=== Emanuel Steward dead at 68 ===
 
 Detroit,  MI  (Sports Network) - Hall  of Fame boxing trainer Emanuel Steward,
 who  worked  with multiple world  champions, including fellow inductees Lennox
 Lewis and Thomas Hearns, died Thursday at age 68.
 
 A  native of West Virginia, Steward moved to Detroit as a child and ultimately
 made a name for himself as a trainer at the Kronk Gym. Hilmer Kenty became his
 first  world champion there  in March 1980 and was followed a few months later
 by  Hearns,  the power-punching welterweight  who wound  up with titles in six
 weight classes from 147 to 190 pounds.
 
 Steward  later  worked with fighters outside  of Detroit and was credited with
 raising  the profile  of Lewis,  who  held the  IBO  and WBC  versions of  the
 heavyweight  championship when  he retired  in 2003.  Since 2004,  Steward had
 worked  with Ukrainian heavyweight Wladimir Klitschko, who currently holds the
 IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO crowns and will defend them next month in Germany.
 
 He'd also developed a following for his work as a boxing analyst for HBO.
 
 Word  of  Steward's condition spread  rapidly when  it was announced this week
 that  he'd not  work  Klitschko's corner  for the  November  fight, and  would
 instead  be  replaced  by  longtime  Klitschko  sparring  partner  and  former
 cruiserweight champion Johnathon Banks.
 
 Banks tweeted early Thursday morning that Steward had died and Klitschko later
 released a statement noting his death, but subsequent statements by the family
 that  he was  still alive led the multiple retractions from media outlets that
 had gone with the initial information.
 
 The  family confirmed  later in  the day  that he  had indeed  died, with  his
 sister,  Diane Steward-Jones,  saying,  "(He) fought  harder  than Hagler  and
 Hearns."
 
 
 10/25 19:29:54 ET

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