Lennox Lewis: “If Manny Was Still Here, Klitschko Would Still Be Champion”
The much anticipated fight between Wladimir Klitschko and Anthony Joshua in April still does not have a decisive favorite, but former world champion Lennox Lewis thinks Klitschko would be the favorite if he had his old trainer Emanuel Steward.
Lewis spoke with PA Sport and said if Steward were still alive, Klitschko would be favored over the undefeated Joshua.
“If Manny was still here, Klitschko would still be the champion, and he would be a better fighter,” Lewis said. “I would have made him the favorite to beat Joshua if Manny Steward was here.”
The retired former world heavyweight champion said Klitschko’s current trainer, Johnathon Banks,who is younger than Klitschko, is not the right trainer for the Ukranian. Under Banks, Klitschko lost his first fight in more than a decade when Klitschko lost the unified world heavyweight title to Tyson Fury in 2015.
“It’s a big loss, because he needed Emanuel, and it’s really hard to replace Emanuel,” Lewis said. “In essence he’s training himself, and he can’t train himself because Manny set out a number of different things you could do in different situations. I know them all. I know he has that experience level. Who has more experience [out of Klitschko and the 34-year-old Banks]? Who can tell who what to do? It really depends if Klitschko’s listening to Banks. In his last fight when he lost, he wasn’t listening, but Banks was telling him the right things.”
Klitschko and Joshua are set to break the British boxing attendance record at Wembley Stadium on April 29 when they will fight for Joshua’s IBF title and for the vacant WBA and IBO Heavyweight titles.
