![]() ![]() I did not see anything that special to suggest that. He has had an unbelievable impact on a just whole generation of people, and he really was a big part of what got you HBO and all of the big boxing matches on pay-per-view channels because you only could watch Mike Tyson on HBO, and that’s why you would pay to get HBO-just so you could watch Mike Tyson.ĬIANI: Now as an amateur, what type of potential did you see in Mike? Did you think he would ever go on to have one of the brightest futures out of those amateur heavyweights at that time? He’s truly one of the most amazing personalities that we’ve experienced in our lifetime I guess in sports. His personality of being from such a wild street guy and a puncher, and now he’s laughing, he’s comical, he’s in comedy movies, he’s on talk shows. Everywhere you go in the world people know Mike Tyson. I don’t really recall anyone trying to mimic Lennox Lewis, or Larry Holmes, or any of the other heavyweight champions. For him to come on and be totally the opposite of Muhammad Ali to some degree, and have had that impact on boxing where you see more fighters today still mimicking Mike Tyson. Even Ray Robinson who always wore white, but when he fought Joey Maxim who was the champion he had to wear black because Maxim wore the white. All of the fighters wanted, and the champions in particular wore white. The fact fighters today are still wearing black, they didn’t used to wear black a lot and he made black popular. You know but the impact that he had on boxing is undeniably one of the greatest. The truth of the matter is there wasn’t too much around in his era at the time when he was in his prime, anyway. This is weird because of arguments with a lot of the people who say he shouldn’t be in the Hall of Fame because he never won a big super match with a big fighter of his era. Since then I had watched Mike and he has got to be in my mind one of the most amazing fighters, or characters, or personalities ever that I have experienced in my lifetime because of the unbelievable impact that he has had on boxing that pretty much in its own strange way equaled Muhammad Ali. I’d heard so much about this little guy with the great punching power and I thought he won the fight, but nevertheless they gave it to Craig Payne. ![]() I definitely thought that Mike won the fight. Actually I think it was the National Golden Gloves Finals and he was fighting a boxer who was on my Detroit team named Craig Payne. GEOFFREY CIANI: Emanuel, Mike Tyson was recently inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame this past year and I’m wondering, when was the first time you had the opportunity to watch Mike box and what were your initial impressions of him?ĮMANUEL STEWARD: Well the first time that I saw Mike Tyson actually box was in 1983 I guess. This is Part Two of a new series with Emanuel that will explore past champions, historical fights, mythical match-ups, great rivalries, memorable fighters, and Steward’s own personal experiences as a world class trainer. Steward shared his views on one of the most enigmatic personalities in sports history and provided opinions about his career, his legacy, and his recent induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Steward has followed Tyson’s career since his days as an amateur and thus has a unique insight into the man who was once viewed as “the baddest man on the planet”. I had the opportunity to speak with Steward in his area of expertise regarding one of the most popular and thrilling heavyweight champions of all time-“Iron” Mike Tyson. Steward’s success with training heavyweights for world championship fights is simply impeccable. Steward has trained and/or managed 41 World Champions, including former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis and the reigning heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko. “What made Mike Tyson so special was the way that he knocked people out so savagely” – Emanuel StewardĮxclusive Interview by Geoffrey Ciani – With his vast wealth of knowledge, experience, and success, Emanuel Steward is undoubtedly one of the greatest trainers the sport of boxing has ever seen.
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