Emanuel Steward was born on July 7th, 1944 in Bottom Creek, West Virginia. He was the first child of Manuel, a coal miner, and Catherine Steward. In the mountainous area where he was raised, Emanuel spent most of his free time engaging in rough and tough physical activities. His favorite pastimes included swimming, wrestling, playing cowboys, dodge ball, shooting marbles and boxing. When he was seven years old he received a pair of boxing gloves as a Christmas gift. At the time, no one would have ever imagined that these boxing gloves would begin a journey to fame, fortune and an historical legacy. Emanuel became totally fascinated with this new game called boxing. He'd often sleep with his boxing gloves on his bed and would carry them everywhere he went. After beating up all of his friends - nobody wanted to play boxing with little Emanuel anymore, so he became creative and made makeshift punching bags by filling his pillowcases with newspapers and hanging them on tree limbs in his yard, where he'd punch at them until they burst. His parents would punish him for ruining their pillowcases, but little Emanuel's desire for boxing was growing rapidly, much to his parents displeasure. When he was eight, in hopes of quelling Emanuel's thirst for boxing, it was decided to hold an illegal and unsanctioned boxing match for him. They recruited a mischievous boy from a neighboring town to fight Emanuel. The 'opponent' was a tough kid and was known as a bully around the town, he was expected to beat Emanuel and end his passion for boxing. In a cigar-smoke filled barn, bets exchanged hands as grown men held the ropes up to form a makeshift boxing ring. The two youngsters entered the ring and begun fighting. Emanuel ventually landed a punch to the other boys nose forcing him to tears and causing it to beed. Emanuel didn't stop throwing punches until an old man jumped into the ring and raised Emanuel's hand in victory. Thus began a series of unsanctioned boxing matches that Emanuel engaged in over the next three years. THE MOVE TO DETROIT When he was eleven, his parents divorced. Emanuel's mother Catherine packed up her belongings and headed north for a new life in Detroit. With her she took Emanuel and his two younger sisters, Diane and Lavern. Emanuel didn't quite understand why he had to leave his West Virginia home and move all the way to Detroit, a place he had never even heard of. With his head pressed against the window of the train watching the rain, he cried all the way. He was afraid of what life might be like in this new city. After a 24 hr rainy train ride he arrived in Detroit on a Saturday night. Sunday morning he got into a fight on the front lawn with a neighborhood kid. It wasn't easy for a new kid in town, especially for one with a southern accent who was prone to fighting. Before long, Steward once again found himself getting into fights. In an effort to get Emanuel off the streets his mother sent him to the local Catholic Youth Organization (C.Y.O.) and ordered him to resume his boxing career. He was the youngest boxer in the C.Y.O gym, and before long, he acquired the nickname "Sonny". Although his mother found work at a small factory that manufactured folding doors, Emanuel assumed the role of the 'man of the house', working odd jobs to contribute to the family income. He delivered newspapers in the evenings and on weekends assisted with groceries for locals at the super-market. He'd also cut peoples grass, rake leaves and do odd-jobs to earn extra money for his family. During the winter months he'd shovel snow, in the summer months he sold ice cream. Emanuel made his ice-cream sales from a bicycle, which he rode for up to 14 hours a day, but with these earnings he was able to buy his own automobile before he was the legal age to drive it. When Emanuel was thirteen, the boxing program at the C.Y.O. was shut down. As a result, he once again drifted back onto the streets and was having numerous run-ins with the law for street fighting. Soon the authorities were looking for him. Apparently he had left another young man gravely injured after a street fight. Emanuel now faced the possibility of being locked up. Since he was an honor student in school and rarely got into trouble when he was a member of a boxing gym, a deal was struck with the youth correctional department. The deal stated that if Emanuel resumed his boxing career and stayed out of street fights he would avoid serving time in juvenile detention. At the order of the authorities, Emanuel began training at the Brewster Recreation Center (once the home gym of Joe Louis and Sugar Ray Robinson) in Detroit. He began training under the experienced tutelage of Jimmy Myland and Festus Trice, whom Emanuel credits with teaching him the fundamentals and proper balance. Whilst at Brewster he won back-to-back Detroit Parks and Recreation Junior Tournament titles in 1959 and 1960. CLICK ON THIS LINK FOR THE REST OF THE STORY |
| Kronk History |
| EMANUEL STEWARD THE EARLY YEARS |
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