Respected trainer Emanuel Steward believes Wladimir Klitschko can become the new Lennox Lewis ahead of his fight against Ruslan Chagaev.
The Ukrainian giant puts his WBO, IBF and IBO titles on the line against the WBA 'champion in recess' in Saturday's fight being shown live on Sky Sports 2.
Steward, who trained Lewis and now Klitschko, can see similarities between the pair, not least their struggle to gain recognition.
He told The Times: "We had the same criticisms of Lennox that we now get with Wladimir.
"There are a lot of similarities between the two. They are only as good as the guys in front of them let them be. Americans have given up on the heavyweights because they don't dominate it, but I think they are coming round to Wladimir now.
"Vitali (Klitschko)'s fight with Lennox made him a big, big hero there. Wladimir has not had that fight yet. He needs some devastating performances."
Steward was present at the recent induction of Lewis into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in upstate New York.
"It was great to see that happen for Lennox," said Steward, who is also a Hall of Fame inductee himself.
"I have no doubt that Wladimir will be in there one day.
"Like Lennox, Wladimir is very intelligent and a lot of the time we just talk. He used to make the same mistakes, but I think he is the complete fighter right now.
"He's been stopped, he's been cut very badly, he's been knocked down three times in one fight.
"But he's learnt how to clinch, how to survive. If everything is sunny all the time, you don't learn until it rains one day.
"When I was with Lennox, I told him Wladimir was going to dominate the heavyweight division one day."
But Steward would not be drawn on who would have won a fight between the pair.
"It would have been a really classic fight - I would have liked to have seen it and not worked the corners," he said.
The Ukrainian giant puts his WBO, IBF and IBO titles on the line against the WBA 'champion in recess' in Saturday's fight being shown live on Sky Sports 2.
Steward, who trained Lewis and now Klitschko, can see similarities between the pair, not least their struggle to gain recognition.
He told The Times: "We had the same criticisms of Lennox that we now get with Wladimir.
"There are a lot of similarities between the two. They are only as good as the guys in front of them let them be. Americans have given up on the heavyweights because they don't dominate it, but I think they are coming round to Wladimir now.
"Vitali (Klitschko)'s fight with Lennox made him a big, big hero there. Wladimir has not had that fight yet. He needs some devastating performances."
Steward was present at the recent induction of Lewis into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in upstate New York.
"It was great to see that happen for Lennox," said Steward, who is also a Hall of Fame inductee himself.
"I have no doubt that Wladimir will be in there one day.
"Like Lennox, Wladimir is very intelligent and a lot of the time we just talk. He used to make the same mistakes, but I think he is the complete fighter right now.
"He's been stopped, he's been cut very badly, he's been knocked down three times in one fight.
"But he's learnt how to clinch, how to survive. If everything is sunny all the time, you don't learn until it rains one day.
"When I was with Lennox, I told him Wladimir was going to dominate the heavyweight division one day."
But Steward would not be drawn on who would have won a fight between the pair.
"It would have been a really classic fight - I would have liked to have seen it and not worked the corners," he said.
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