Al Bernstein on Emanuel Steward's passing: 'He's the greatest ambassador the sport's ever had'

Al Bernstein shares his thoughts on the late, great Emanuel Steward, calling him the greatest ambassador boxing has ever had.

Lennox Lewis on Emanuel Steward's passing: 'We've lost one of boxing's crown jewels'

Lennox Lewis, who was trained by Emanuel Steward at the height of his great career, shares his thoughts on the late Emanuel Steward.

Emanuel Steward's passing: Comments from Lampley, Arum, Roach, Cotto, Leonard, and more

Jim Lampley:

"He's going to be most known as one of the greatest trainers in the history of the sport. That's the central element of his identity. He's my best friend and it's on a personal level I have the most appreciation for him. But he is the man who groomed Thomas Hearns and who built an iconic inner city gym in the working class capital of America.

"What tells you a lot about the man he was is that he made a tremendous mark in his early days training what one would think was his natural constituency, black American fighters in the middle weight classes. But then he moved on and trained an English heavyweight champion, a Ukrainian heavyweight champion and an Irish middleweight. He was just spectacular."

Bob Arum and Top Rank:

"We are all grieving the passing of our friend Emanuel Steward. His founding and leadership of the Kronk Gym in Detroit was outstanding. His efforts produced many world class fighters and champions including Tommy Hearns, Milt McCrory, Michael Moorer and many more.

"Emanuel Steward always stood for the best that boxing could offer. He will be missed by all of us."

Oscar De La Hoya:

"It brings me great grief and sadness to hear of the passing of one of the best and most respected trainers of this era, Emanuel Steward.

"I learned a lot from him during our professional relationship and I will be forever grateful for his help during that time.

"We were also friends and I know I am going to miss him as so many others will too. He was an important part of our boxing community."

Freddie Roach:

"Emanuel Steward passing today is biggest loss to boxing in long time. He'll be greatly missed. My thoughts prayers are with his family."

Miguel Cotto:

"Emanuel thank you for giving it all for our sport and for giving me your great advice. We enjoyed those days! You will always be in my mind"

Sugar Ray Leonard:

"(His death) is devastating. Thank God I had the chance to see him in Las Vegas at the WBC boxing convention. We got a chance to talk a little bit. I had heard that he was sick, but Manny is such a fighter himself that he can put on this front. Besides looking a little smaller and a little thinner, he looked pretty good. But I don't think about those times when I saw him like that. I think about the good times that we had together."

Lou DiBella:

"He was a giant in our business. He was the greatest teacher of his generation and a great ambassador for the sport. As long as there's boxing, no one will forget Emanuel Steward."

Virgil Hunter:

"I knew Manny personally, and we went back to the amateur days. I can say this in confidence: In my mind, Manny was the best trainer ever in boxing. The reason why I say that is that he could develop his products and he was a great diamond finisher. But he raised them. He didn't have to give an explanation to why he was able to finish up a diamond that somebody else had mined. That's because he had mined so many of them himself."

Showtime Sports:

"Sad to hear of the passing of Emanuel Steward. May he rest in peace."

Robert Garcia:

"Really sorry to hear of the passing of a great person, one of the best trainers ever. RIP Emanuel Steward!!!!"

Adam Booth:

"Emanuel Steward R.I.P So much more than a coach.You educated the Boxing World. Our sport will not be the same now that you have passed!"

Dan Rafael, ESPN.com:

"Fighters also loved him for his generosity and for the father-figure role he often played in their lives. Training fighters was not just a job for Steward. He often took fighters in to live with him in his Detroit home, training them by day and parenting them by night."

Wladimir Klitschko on Emanuel Steward's passing: 'I will miss our time together'

Wladimir Klitschko, who worked with trainer Emanuel Steward for nearly a decade, has issued an official statement on the passing of his friend.

Emanuel Steward passes: Some of his best HBO boxing calls

Emanuel Steward will be best remembered as a boxing trainer, but he was an enthusiastic, passionate commentator for HBO Sports, as well.

Emanuel Steward's sister confirms passing of Hall of Fame trainer

BoxingScene.com is reporting via their Twitter account that Emanuel Steward's sister is now confirming that the Hall of Fame trainer and HBO boxing analyst has passed away:

Emanuel Steward sister has now confirmed that her brother passed away about half an hour ago. RIP

Mr. Steward was 68 years old, and conflicting reports all day had him having passed away early this morning or perhaps late last night, which the family then denied. There was a later report earlier this afternoon that he'd had a surgery today and come out of that, but now it seems he has, in fact, passed on.

It has been a sad day all around for the boxing world, to say the absolute least. Mr. Steward was respected, loved by many, and his death is a terrible blow for those in the boxing industry, and those who are just fans, of all ages.

Once again, our thoughts and best wishes are with Mr. Steward's family and loved ones at this time. May he rest in peace.

Family denies reports of Steward's passing, Klitschko asks for removal of statement

Emanuel Steward's family denies reports that the Hall of Fame boxing trainer has passed away, in a report at ABC-7 Detroit:

"You can tell folks that he is alive and being treated by some of the best experts in the world. The Steward family is dismayed and greatly disheartened and disappointed that during this personally challenging time, people would callously and thoughtlessly run wild with untrue statements in order to garner their '15 minutes of fame.'"

Steward, 68, has reportedly been suffering from diverticulitis, but there have also been reports that it was cancer that had him ailing. The family has always said the former, and they are now saying that despite reports of his passing, he is still alive as of this morning.

K2 Promotions also requested that BoxingScene.com remove an earlier official statement form Wladimir, which was posted to Facebook and then shortly after, taken down. Many sites ran with it, but BoxingScene.com tweeted about being asked to remove the statement:

I just received an email from K2 Promotions, they asked us to remove Wladimir's statement on Steward. They said "The passing of legendary trainer Emanuel Steward is not yet confirmed." And they also wrote "Could you please delete the news as well as Wladimir’s statement until further notice"

I don't think anyone in the world likes to be wrong about anything, but here's hoping all the reports have been wrong so far, and that Emanuel is with us and makes a comeback.

Bad Left Hook again sends our best wishes to the family, loved ones, and friends of Mr. Steward at this time.

Emanuel Steward reportedly passes away at age 68

Hall of Fame trainer and HBO boxing analyst Emanuel Steward has reportedly died at the age of 68, but the family has not yet released an official statement.