"David is a very interesting guy. He always gets more publicity from talking in the media than from his fights. He is doing a lot of talking. The truth of the matter is that Wladimir is prepared to fight on July 2nd. He did not want to wait 7 months before his next fight, therefore he chose to fight his previously postponed fight with Dereck Chisora on April 30th...When David Haye was negotiating with Vitali, he surprised everyone by instead deciding to fight Valuev. Based on those experiences we have had with Haye, we had decided to fight on April 30th and July 2nd...There is a dark side of Wladimir that a lot of people don't know about...If David Haye and Wladimir fought, you would see the nasty side of him in this fight," stated world-class trainer Emanuel Steward as he clarified what happened in the latest failed negotiations for a potential showdown between heavyweight champions Wlaidmir Klitschko and David Haye. Check out what else he had to say about Wladimir, Haye, Miguel Cotto, Chad Dawson and much more.
JA: David Haye recently made some comments in the British Star saying that Wladimir is being "a coward" for not fighting him. Can I get your thoughts on the comments David Haye recently made?
ES: David is a very interesting guy. He always gets more publicity from talking in the media than from his fights. He is doing a lot of talking. The truth of the matter is that Wladimir is prepared to fight on July 2nd. He did not want to wait 7 months before his next fight, therefore he chose to fight his previously postponed fight with Dereck Chisora on April 30th. Wladimir said to me, "Emanuel, we negotiated and had a fight with David Haye and two weeks before the fight, he pulled out and then we had to run through all different hoops to get Chagaev. We had to go from preparing for David Haye to Chagaev, which are two totally different styles." When David Haye was negotiating with Vitali, he surprised everyone by instead deciding to fight Valuev. Based on those experiences we have had with Haye, we had decided to fight on April 30th and July 2nd.
JA: How do you see the fight going with Haye?
ES: Wladimir is too superior in every way. His boxing ability, punching ability; he's an unbelievably experienced fighter with over 50 professional fights, not including amateurs. I see him superior in every area over David Haye.
JA: Is it tough to keep Wladamir motivated with all the experience and the success that he's had in the boxing ring?
ES: People don't realize that Wladamir is a very competitive guy and he loves the sport of boxing. He called me earlier saying he's anxious to get back in the ring. I've never had a boxer calling me telling me that they are anxious to get in the ring between fights as much as Wladimir Klitschko. Wladimir loves going to the camp, learning new strategy to beat up another guy. He looks at it as a hitman game; he loves it. There is a dark side of Wladimir that a lot of people don't know about. The second Chris Byrd fight brought that out in him; not so much Chris, but his family and his cousin, Lamon Brewster, were badmouthing him, and you saw a nasty side of him in that fight. Don King bothered him and irritated him in the Ray Austin fight. If David Haye and Wladimir fought, you would see the nasty side of him in this fight. He is one of the few that loves to train and his standard of sparring is 12 rounds.
JA: Is that normal for a fighter to train twice a day?
ES: No, it's normal for fighters to come in twice a day. He loves it because each fight is like a game to him and he loves the new challenge. Before he was with me, it would be the same routine over and over and that is one of the reasons why he lost interest. Once we got together...we go through so much strategy, technique, and maneuvering in the ring.
JA: Is Wladimir the best fundamental heavyweight you ever trained?
ES: Fundamentally, yes. Fundamentally, he's one of the best fighters I've ever had, but the thing is Lennox is the best heavyweight I ever had. Lennox could step up when he needed to. Lennox did that when he fought Henry Akinwande, who was much taller than him and was charging at him. Also fighting toe-toe the last two rounds to pull the fight off against Ray Mercer. He realized that we were losing after four rounds to Vitali and we had to go to the street to fight him. I told him that he needed to push the jab all the way through instead of snapping the jab. I told him to bump him with your shoulders, dig hard to the body, and then come all the way down and dig hard with an uppercut. He said, "Okay coach." Lennox was my greatest heavyweight, but the person with the most talent is still Wladimir. Wladimir still hasn't showed us all that he can do. The most powerful puncher that I've dealt with in every division is still Wladimir Klitschko. He can do more damage with short punches with either hand than any fighter that I've had. Whether it's a left hook, left jab, or left hook, he can do damage. He doesn't have to have the person hurt to get them in trouble. He could be mellow and then he hits you with a punch and all of sudden, the lights are off in the room and the fight is over.
