Emanuel Steward: Legendary boxing trainer dies aged 68

Kronk Gym boxing icon Emanuel Steward died today, his sister, Diane Steward-Jones, told the Free Press.With a twinkle in his eyes, a smile on his face and a soothing voice, Steward developed unique bonds in and out of the ring with a long line of champions that included Thomas Hearns, Lennox Lewis,Steward, who also managed many of the fighters he trained, worked with more than two dozen champions during his decades-long career. A younger generation of boxing fans knew him as an expert analyst on HBO's boxing telecasts.Steward-Jones, who handled business and public relations for Steward, told the Detroit Free Press she and several family members were by his side. "He has passed – he's gone home," Steward-Jones told the Free Press by phone. "He was in no pain, and we sang to him, as well as did the doctors present. He had loved ones around him." Promoter Frank Maloney, who managed former world heavyweight champion Lewis, said Steward was unique in style. "He was quite a character," he told BBC Radio 5 live. "He had a very strange method of doing his training programme, but got the best out of Lennox Lewis and took him to a new level.