Buffer calls Steward ‘an icon.’
Hall of Fame ring announcer Michael Buffer, known for igniting boxing crowds with his trademark phrase, “Lets Get Ready To Rumble,” has expressed to RingTV.com his thoughts on the late Hall of Fame boxing trainer, Emanuel “Manny” Steward.
Steward, who groomed young fighters, including Thomas “The Hit-Man” Hearns, at Detroit’s famous Kronk Gym, died on Thursday at the age of 68.
“Twenty-four hours have gone by since the passing of Emmanuel Steward. It has been and remains an emotionally painful time dealing with this loss,” wrote Buffer, in an e-mail to RingTV.com.
“I am still unable to actually speak without choking up. The comments and statements of admiration and respect honoring and memorializing his life, legacy and career have been honest, beautiful and deserving.”
In June, Buffer and Hearns were inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame’s class of 2012, along with Mark “Too Sharp” Johnson, trainer Freddie Roach and Showtime Sports color commentator Al Bernstein, among others.
Steward was called “one of the most accomplished and respected trainers in the history of boxing,” as well as “a great ambassador for the sport,” and “a legend” by Edward Brophy, executive director of the Hall of Fame, which inducted Steward in 1996.
“He was and shall always be true boxing royalty. But to those of us blessed to have been closer, he was so very much more,” said Buffer. “As a fan and colleague, I mourn the loss of a legend… an icon. As a friend, I have lost a loved one and my heart is broken.”
Read more:
Q&A Hearns: ‘Steward was like the father I never had’
Photo by K2 Management
Lem Satterfield can be reached at [email protected]
