By John F. McKenna (McJack): When the contradicting news first broke that legendary trainer Emanuel Steward had passed away the hope was that it was just a rumor. But as time went on it gradually became clear that Steward had in fact died. It was the news nobody wanted to hear. Manny touched the lives of so many people, not all of them boxers.

Whenever Steward acted as a commentator for HBO the viewers got a special insight that only he could deliver. He was able to explain what was going on in a fight in a way which made it easy to understand. When Vitali Klitschko fought Tomasz Adamek in September 2011 the other commentators were sometimes baffled by the fact that “Dr. Ironfist” was able to hold his left hand down by his side while Adamek was unable to land any meaningful punches. Emanuel politely informed his HBO counterparts that Vitali was a master of distance and if Adamek attempted to hit him with a right hand the target would not be there when he threw the punch.

WBA/IBF/WBO/IBO and Ring heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, who faces Polish hopeful Marius Wach (27-0, 15 KO’s) on November 10 in Hamburg, Germany had already made the announcement that heavyweight fighter Jonathan Banks would be in his corner for the fight due to Steward’s illness. Banks is a long time student of Emanuel’s and had worked closely with him for a number of years. Banks has been a frequent sparring partner for Wladimir and the two are comfortable working with each other.

Steward had the uncanny ability to exhort his fighters to work harder in the midst of a fight. He could frequently be heard in between rounds pushing his fighters to perform at the very limit of their abilities. When Wladimir fought Eddie Chambers in March 2010 Emanuel pushed his fighter to go for the KO. It is unlikely that “Dr. Steelhammer” would have gotten the KO with seconds remaining in the 12th round without Steward pushing him.

Steward’s legacy is that he guided numerous fighters to championships and got the most out of his fighters. In Wladimir Klitschko’s case he took a fighter who had been KO’d three times and over the next eight years turned him into one of the most dominant heavyweight champions in boxing history.