What if Lewis got with Emanuel Steward one fight earlier?

I don't know if you commented on it already, as I didn't have time to read your whole post, but wasn't Steward in McCall's corner for the Lewis fight? If he had been in the opposite camp, then it might have definitely changed the outcome, as McCall would have been WITHOUT Steward, while Lewis would have had his instruction.

EDIT -Okay, never mind I saw that you commented on McCall having steward.

 

I don't doubt it. Lewis was a two time olympian in his prime with a great professional record and some very devastating performances. Not to mention, a world champion who in most people's eyes was possibly the best in the division in 1994. That said, what great trainer wouldn't want to be in his corner? McCall had reached contender status shortly prior to facing Lewis, but was not exactly a big money draw and who's potentially was clearly limited. Given the choice, I'd say it would have been a no brainer.

 

He wouldnt have lost to Mcall. Steward basically taught Mcall one thing, and that was to take advantage of that mistake Lewis was making when he threw his righthand. He telegraphed it and threw it wide, and Mcall just threw his right down the middle. If you watch Lewis, he would lean to his left and square his body to get momentum to throw his righthand. He was basically winding himself up, but its not as effective as throwing a short crisp straight shot even though you do feel like your punching harder when you telegraph it, but in reality youre not. If you go back as early as the Ruddock and Bruno fights you saw Lewis finishing his righthand and stumbling after he threw it, because he left himself in such bad balance by over commititing and squaring up that shot.

Contrary to general belief on this forum, Lewis was making some serious technical mistakes, so eventually someone was going to get him, but I just dont think Mcall without Steward in his corner would be the guy to do it, but Bowe certainly would have.

 

Lewis did have Steward in 2001 , didn't he ? did it help ?
McCall > Lewis and would have beaten him regardless of in which corner if any Steward was at.

 

Way too much is made of Steward

 

So if Manny's first camp with Lewis was for McCall, would he beat him?
You would have to say yes because he would straighten his right hand up and improve his balance. Look how much he did iron out these issues in just one camp for the Butler fight.
I don't know how long Manny was teaching McCall the simple way to beat Lewis, but either way it would be to McCall's disadvantage if Steward was in Lewis' corner.


@powerpuncher
Too much is not made of Steward. He is regarded as one of the best because he is.

 

Steward was also smart enough to know Mcall wasnt going to just get blasted out. He would have known Mcall was going to be there for 12 rounds. You can hear Pepe Correa telling Lewis to "knock this sucker out" between the first and second round, so the mindset that Correa had Lewis thinking was to go out and fight recklessly early in a fight against a guy with an iron chin. It was just bad for Lewis. Steward couldnt have corrected all of Lewis's mistakes if this was his first fight with Lewis, but he certainly would have had him boxing a smarter and more cautious fight given the guy he was facing and that would have been good enough to defeat Mcall who is very limited in my opinion. Correa is just an idiot.

 

Steward made McCall practice throwing that counter right hand a thousand times until he would throw it automatically while having the opportunity. He saw Lewis's flaws and took advantage of them, and later taught him how to improve.

I agree that Steward would have been able to prevent the loss had he been in the corner with Lewis instead of McCall.

 

I agree . As I already written , Steward just picks the physically talented and I add now : whom already know how 2 fite and r experienced , teaches them how 2 spoil (Lewis vs. Tyson) , foul (Lewis vs. Grant) & in addition prevents them from taking d bigger risks such as stirring Hearns away from McCallum , Nunn & Toney for once , Hamed from Marquez for twice , and then he picks d rite time for "vengeance" rematches such as Lewis-McCall #2 , Klitschko-Brewster #2 , for those who actually know what I m talking about in these last 2 examples.

 

Well, as pointed out Steward taught the durable but rather ordinary McCall how to beat Lewis..so yeah, this would rewrite history quite a bit.

With Steward in his corner instead, I would have to agree with the assumption of a Lewis points victory.

Now if Lewis/Bowe came off that would be very interesting. Riddick's conditioning was all over the place, but he could always take a punch, jab and bomb that overhand right. He's going to be a tough test for even Steward trained Lewis. I would give the edge to Lennox though.

 

Thats part of the process, picking the physically talented. You have to have that to be taught how to be great. Mcall is probably the best example of a limited fighter he taught how to expose a very good one. He knew Mcall had a good chin and Lewis was making mistakes, so he taught him how to expose it because he figured Mcall would be around long enough to land the shot.