By Eric Thomas: With sadness boxingnews24.com regrets to report that legendary trainer Emanuel Steward has reportedly passed away at 68 due to an undisclosed illness. Steward, who trains IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion, recently was admitted to a Chicago hospital last September and subsequently had surgery on his stomach. It was reported that Steward was suffering from diverticulitis. He had been hospitalized ever since the surgery.

Besides training Wladimir, Steward was known for having worked with Lennox Lewis to make him a great star, as well as Gerald McClellan, James Toney, Michael Moorer, Thomas Hearns, Naseem Hamed, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Mike McCallum, Jermain Taylor, Wilfred Benítez, Julio Cesar Chavez, Andy Lee, Oscar De La Hoya, Evander Holyfield, Miguel Cotto and many more.

Steward was known for his ability to spot weaknesses in his opponents and design the perfect game plans for his fighters to take advantage of those weaknesses. With working with Wladimir, Steward had a calming affect on him, getting Wladimir to relax more when in the heat of battle. Steward really helped Wladimir in a huge way to make to help make him the #1 heavyweight in the game today. This was just one of many examples of how Steward has helped his fighters.

Steward won’t be forgotten.