Kronk Gym
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Kronk Gym is a
boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...
gym located in
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
, once led by trainer
Emanuel Steward Emanuel "Manny" Steward (July 7, 1944 – October 25, 2012) was an American boxer, trainer, and commentator for HBO Boxing. He was also called the Godfather of Detroit Boxing. Steward trained 41 world champion fighters throughout his care ...
. It was run out of the basement of the oldest recreation center of the City of Detroit, and became a household word in the sport of boxing and its gold shorts a magnet to young talent following the enormous success and high profile of multiple World Champion and Boxing Hall of Famer Thomas "The Hitman" Hearns in the 1980s. The training facility opened shortly after World War I (~1920) and closed in 2006. It reopened in 2015.


History


Original Detroit gym

Kronk began to earn fame during the late 1970s, when prospects like
Hilmer Kenty James Kenty, also known as Hilmer Kenty (born July 30, 1955 in Austin, Texas) is the former WBA lightweight (135 lb) champion of the world. He was selected a member of the All-American AAU boxing team for 1973, and was named the top lightweight am ...
, Thomas Hearns and Mickey Goodwin trained there. In 1980, Kenty became Kronk's first world champion, Hearns following him months after. In 1983, Kronk fighter
Milton McCrory Milton McCrory (born February 7, 1962 in Detroit, MI) is a former professional boxer who was a world champion in the welterweight (147 lb) division. Amateur Milton had a reported amateur record of 105-15. He lost in the 1979 National AAU fin ...
won the WBC welterweight title vacated by
Sugar Ray Leonard Ray Charles Leonard (born May 17, 1956), best known as "Sugar" Ray Leonard, is an American former professional boxer, motivational speaker, and occasional actor. Often regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, he competed professiona ...
;
Jimmy Paul Jimmy Paul (born August 27, 1959 in Detroit, MI) is an American former professional boxer in the lightweight division. He was the International Boxing Federation's world Lightweight champion from 1985-when he beat Harry Arroyo by a 15 round unanimo ...
beat
Harry Arroyo Harry Arroyo (born October 25, 1957) is an American former professional boxer who held the IBF lightweight title from 1984 to 1985. Early years Arroyo, of Puerto Rican descent, was born on the south side of Youngstown, Ohio, a steel-man ...
for the
International Boxing Federation The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...
's world lightweight title in 1985.
Duane Thomas Duane Julius Thomas (born June 21, 1947) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Redskins. He played college football at West Texas State University. Early yea ...
, another Kronk fighter, beat
John Mugabi John Mugabi (born March 4, 1960) is a Ugandan former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 1991, and 1996 to 1999. He held the WBC super-welterweight title from 1989 to 1990, and challenged twice for world titles at middleweight, includi ...
for the WBC light middleweight title in 1986. McCrory's brother, Steve McCrory, was also a world champion who as an amateur won the flyweight gold medal at the
1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...
in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. In 1984 four Kronk team members of various weight classes were ranked world's top ten by
AIBA The International Boxing Association (IBA), previously known as the Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur (AIBA), is an independent sport organization that sanctions amateur (Olympic-style) boxing matches and awards world and subordinate cha ...
: Steve McCrory #1 at 112 lbs,
Mark Breland Mark Anthony Breland (born May 11, 1963) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 1997, and held the WBA welterweight title twice between 1987 and 1990. He later became an actor with a wide range of movie and television ...
#1 at 147 lbs, Frank Tate #5 at 156 lbs, and
Ricky Womack Ricky may refer to: Places *Říčky (Brno-Country District), a village and municipality in the Czech Republic *Říčky v Orlických horách, a village in the north of the Czech Republic *Rickmansworth, a town in England sometimes called "Ricky" ...
#3 at 178 lbs. In the 1990s the Kronk stable included two-time WBA welterweight champion Mark Breland, top amateur prospect and future contender
Tarick Salmaci Tarick Salmaci (born February 28, 1972) is a Lebanese-American former professional boxer and North American Boxing Organization (NABO) middleweight champion. He was one of 16 boxers chosen worldwide to participate on season 1 of NBC's reality t ...
, and repeat welterweight contender Oba Carr. Among the many world champions who trained at Kronk at least once during their careers are Michael Moorer,
Wilfred Benítez Wilfred "Wilfredo" Benítez (born September 12, 1958) is an American-born Puerto Rican former professional boxer and the youngest world champion in the sport's history. Earning his first of three career world titles in separate weight division ...
(in the Tucson gym),
Héctor Camacho Héctor Luís Camacho Matías (May 24, 1962 – November 24, 2012), commonly known by his nickname "Macho" Camacho, was a Puerto Rican professional boxer and entertainer. Known for his quickness in the ring and flamboyant style, Camacho compet ...
,
Julio César Chávez Julio César Chávez González (; born July 12, 1962), also known as Julio César Chávez Sr., is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 2005. A multiple-time world champion in three weight divisions, Chávez was liste ...
,
Naseem Hamed Naseem Hamed (born 12 February 1974), nicknamed Prince Naseem and Naz, is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2002.. Retrieved 25 February 2016. He held multiple featherweight world championships, including the WBO ti ...
,
Evander Holyfield Evander Holyfield (born October 19, 1962) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the undisputed champion at cruiserweight in the late 1980s and at heavyweight in the early 1990s, and is the on ...
,
Lennox Lewis Lennox Claudius Lewis (born 2 September 1965) is a former professional boxer and boxing commentator who competed from 1989 to 2003. He is a three-time world heavyweight champion, a two-time lineal champion, and the last heavyweight to hold ...
,
Jermain Taylor Jermain Taylor (born August 11, 1978) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2014. He remains the most recent undisputed middleweight champion, having won the WBA (Undisputed), WBC, IBF, WBO, ''Ring'' magazine, and ...
and
Tyson Fury Tyson Luke Fury (born 12 August 1988) is an English professional boxer. He is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having held the World Boxing Council, WBC title since defeating Deontay Wilder in 2020, and ''The Ring (magazine), The Ring'' ...
.


