it, giving those opportunities to young fighters. A lot of them were even amateurs, or just like, for example, Anthony Joshua had just won his gold medal in London 2012 and next, he was in my training camp.”
On Emanuel Stewart specifically, and his legendary Kronk gym, Klitschko fondly noted:
“He had different sides. On one side, he was a mentor; on another, he was a friend, and next, he was a father figure. He was just an incredible man who was very communicative, always positive, always sharing his experiences, trying to get the best out of you. He was very complimentative. The compliments he gave were his method of sharing his experience. I was actually having discussions with him because I got used to iron sharpens iron with criticism, focusing on what I did wrong. Usually, that’s how teachers or trainers train and teach, putting an accent on what you should not do wrong. Emanuel did it the other way, giving compliments because he wanted to motivate a repetition of what you’ve done well, not focusing on negativity.”
