Ranking the Most Successful Fighter-Trainer Relationships in Boxing Today
Fighters are made, more than simply born. Without doubt, a certain combination of athletic gifts have to exist in the aspiring pugilist.
But talent is still relatively cheap. It has to be honed into skill through countless hours of technical training. It must be nurtured and developed into a weapon as strong mentally as it is physically.
And in the moments of combat, a fighter needs the eyes to see what he can't and the voice to remind him of the things he has forgot.
A great fighter almost always needs a great trainer. These are 10 of the best fighter-trainer teams in the sport right now.
10. Terence Crawford and Brian McIntyre
1 of 10
Terence Crawford's emergence last year was one of the great, feel-good boxing stories of 2014. In 12 months, he became one of the sport's hottest fighters and turned his native Omaha, Nebraska, into a boxing hotbed.
While the rest of the world is new to the Team Crawford story, it has been developing for years in Nebraska. He has worked with his lead trainer, Brian McIntyre, since the start of his amateur run.
Boxing is an individual sport, but a team stands behind the individual. It's always compelling to see a young fighter develop into a star alongside an unknown, but talented, trainer.
9. Carl Froch and Robert McCracken
2 of 10
The biggest boxing star to emerge in Britain since Ricky Hatton, Carl Froch is a fighter who clearly shows the benefit of a strong training environment. He fights strategically smart fights and never loses due to lack of conditioning.
He's held versions of the super middleweight title since 2008 and is arguably a top-10 pound-for-pound star. A big part of the credit for his success has to go to his trainer, Robert McCracken.
While he never enjoyed the same success as his pupil, Boxing Bob was a popular middleweight contender in the 1990s. In retirement, he has been one of England's top trainers.
8. Gennady Golovkin and Angel Sanchez
3 of 10
Gennady Golovkin was already an Olympic silver medalist with a track record of knocking out professionals when he began training with Abel Sanchez in Big Bear, California. Sanchez has helped refine GGG, blending his natural gifts with the perfect expression in the classic "Mexican style" of prizefighting.
Sanchez has worked with very good boxers and MMA fighters for years. His most notable charge was light middleweight champion Terry Norris, one of the better fighters of the 1990s.
Sanchez has not previously had the kind of attention that super trainers like Robert Garcia and Freddie Roach enjoy, but expect that to change as GGG continues to develop into one of the sport's greatest stars.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
7. Sergey Kovalev and John David Jackson
4 of 10
John David Jackson was a two-division world champion and trained by the great Emanuel Steward. Since retiring, he has become one of the sport's more successful trainers. He's been brought in as a hired gun by superstar Shane Mosley and by his former opponent, Bernard Hopkins.
Without a doubt, Jackson's biggest star is current WBO, WBA and IBF light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev. You have to think that Kovalev benefited greatly in his unification bout with Hopkins last year, having Jackson in his corner.
Kovalev was already an accomplished amateur with dangerous power when he began working with Jackson. But maneuvering through the professional ranks is never seamless. A savvy, well-seasoned trainer like Jackson has played a critical part in turning Kovalev into a fast-rising star.
6. Bernard Hopkins and Naazim Richardson
5 of 10
When Beibut Shumenov faced Bernard Hopkins in April 2014, in an IBF and WBA unification bout at light heavyweight, he did so without the benefit of an official trainer. Meanwhile, Hopkins had Naazim Richardson in his corner.
You had to feel true pity for Shumenov. He was like a recent ROTC graduate going up head-to-head with Napoleon Bonaparte and General George S. Patton.
Hopkins and Richardson came up from the rough Philadelphia streets, graduates of the same rich Philadelphia boxing scene. When Hopkins split with his original trainer, Bowie Fisher, in the 1990s, Richardson was an obvious choice to replace him.
Hopkins dropped his IBF and WBA belts to Sergey Kovalev last November. While he was shutout, I wouldn't go so far as to say he looked completely done. He simply ran into a much bigger and more powerful fighter, who had the boxing intelligence to use those advantages.
