It was one of the Detroit’s most storied buildings – the Kronk Gym. A place that produced some of Detroit’s greatest boxing champions – Milton McCrory, his brother Steve, Hilmer Kenty, Jimmy Paul, Duane Thomas and of course…Hall of Famer Thomas Hearns.
Well, the legendary gym known around the world because of the late boxing trainer, Emanuel Steward, is set to reopen on Monday.
The newest gym is set to reopen at 9520 Mettetal in Detroit at noon-3 p.m. Former Kronk champion Milton McCrory, who will be Kronk’s new head trainer, will be there for a meet and greet with guest.
Steward died at 68 in 2012 of colon cancer. For all of his career, he led a group of fighters to prominence. But it all started in an old musty gym in the 1970s and 80s at the Kronk Gym located at 555 McGraw in Detroit.
The original Kronk gym was closed by City Council on Nov. of 2006, after it fell on tough times as vandals continued to steel copper piping and wiring from the building.
That’s when Steward moved the Kronk to a storefront on West Warren, off Southfield Road, where he continued to train young fighters until his death. The gym was closed right after Steward’s death by his daughter, Sylvia Steward-Jones, who feared thieves would move in and steal boxing equipment and Kronk memorabilia.
According to the Detroit Free Press, equipment for the new gym, including a boxing ring and lockers, has been donated by Bingham Farms businessman and former middleweight prospect Jeff Styers, also vice chairman of the Michigan Unarmed Combat Commission.
Unfortunately, Steward’s daughter will not be in attendance, who has had moments of disagreement with family members since his death on how to maintain his legacy.
“I was asked to say a few words in the ring,” Steward-Jones said to the Detroit Free Press. “Unfortunately, I have conflicting plans on Memorial weekend.”
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