โ€œJUST the details,โ€ Errol Spence, an admirer of Emanuel Steward, responds when, as the fighter who knows the remarkably in-demand Derrick James better than any other, he is asked what makes the trainer so good. โ€œDetails, how he always โ€“ even if youโ€™re doing it the right way, heโ€™s still going to remind you. Like, โ€˜Keep your hands upโ€™. A lot of the time Iโ€™m like, โ€˜I am keeping my hands upโ€™. Heโ€™s like, โ€˜I know youโ€™re keeping your hands up โ€“ Iโ€™m just reminding you, keep your hands upโ€™.

โ€œHeโ€™s very detailed; he works on the small things; the small things can add up to big things. Especially if thereโ€™s a lot of them. So we work on the small things. And whatโ€™s good about him is he donโ€™t try to change you. He has little bits and pieces he need to change, but he donโ€™t try to change you. Like Naseem Hamed โ€“ย how crazy he fights โ€“ he wouldnโ€™t try and change him and try to make him fight like Marco Antonio Barrera. Heโ€™d just add little pieces to his game. But heโ€™d keep it the same โ€˜cause it works for him.

โ€œAnd he used to be a boxer. So he knows how it is โ€“ how youโ€™re feeling. When youโ€™re losing weight, or itโ€™s five weeks [out from fight night] and youโ€™re feeling weak. โ€˜Alright, thatโ€™s enough. We donโ€™t have to do that much today.โ€™ โ€˜Cause he know youโ€™re feeling sluggish, or youโ€™re feeling down. I feel like he can relate more to a boxer, โ€˜cause he was an ex-boxer. So he know how it is when youโ€™re losing weight. He know how it is when itโ€™s a sore day in the gym. He know how it is when you had a hard day and the next day youโ€™re feeling kind of down and sluggish. I feel like he relates to the boxer more because he was actually a professional boxer. He was one of us.

โ€œDerrick hasnโ€™t changed anything for me [since being recruited by Anthony Joshua and Ryan Garcia, and since Jermell Charlo signed to fight Saul โ€œCaneloโ€ Alvarez]. Everybody get there on time. I see Frank [Martin] in the gym, or I might see Anthony Joshua, but itโ€™s like, through passing.

โ€œMy timeโ€™s over; Iโ€™m leaving the gym, then I see Frank, or I see Anthony Joshua, or I might see Ryan Garcia. We never train at the same time. I might train with Frank at the same time, or if we have something to do I might train with Anthony at the same time, but everybody has their set time when they come and they train.

โ€œ[Weโ€™re] definitely, definitely feeding off each other. You always want to work hard โ€˜cause you know the other guys are working hard. Especially if youโ€™re in the gym together; yโ€™all sparring, you try and spar a little harder. Just because you know you got another top athlete watching.โ€