Tucson gym

Kronk opened a second gym in
Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...
during the 1990s. A new host of fighters who would later become world champions arrived there, including
Gerald McClellan Gerald Allen McClellan (born October 23, 1967) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 1995. He is a two-time middleweight world champion, having held the WBO title from 1991 to 1992, and the WBC title from 1993 to ...
. The Kronk "
franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...
" began to sell Kronk merchandise through catalog sales. In 1998 Kronk opene
Kronk Gym website
promoting the gyms and their fighters.


Detroit gym closure

In September 2006, the original gym at 5555 McGraw Avenue between 33rd and Junction Streets in Detroit closed temporarily after thieves stole copper water pipes, cutting off supply to the building. Boxers relocated to a Dearborn Gold's Gym. A "Save the Kronk" campaign aimed at keeping the facilities from closing due to budget shortfall was spearheaded by Emanuel Steward. The campaign would ultimately work toward building a new Kronk. The gym and recreation center was officially closed by the Recreation Department on November 28, 2006 due to the prohibitive cost of repairs to the plumbing and building infrastructure. In the past few years, the Detroit gym relocated to a new facility in a storefront on West Warren Avenue. On October 7, 2017, the original Kronk Gym went up in flames in a suspicious fire. The roof was destroyed and the basement gym was heavily damaged.


Reopening

The new facility opened on
Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...
weekend in 2015 at 9520 Mettetal St. On August 20, 2020, during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
and subsequent restrictions on sports events, the gym hosted its first ever professional boxing event, a long-time dream held by Steward. The card was headlined by Kronk fighter
Vladimir Shishkin Vladimir Shishkin (Russian: Владимир Шишкин; born 12 January 1964) is a retired Russian athlete who specialised in the sprint hurdles. He competed at two Olympic Games as well as two World Championships. His best placings were fourth ...
who defeated Oscar Riojas via ninth-round
technical knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...
.


References

{{Reflist


External links


Kronkgym.com official website.



Detroit's Legendary Kronk Gym: Down for the Count

Boxing's Most Famous Gyms
Boxing in Michigan Boxing gyms in the United States 2006 disestablishments in Michigan 1980 Manny Steward kronk gym held the 15 years and younger Silver gloves jr Olympics,Micky Goodwyn,Milton Mccrory,Hilmer Kentay,And Duane Johnson All world champions helped host the event. Roosevelt McKinley trainer with AnnArbor /