By Mark Havey: They are the most famous and sought after trainers in the world. The choice of champions for so long. Emanuel Steward and Freddie Roach have often evoked dispute amongst boxing fans as to who is the best.

Emanuel Steward seems to have been around forever. And the list of people who have at some point been trained by him is illustrious. Evander Holyfield, Oliver McCall, Lennox Lewis, Oscar De La Hoya, Julio Cesar Chavez, Milt McCrory, Tony Tucker, Miguel Cotto, current Heavyweight kings the Klitschko Brothers and recent hall of fame inductee Tommy Hearns are all included on the list. Steward started coaching in 1971 and produced his first world champion 9 years later. Known for being able to teach defence and offence in equal quantities, he is undeniably an excellent trainer.

Freddie Roach is treated like a god in boxing. Despite suffering from Parkinson disease, his reactions on the pads seems to be at a quality only attained by him. the list of boxers turning up at his world famous wildcard gym is also impressive, James Toney, Oscar De La Hoya, Mike Tyson, Manny Pacquiao, Bobby Pacquiao, Bernard Hopkins, Amir Khan, Johnny Tapia, Jorge Linares, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, Michael Moorer and Steve Collins. Many UFC fighters have asked Roach to help tidy up their boxing skills, Anderson Silva B.J Penn, Frank Mir, Jose Aldo, Georges St-Pierre and Tito Ortiz. Roach started coaching as an assistant in 1996 but didn’t go at it alone until 1991. Awarded trainer of the year five times has pushed him to legendary status.

I think it is hard to pick who is the best. Personally I think training is a personal preference and what is right for one person may not be right for another. Who would you most like to be trained by?