“When Emanuel came aboard after the first Oliver McCall loss, in which Emanuel trained Oliver McCall to beat us, Frank Maloney and myself we grabbed Emanuel and said, ‘hey, you’re coming with us!’” Lennox Lewis with Emanuel Steward (left) and Harold Knight (bottom, centre). Obviously, with Emanuel Steward, he was a professor. Lennox is one of these guys that was always keen to learn, learn, learn. Him and Lennox, oh man, when they hooked up history was written. “I’ve known Emanuel since I was 13-years-old, so I knew what he could do, I loved Emanuel. Somebody who played a big role in Lewis becoming one of the finest Heavyweights was the well respected, much loved, some would say genius, Emanuel Steward. “That made him want to be one of the best ever and as you can see, it’s in the history books, he’s one of the greatest Heavyweight Champions ever.” When all the chips are down to never give up. “To come from nothing to achieve something when all eyes are against you. “It made him, when all eyes were against him, to show them what he was made of, the fortitude. It made him want to be one of the greatest. “Then he went back to the UK to start his professional career, but people really didn’t know how to accept him or want to accept him. “At first people from the UK or England did not accept Lennox, because he was born there, but he represented Canada in the Olympics. Upon turning professional this left the British public confused whether to support him or not, was he ‘one of their own?’ Lennox Lewis was a man born in London to Jamaican parents who spent his years growing up in Canada. “But, he was all for it and I appreciate it, still even today.” At the time Frank Maloney had other fighters so me being a former fighter and still a fighter at heart I was one of these hands-on kind of trainers. “He knew that John Davenport needed help. “He was always willing to learn, he was definitely all for it. “Lennox honestly was and still is… he’s a sage now, he is one of the greatest I would say to ever lace the gloves up, he was a student of the game. Lennox closed the show stopping Al inside round two. Lewis’ debut would be against Al Malcolm, a 24-fight journeyman. Knight would be a welcomed addition to ’Team Lewis,’ as they prepared for the debut of the best British Heavyweight who had yet to be seen. That’s when I moved to England, January 1990.” “He kept asking me and I didn’t want anything to do with boxing, but I decided I might as well give it a shot. “The job was actually offered to another coach who taught me, Albert Mills, he actually declined the offer. That came to a roadblock and then the opportunity came to me to assist John Davenport. “But, low and behold they were well aware of me fighting for the World title and my situation. “I was looking to go to the UK, I was hoping they hadn’t heard of me as I was trying to get licensed over there. “At the time Lennox Lewis’ first trainer was my mentor and teacher, John Davenport. When Knight first relocated to England it wasn’t actually to train Lewis, it was to try and continue his fighting career. “He closed that door for me in 1988 and I started with Lennox in January 1990.” I truly believe God was showing me that I could still be in boxing, but in a different aspect, as a coach, as a teacher, as a trainer. I didn’t watch boxing, I didn’t listen to boxing, I didn’t want anything to do with boxing. I didn’t have anything to do with boxing. ‘Shadow’ was a man who was left embroiled in disbelief and rage, as he had competed in 20 professional bouts and 160 amateur fights with this abnormality, yet it was only now, 180 fights deep, an issue. “It showed something that I was born with on my brain.” I was due to box again in April, but an abnormality was detected in the CAT scan. “I took a couple of months off from boxing. My last fight was April 1988, against Rocky Lockridge for the IBF World Super-Featherweight title in one of the last 15-rounders. One of my older brothers introduced me, you know how it is you always want to be like your older brothers. “I started boxing way back in 1973 as a nine-year-old. Knight went on to become the only man to have coached Lennox Lewis from his professional debut until his retirement. Some would say he was unlucky to have had his career cut short, but there were bigger things at play for ‘Shadow’ to realise his destiny. Harold ‘Shadow’ Knight is a one-time Super-Lightweight World title challenger.
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