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Kronk Gym is a
boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...
gym located in
Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
, once led by trainer Emanuel Steward. It was originally run out of the basement of the oldest recreation center of the City of Detroit. The gym became a household name 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. Named after Detroit City Councilman John Kronk, the training facility opened in 1921. The original site closed in 2006, but it reopened in 2015.


History


Original Detroit gym

Kronk began to earn fame during the late 1970s, when prospects like Hilmer Kenty, 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 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. Often regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, he competed professionally between 1977 and 1997, winning quintuple c ...
; Jimmy Paul beat Harry Arroyo 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. The others are the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing C ...
's world lightweight title in 1985. Duane Thomas, another Kronk fighter, beat John Mugabi 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 commonly 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 ...
in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. 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 a sports organization that sanctions amateur and professional boxing matches and awards world and subordinate championships. ...
: Steve McCrory #1 at 112 lbs, Mark Breland #1 at 147 lbs, Frank Tate #5 at 156 lbs, and Ricky Womack #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, and repeat welterweight contender Oba Carr. Among the many world champions who trained at Kronk at least once during their careers are
Michael Moorer Michael Lee Moorer (born November 12, 1967) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2008. He won a world championship on four occasions in two weight classes, having held the WBO light heavyweight title from 1988 t ...
,
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,
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 (Arabic: نسيم حميد; born 12 February 1974), nicknamed Prince Naseem and Naz, is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2002.Davies, Gareth A (8 June 2015)"Prince Naseem Hamed: 'I always thought they w ...
,
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 championship (boxing), undisputed champion in the cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight division ...
,
Lennox Lewis Lennox Claudius Lewis (born 2 September 1965) is a British-Canadian boxing commentator and former professional boxer who competed in the heavyweight division from 1989 to 2003. He was a three-time world champion, a two-time lineal champion, ...
,
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 champion in the middleweight division, having defeated Bernard Hopkins in 2005, and in doing s ...
and
Tyson Fury Tyson Luke Fury (born 12 August 1988) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2008 to 2024. He held multiple world heavyweight championships, including unified titles from 2015 to 2016, the '' Ring'' magazine title twice bet ...
.


Tucson gym

Kronk opened a second gym in
Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...
during the 1990s. A new host of fighters who would later become world champions arrived there, including Gerald McClellan. The Kronk " franchise" 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 died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It i ...
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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
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 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 and clubs 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 /