Taylor and Steward move on with out each other

It’s not unusual for a fighter and trainer to rip each other after they have parted ways. But that hasn’t been the case with Jermain Taylor and Emanuel Steward, who split in the aftermath of Taylor’s seventh-round technical knockout loss to Kelly Pavlik in September.

Both Taylor and his new lead trainer, Ozell Nelson, have said that there was nothing bad going on, but there was a lack of chemistry between Taylor and Steward once the fight began.

Taylor, during a recent Las Vegas workout in preparation for his Feb. 16 rematch with Pavlik in Las Vegas, also said, “… Emanuel Steward is a great guy, a Hall of Fame trainer and a friend of mine. I love him to death. But he isn’t coaching me now.”

No, that task now falls into the capable hands of Nelson, who has been a father figure to Taylor as well as his longtime amateur coach and assistant professional coach.

Steward’s only regret is that he was not able to have more say in Taylor’s opponents.

“I enjoyed working with Jermain,” Steward said during a telephone conversation Tuesday.

“He’s a very wonderful guy. With all honesty, I think the biggest problem was the opponents he was given continually in a row. … He didn’t have the chance to develop the way I wanted him to. I usually can pick the opponents … the fighters that develop my fighters.”

In other words, Steward said, it has been difficult for Taylor to realize his potential because of the competition he faced in five bouts leading to the Pavlik fight, which resulted in the loss of Taylor’s two middleweight title belts.

“He had some very difficult fights,” Steward said. “When you get Bernard Hopkins twice in a row, then go from there to Winky Wright to (Kasim) Ouma to Cory Spinks. I mean, come on. … All those guys that I mentioned were world champion fighters. Bernard Hopkins, Winky Wright, Ouma and Cory Spinks.”

Steward pointed to the eventual success enjoyed by his heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko – inarguably the best in the division – as a good case in point. He said he has had a lot of say in regards to Klitschko’s opponents.

“But I didn’t have that situation with Jermain Taylor,” Steward said. “It’s nobody’s fault. I’m not blaming anybody. It’s just the way it happened.”

Well, we’re glad he’s not blaming Taylor’s promoter, Lou DiBella, because DiBella did what fans and we boxing writers always complain promoters don’t’ do – put their fighters in with tough competition. Just the idea that Taylor fought Hopkins twice and Wright in three successive fights speaks volumes. Then you throw two crafty southpaws like Ouma and Spinks into the mix. Yes, they were blown up. But they had nothing to lose and Taylor was in no-win situations with them. Taylor did not look terrific against Ouma and Spinks, but he came away with a unanimous decision and split decision, respectively.

The thing is Taylor went 4-0-1 in those five fights prior to the fiasco with Pavlik. Then again, most experts believe Taylor was given gifts in his first decision victory over Hopkins and in his draw with Wright. And the way he looked against Ouma and Spinks, one could almost see the butt-whipping Taylor took from Pavlik coming.

Speaking of the fight with Pavlik, it was suggested to Steward that perhaps Taylor just does not have that killer instinct, thus Pavlik’s comeback from a second-round beating that nearly saw him knocked out by Taylor. Steward wouldn’t have it.

“I disagree. He was too hyper. He threw all those punches without really taking time to just try to place the punch,” Steward said, speaking of Taylor not being able to finish Pavlik. “Some fighters are hyper when they fight.”

Steward mentioned Oscar De La Hoya as one of those. He said De La Hoya was too hyper in his split decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in May. Steward also could have mentioned De La Hoya’s fight with Ike Quartey in 1999. De La Hoya had decked Quartey early in the 12th round with a vicious left hook. Quartey was badly hurt. But he survived the round because De La Hoya proceeded to throw a hundred punches without any rhyme or reason. De La Hoya did win a split decision, but he should have stopped Quartey and De La Hoya admitted that to yours truly during an interview a couple of years ago.

When our conversation with Steward began, he mentioned that he has a lot of other things going on at the time. One is getting the aforementioned Klitschko (49-3, 44 KOs) ready for his Feb. 23 title unification fight against Sultan Ibragimov at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Steward thinks a lot of Ibragimov.

“I think this is the best fighter that Wladimir will have fought in his life,” Steward said.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t say much for the state of the heavyweight division today, or the past 15 years, for that matter.

Steward trained former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, who retired more than 4 ½ years ago. He said star-quality opponents were hard to find during Lewis’ reign as champion, which began in 1993 and – save for a couple of knockout losses to Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman that were avenged – ended with his retirement in 2003.

“He did get to Evander Holyfield, he did get to Mike Tyson, but they weren’t in their prime,” Steward said of Lewis’ dilemma. “But it’s even worse for Wladimir. He has nobody up here now. He’s just standing up there by himself and everybody else is on a lower level. The closest he’s got is this guy here, Ibragimov, and the public doesn’t look at Ibragimov as deadly. So it’s a no-win situation, really.”

Steward said that Klitschko, 31, has kept a stiff upper lip.

“He just says, ‘Well, I just want to knock out everybody I can. I can’t fight behind in my era because the guys are not there. So all I can do is try to be as devastating as I can with everybody,’ ” Steward said. “He is frustrated. He’d like to have one of those super fights.”