The Greatest Boxing Trainers of All-Time
By Loot, Boxing Handicapper, Lootmeister.com
Angelo Dundee: He came up the hard way, working for his brother and going from a gofer to one of the game's premier trainers. He personally guided Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard, two of the greatest living fighters, to multiple championships and innumerable accolades. Dundee also worked with illustrious champions like Jose Napoles and Carmen Basilio. Dundee had the magic touch and combined expert motivational skills with a vast knowledge of the sport to become one of the sport's great teachers.
Ray Arcel: An absolute wizard, there weren't many who knew the sport on an instinctive level as much as Arcel. His long run as a top trainer for top fighters spans the era of 1920's great Benny Leonard to 1980's Roberto Duran and Larry Holmes. A man of scruples, class, and honor, any fighter who worked with Arcel was better as a result. Arcel trained 18 world champions and that number would be higher if not for his long sabbatical from the sport brought on by his distaste for the corruption that ruled the fight game during his heyday.
Emanuel Steward: The Detroit guru fulfilled the ultimate test of a top trainer--by repeatedly transforming kids into world champions. Most are lucky if they could do that once, but Steward helped turn Detroit into one of the hottest boxing cities during his tenure in the Motor City. He later became more of a hired gun, brought in to resuscitate the careers of established fighters. His work with Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, and Wladimir Klitschko played an integral role in those heavyweight greats' success.
Cus D'Amato: Known mostly for taking Mike Tyson out of a reform school at age 12 and morphing him into the killer fighting machine he would later become, there was lot more than that to D'Amato. He also trained heavyweight king Floyd Patterson and light heavyweight great Jose Torres a generation before that and his boxing knowledge was unparalleled. He helped turn around the lives of many young men with his boxing compound in the Catskills. His eye for this sport was uncanny.
Eddie Futch: Another former fighter who came up the tough way, honing his craft in inner city gyms and working with the toughest guys around. He trained a lot of champions, including Joe Frazier and was instrumental in getting Frazier in the right mind-space to win the Fight of the Century in 1971 against Muhammad Ali. Under Futch's stewardship, his fighters achieved the impossible. Futch was in the winning corner when fighters like Ali, Holyfield, and Roy Jones suffered their first defeats.
Nacho Beristain: The old wizard of Mexican boxing. With a country so rich in boxing tradition, Beristain stands out as the foremost trainer in the history of Mexican boxing. Among the greats who have been blessed by the expert tutelage of Beristain include Hall of Fame talent such as Ricardo Lopez, Juan Manuel Marquez, Daniel Zaragoza, Chiquita Gonzalez, Gilberto Roman, and many others.
Freddie Roach: A former fringe contender, Roach found his true calling running corners for other fighters. His reputation soared based on his expert work with Manny Pacquiao, taking the raw Filipino and molding him into one of the sport's most well-rounded and illustrious champions. Among other fighters to have worked with Roach are Amir Khan, Virgil Hill, James Toney, Israel Vasquez, Marlon Starling, and Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr.--and many more.
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Lou Duva: A boxing guy straight from central casting, Duva's tenure in the sport was long and fruitful. His days go back to Rocky Marciano and some fighters he worked with are still active. He didn't really hit his stride until late in his career and was probably the most visible trainer from the mid-80's into the 90's. If necessary, Duva would go to war for his fighters, as Duva could be seen in his 70's at 5'7" 250+ swapping punches in the ring with fighters he felt wronged his guy. The fighters Duva worked with reads like a who's-who of boxing in the 80's and 90's.
Teddy Atlas: When Teddy's amateur boxing career was thwarted by a bad back, Cus D'Amato saw greater things for Atlas as a trainer and made him his understudy. Atlas soon became one of the brightest young trainers in the sport. A demanding and unwavering man with a savant-like understanding of human nature, Atlas has worked with many champions and was instrumental in guiding reluctant lion Michael Moorer to a heavyweight title win over Evander Holyfield. Not many have been able to handle Atlas's demanding ways, but those who did were better off as a result.
