Lewis's retirement speech - 4 years on

Well, considering Steward says about nearly every fight "this goes exactly how i thought it would" and similar remarks, i think it's clear that this is always what he brings to the outside. Whatever he really thinks, who knows? I think there can be no doubt that Steward underestimated Rahman too, though.

Maybe, maybe not. We will never know. However, as said before, i think it's the fighter's responsibility to train.

Well he still won all of the first four rounds while having "no defense, footwork all skewed, just stood there amateurish". Perhaps you're mistaking the last 10 seconds of the fight with how the entire fight went ?

True. Atlas is more of a "motivational" coach.

And how do you know Steward didn't complain to Lewis ?

You're missing the point. The point is that ultimately, it was Marciano who was obsessed with training a lot and he should get credit for that, not Goldman. If a fighter doesn't want to train, then there's not much as a trainer you can do about that.

Very simple: because in the end, it's the fighter who decides whether or not he trains. The trainer is there to help and assist during training to make training more effective, but not make him train.

 

Well, McCall didn't exactly walk all over Lewis in the minutes before the end of the fight either, it was a similar situation. Lewis looked in control, (and certainly not BEING controlled) until the last punch.

And Lewis looked much sloppier than usual, to me, in "the entire fight" against Rahman.
But obviously the last 10 seconds were the defining moments of that fight.

As for all the stuff about Steward, I agree with you and disagree. Of course, the fighter is the most responsible, but the trainer has responsibility too.
Manny Steward is definitely one of those guys who's been put on a pedestal and is immune from criticism in certain quarters. I think Frank Maloney had a valid point in his criticizing of Steward's complicity in the Rahman defeat. He does the same thing with Pepe Corea and everyone cheers approvingly.