Can anybody else imagine Boza Edwards being trained under Emanuel Steward? I believe he had some untapped potential. He was simply a monster at 130. Often times, he'd fight too small. Lack of head movement/basic defense hurt him as well. At times he'd use his advantages very well. Edwards displayed his boxing skills pretty well against Limon. Would Boza become an ATG coming out of Kronk Gym?
He probably never had the working parts to be an all-time great. He had the heart, the temperament and determination in both competition and training, but he wasn't good enough physically IMO. Sure, he was a strong guy with a good punch, and he was a tall, long limbed SFW but he lacked the flair most all-time greats had, and he lacked the control which the ones who lacked the 'flair' had. However, training with an all-time great trainer from a little kid could turn him into a monster. Tall, strong and powerful was something Emmanuel Stewart loved working with, and excelled at. I think if he let Boza fight how Boza wanted - as the aggressor - and fine turned his skills to resemble a sort of McCallum, he could've been something really special. I could never see him turning Boza into a jab and grab style fighter, though. He had too much fire for that.
I agree with George and would also add that just being part of the Kronk stable wasn't necessarily a surefire path to stardom. He'd have probably been better off with Georgie Benton, to hone his defensive skills a bit more.
I think a Futch would've been better. Even if he wound up fighting very similarly to Arguello. Maybe even somebody like Freddie Roach, or Eddie Reyneso.
Maybe. Steward was a very good trainer and loved punchers. But Steward also liked tall rangy guys and did wonders with them. Mccroy,Hearns, Paul were all tall for thier weight class. However Steward did work with Andries and had success.
Not that this answers your question but I wouldn't want o change a thing about him because he was the most exciting fighter of the 1980s.
