LAS VEGAS – Emanuel Steward was here last night working as an announcer for the HBO Pay-Per-View broadcast of the WBC 154-pound championship fight between Ricardo Mayorga and Oscar De La Hoya at the MGM Grand. Today, he’ll be back in Detroit continuing to train his latest project, middleweight champion Jermain Taylor, who defends his title against Winky Wright June 17 in Memphis.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Steward said of the unbeaten Taylor. “It’s a big challenge to go against Winky Wright. We’ll see what we can get done.” Steward and Taylor have worked together for a week since it was announced Steward would replace Pat Burns as the lead trainer in Taylor’s corner. Burns had been the lead trainer for all of Taylor’s 25 fights as a professional.

But Ozell Nelson, Taylor’s amateur coach and a surrogate father of sorts, advised Taylor to make a change to enhance his chances of retaining the title he won with two victories over Bernard Hopkins last year.

“I’m trying to get Jermain to be slicker and to use his brains more than his brawn,” Nelson said from the camp headquarters at Kronk Gym in Detroit. “And I thought Emanuel could bring some slickness to Jermain’s game.” Nelson decided to make a move after watching Jeff Lacy lose his portion of the super middleweight title to Joe Calzaghe last March in England. Lacy, who is primarily a power puncher like Taylor, could never solve the mobility, speed and ring generalship of Calzaghe, who won nearly every round en route to an easy 12-round victory.

“I watched that fight and it really opened up my eyes that you’ve got to box and learn all the little tricks,” Nelson said. “I’m not taking anything away from Pat Burns because he did an excellent job. But I see what the future is going to be and there’s no sense in waiting for the train to break down before getting it fixed. I want to fix it before there’s a problem.” It’s also believed Nelson and Burns often had their differences, which may have contributed to the change.

Burns remains under contract and will get paid for the Wright fight even if he doesn’t play an active role.

“I wish Jermain well. I certainly want him to win this fight,” Burns told the Associated Press from Miami. “I’m going to keep busy, but I will be rooting for Jermain.” Wright, in Las Vegas to present his trainer Dan Birmingham with the Trainer of the Year award at the annual boxing writer’s dinner Friday night, said the switch to Steward was probably a wise move for Taylor.

“Emanuel is a hell of a trainer,” Wright said. “He knows everything about the game. So Jermain just has to go out and try to do what Emanuel tells him to do. It’s going to be a fight for the ages. Jermain’s a young, strong fighter. I just want to prove I’m one of the best fighters out there.” The notion of having Burns and Steward serve as cotrainers during the camp was never really a consideration.

“Pat is strong-minded and this is a short camp,” Nelson said. “Plus Emanuel has a lot of experience and a lot of knowledge. I figured we’d make this move now to keep any commotion down. That’s why I decided to do it this way. I want to do what’s best for Jermain. I want him to be clear minded and focused.”