Quotes by Emanuel Steward

“Oscar is one of the most naturally-gifted fighters Ive ever seen. When Oscar fights on his toes, he reminds me of Sugar Ray Robinson. What they have in common is, Ray punched best from his toes, and Oscar punches best from his toes. Its the opposite of what youd expect and I dont understand it completely, but it has to do with rhythm. When Oscar stands flat-footed, he loses his punching-power.”

“[Anticipation is already at an incredible high for this intriguing heavyweight war.] Its the most anticipated fight in the heavyweight division this year, ... I just did an HBO broadcast in Chicago and everybody is talking about it. This fight is creating excitement.”

“Its a whole new world for him, ... He had always been the star, not his brother. The pubic has totally forgotten him because of those two losses. Its like thats the only two fights he had.”

“This fight will propel him [to the top of the class], ... By the end of the year, he and his brother will be the best two heavyweights. He will jump over everybody. This fight will do everything.”

“Its a mess. Its like it was 20 years ago before Mike Tyson cleaned things up. There really hasnt been a dominant heavyweight to come along since Lennox Lewis.”

“That fight with Brewster, I understand exactly what happened. I wont go into it but even if Wladimir had scored a fourth round knockout, which he was one punch away from doing, Wladimir would still have been in (serious distress) because of what he told me after the very first round. We had serious problems after the first, second round which had nothing to do with Brewster.”

“Thats the way Peter fights. He gets in close and he hits you in the back of the head and the shoulders. Thats his style. Youre relaxed when youre in close because you figure you cant get hurt. And thats when he hits you with those punches, when youre vulnerable.”

“I wish the fight was last week. Hes that prepared. Im more confident than when Lennox Lewis fought Mike Tyson.”

“I personally dont think the fight is going to go 2 rounds. I think hes going to knock him out within 2 rounds.”

“He thinks hell overpower this guy, but believe me, that is not going to happen. Peter is going in with an experienced big man this time, and hes going to realize its a big man because of the way were going to control him. This is a very experienced man who is focused. Peter is not going to just walk through him like he did these other guys.”

I went to a motivational training course once, a course of self-discovery, and I found out after a week that my fear - it was not a fear of not being accepted - was a very violent fear of failure.

My favorite hobby is being alone. I like to be alone. I also like dancing, fishing, playing poker sometimes and vegetable gardening - corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, I have a big garden every year.