Did Emanuel ever comment on Oleksandr after seeing the 2012 London Olympics?? I always wondered what his opinions on Usyk were. I would imagine they’d be positive. I know Steward really liked to training the SUPER HW’s that were mostly taller and longer than their opponents. Wladimir, Lewis etc. But I can’t help but think Manny would’ve loved to have started working with Usyk shortly after Oleksandr turned pro. Around the 2014/15 timeframe. Steward definitely had very high praise for Fury! So I’m sure what Usyk did last weekend would’ve impressed him.
He absolutely knew about Usyk and certainly has said many things about him in private. His fellow Kronk trainer James Bashir managed to become Usyk's lead trainer for a while when Usyk was still very much under the Klitschko's wing. Usyk was around Vladimir a lot at that time so I'm sure Steward saw him spar a lot.
Emanuel Steward was probably aware of Usyk after he won gold in the London games. He probably knew about him prior, since Usyk was a major force in the amateurs for a long time. Emanuel was with Klitschko and more importantly he was very sick, so I doubt there was ever a window of opportunity for Usyk to have been take under Steward's wing.