JA: Why isn't he getting the respect that he deserves in the United States?
ES: He's not fighting In the States a lot and that means a lot to TV. Even though his knockout ratio is high, he had his opponents ready to be knocked out, and then he knocked them out. That's part of his analytical way of thinking. It's very well accepted fighting the analytical way in Europe, but not in the United States. The European fighters love to see the beautiful breakdown of a fighter. To them, it's like a beautiful chess game. In America, we love the big KO. He loves breaking down the fighter with hooks and jabs, and methodically breaking the fighter down. He even admitted to me, "I enjoy what I'm doing until you start screaming and yelling at me and then that's when I knock the opponent out."
JA: I read a press release that stated that you will be working with Chad Dawson. How excited are you to be working with Chad Dawson?
ES: I never worked with a fighter I didn't have a big admiration for and I've never asked to work with a fighter; every fighter asks me to work with them. You would be very surprised at some of the fighters who I've turned down to train.
JA: As a trainer, is it tough to develop chemistry with a fighter?
ES: If I have complete control of the fighter and all of the decisions are made between he and I...that is one thing that I always do is make all my decisions jointly with my fighters. I would never say this is my way and if you don't like that, well too bad.
JA: You were at the Miguel Cotto fight when he fought Manny Pacquiao. What were some of the things that you saw him doing wrong that you thought you could fix?
ES: I've been at a lot of the Miguel Cotto fights because he's been an HBO fighter. I've been watching most of his fights and he's been in some good ones. In his fights with Judah, Clottey, Margarito, Mosley and Pacquiao, he was a bent down, feet far apart, elbows far apart, head bent down kind of fighter. When Miguel turned professional, he was a beautiful boxer and then somewhere along the way, his style gradually changed. We talked about the Pacquiao fight and I told him, "You're the bigger fighter and he's hitting you because your bending down so low." We worked on getting his balance and weight evenly distributed. That's all we worked on was basic, simple boxing fundamentals.
JA: Have you seen the game change away from simple boxing?
ES: Yes. You noticed how easy he beat Foreman in the fight by out-boxing him; beat him with a left jab, busted him up slowly, and then knocked him out with his patented left uppercut. He came to me after the fight. He was surprised that he didn't have a scratch on him. The main thing that I teach is good fundamental boxing to place your punches properly and work off the jab. Everything comes from the jab with me. I don't care how short or tall you are, you have to have the job.
JA: Why do you think the game of boxing has changed throughout the years?
ES: There are no teachers anymore; that's the problem. You have to have someone who can teach the art of boxing, not someone who can hold their hands up and make a lot of noise. The trainers today think that teaching the basics is too boring. When working the mitts, they want to have them do five left hooks, pop, pop, move to the side, uppercut, and there's a great emphasis on punching the pads. It's great for the media, but it's nothing more than a form of punching a speed bag. Everyone should go to YouTube and look at me and Miguel doing the mitts. We do it completely different. When I started working Wladimir, he expected me to come in and do something completely different and all of this flashy stuff, but one of the first things I ever had Wladimir do was move back and forth keeping his balance evenly between his two legs; do that 10 times and then do it the other way 10 times and then rock back and forth. After the second time, he was laughing and I said, "What's so funny?" He said, "Emanuel, when I started boxing in the program, this was the first thing that they taught me to do. This was when I was 14 years old. I'm a world champion who has 45 fights and this is what you have me doing (laughing)." I said, "Yup, that's what I teach".
JA: It's like John Wooden teaching all of his High School recruits coming in how to put their socks on.
ES: I am very detailed about every aspect of my boxers, in terms of their basic boxing fundamentals, techniques, the quality of sparring partners, boxing equipment, attire and diet, amongst other things. There are many other details that make up a great boxer and I will elaborate on all this in my upcoming boxing Clinics. One can go to www.emanuelstewardonline.com to get more information.