Tyson Fury’s trainer, SugarHill Steward, has entered a hot debate amongst heavyweight boxing fans – how does a fight between his man and Lennox Lewis play out?
Lewis was the last undisputed champion in the division and now, two decades later, Fury is looking to do the same.
As ‘The Gypsy King’ draws nearer to the end of his career, fans and pundits are starting to talk legacy – where does he stack up amongst the greats like Lewis?
Steward, who has led Fury to four stoppages in four fights working together, was asked by ID Boxing how a bout between the two goes. Unsurprisingly, he backed his man.
“Tyson Fury … Lennox is my boy, but it’s because I’m training Tyson. What else can I say? I gotta be positive about myself.”
Perhaps more interesting for SugarHill though, is the battle of the corners in the fight. Lewis was trained by his uncle and sporting legend, Emanuel Steward.
In fact, it was working at Steward’s Kronk gym when the nephew first met Tyson Fury in 2010.
SugarHill went on to guide Fury to victory over Deontay Wilder in their rematch, thus completing his second ascendency to the top of the heavyweight division. Afterwards, the trainer said ‘Emanuel Steward is smiling down from heaven.’
He seemed to relish the idea of a battle of minds with the man who, in his own words, was like a father to him.
“That would be another one, me and Emanuel [Steward] going again. My dream matches coming true. It depends on what Emanuel thinks he’s gonna do to my fighter Tyson Fury with his fighter, Lennox Lewis.
That’s what it depends on. I can’t tell you what he would do, I don’t know. It would just be a spur of the moment. It would probably just be changing ideas mid-fight, changing game plans for whatever we see – see who could think the fastest.”
The idea of the coaching family going head to head adds yet more layers to the fantasy fight that seems to be one of the most intriguing for fans.