Hopkins might be 50, but I don't think he's done. In recent days, he's been lobbying hard for a shot at super middleweight champion Carl Froch.
Richardson will be there to help him prepare for whatever comes next.
5. Andre Ward and Virgil Hunter
6 of 10
Virgil Hunter and Andre Ward grew up in boxing together. Hunter began coaching Ward when the fighter was in grade school, at a time when he was still learning his craft as a trainer.
As Ward has developed into one of the top pound-for-pound stars in the sport, Hunter has built a reputation as a top trainer. Today, his services are sought out by already established stars, anxious to gain the unique perspective Hunter brings.
Hunter is a solid tactical trainer and strategist, but his forte is very much the psychological end of the game. He's a natural teacher and leader.
After staying out of action for all of 2014, Ward should be returning to action in 2015. He and Hunter will look to add to an already outstanding legacy.
4. Wladimir Klitschko and Emanuel Steward
7 of 10
Sadly, the great Emanuel Steward is no longer with us. But the legacy of his relationship with heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko is still very much alive. So I have no problem rating them on this list.
Steward was already among the most decorated trainers in history when he began working with Klitschko. Klitschko was an enormously gifted, but dangerously flawed, heavyweight. Steward's technical and psychological mentorship developed him into one of history's most dominant heavyweight champs.
A strong argument can be made that without Steward, the younger Klitschko brother might have gone down in history viewed as an early 21st century version of Primo Carnera.
Instead, he's recorded the second-longest title reign in the division's history, and at 38, shows little sign of slowing down.
3. Juan Manuel Marquez and Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain
8 of 10
Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain is the greatest Mexican boxing trainer in history. He's trained nearly a score of world champions. Among his fighters to reach the Hall of Fame are Ricardo Lopez, Humberto Gonzalez and Daniel Zaragoza.
But perhaps Beristain's greatest pupil has been Juan Manuel Marquez. An argument could be made that Marquez is the greatest Mexican fighter of all time. At 41, Marquez is still in the hunt to become his nation's first five-division world champion.
Marquez is a fearless, but brilliant, technician. He has been Manny Pacquiao's greatest rival. And everything Marquez has ever done in the ring has demonstrated that he is an exquisitely trained fighter.
2. Manny Pacquiao and Freddie Roach
9 of 10
Manny Pacquiao came to Freddie Roach as a great athlete with explosive power in his left hand. Roach developed him into one of the elite pound-for-pound fighters of his generation.
Under Roach's guidance, Pacquiao has learned to exploit his speed for the purpose of controlling angles of attack and leaving his opponents battered and confused. He has become a well-rounded, two-fisted fighter, with a jab and lead hook to complement his always dangerous left.
Pacquiao's fans like to call him an "eight-division world champion," which is an exaggeration. His light middleweight belt was a vacant title, contested at a catchweight. In other words, it was a farce.
But that's nitpicking. Pacquiao's championship climb from flyweight to welterweight is one of the remarkable stories in the sport's history. And Roach has been a critical part of that narrative.
1. Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Roger Mayweather/Floyd Mayweather Sr.
10 of 10
Whether or not he's currently ducking Manny Pacquiao, there is no doubt that Floyd Mayweather Jr. remains the most successful boxer on the planet. He's the undefeated, current pound-for-pound top fighter in the world and the lineal champion at welterweight and light middleweight.
Mayweather is the boxing equivalent of Mozart, a rare meeting between elite talent and the ideal atmosphere for developing that talent. His father, Floyd Sr., was a tough contender in the 1970s and 1980s. He uncle, Roger, was a world champion.
The younger Mayweather grew up in the gym, destined for boxing greatness. He has been trained by both father and uncle during his career, so this has to be a dual entry.
As documented over the years on various episodes of 24/7, the Mayweather family relationship has sometimes had the trappings of a soap opera. But its ultimate success has been undeniable.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
