Revisiting Rummy's Excellent Video/Interview w Manny Stewart

Thanks for the shout @he grant

I too found the Liston comments to be fascinating. And for what it's worth, I thought he broke down the Ali-Louis question in a way I strongly agree with. It was a very well articulated answer, and if memory serves, he perfectly summed it up saying Louis was the greatest heavyweight champion, and Ali was the greatest heavyweight. I happen to agree with his take here, so perhaps I'm biased.

 

I'm not saying he never went on record making these claims (as I don't know for certain off hand). But in all of the times I had the privilege of speaking with Emanuel, I never once got the impression that Steward "was never a fan of Ali". Quite the contrary, he often spoke about Ali with great esteem and admiration. And when I once specifically asked him about Ali vs Lennox, the big takeaway for me was that he said Lennox wouldn't have been intimidated by the Ali persona (both his strong personality, but also the loud and fired-up entourage that often surrounded him). Which is consistent with a point he always drove home, that Lennox was a lot tougher and more of a bully than his polite soft spoken demeanor otherwise suggested.

 

Yeah. If you listen to the enthusiasm of his answer here, you can hear the passion in his voice.
(Should start right before the point I'm referring to)

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In what sense?

This was the exact quote below. I didn't take it to mean he was saying Louis "avoided" movers. I interpreted that as Emanuel suggesting they'd take another route when the options permitted.




"The movement which Joe had problems with, even in a little small light heavyweight Billy Conn and Jersey Joe Walcott, those guys Joe always had problems with. I was fortunate enough to get to know one of his best friends who came from Detroit like I did, and he said Joe’s management always had to keep him away from boxers, people who could move, because Joe had problems with movers. But you know, he did what he had to do. He beat everybody of his era and held the title for so long and was a perfect gentleman when it comes down to what was required and necessary at that time."