updated March 09, 2009

Emanuel Steward is the premier trainer/manager in boxing today. One of the sport's true ambassadors, he has achieved success with his boxers at every level of the game. In addition to former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis and flamboyant featherweight star Prince Naseem Hamed, Steward has trained over two dozen world champions, including Tommy "Hit Man" Hearns, Sugar Ray Leonard, Julio Cesar Chavez, Oscar De La Hoya, Evander Holyfield, Leon Spinks, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad and Aaron Pryor. Heavyweight Wladimir Klitschko is among his current crop of pupils. For over three decades his world famous Kronk Boxing Gym has been a cultivating ground for boxers of every age and size, from legendary world champions to pre-teen Golden Gloves hopefuls.

In 1963, 18-year old Emanuel Steward won the National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions fighting as a bantamweight. He looked forward to a career as a professional, but after failing to find what he considered honest management, he took a steady job at Detroit Edison Company instead. But he never wandered too far from the ring. In 1971, Steward accepted a part-time position as head coach of the boxing program at the Kronk Recreation Center. When his young team won the Detroit Golden Gloves team title that same year, the Kronk Dynasty was born.

In March 1972, Steward left Detroit Edison to become a full-time trainer/manager. Five years later, with the newly formed ESCOT (Emanuel Steward's Champions of Tomorrow) Boxing Enterprises, Inc., he ventured into the world of professional boxing with an 18-year old slugger named Tommy Hearns. Hearns went on to win world titles in five different weight classes on his way to boxing immortality. Steward's reputation as a trainer grew by leaps and bounds after that, and with it grew the number of champions under his tutelage. In addition to the 31 world champions he has managed, he also developed six gold medal winners for the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team, including Pernell Whitaker, Mark Breland, Terrell Biggs, Jerry Page, Frank Tate and Steve McCrory. In 1980, Steward was selected by the Boxing Writer's Association of America as "Manager of the Year," and was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1997.

Steward continues to work with a host of young fighters, including Kermit Cintron and Jermain Taylor. He has designed and patented a new boxing glove used by many of today's world champions and has designed improvements to other equipment as well. His experience and insight make him a valued addition as expert commentator to HBO's World Championship Boxing and HBO Pay-Per-View coverage.

Steward currently resides in Detroit, MI.