Kronk Gym is a boxing gym located in Detroit, once led by trainer Emanuel Steward. 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 FamerThomas “The Hitman” Hearns in the 1980s. The training facility opened shortly after World War I and closed in 2006. It reopened in 2015.
Kronk opened a second gym in Tucson, Arizona 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 opened , 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 Saturday, 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.
Proposed new Detroit gym
The abandoned Kronk Gym in Detroit may see new life under a proposal to renovate the battered two-story building and revive the area around it. The effort was again being spearheaded by Emanuel Steward, the gym's legendary trainer. However, after Steward's October 2012 death the future of Kronk Gym grew more uncertain, compounded by Steward's sister, Diane Steward-Jones, removing everything related to Steward from the gym just a day after his death to prevent thefts of valuable memorabilia and “safeguard the legacy” of Steward and of the gym. Former multiple world champ and Kronk Gym icon Thomas Hearns stated: “I don't know when and if we'll be open here again. I hope something good will happen.” Andy Lee and Adonis Stevenson are two world champions still representing Kronk, with Wladimir Klitschko and Anthony Dirrell being linked with Steward, but less synonymous with the gym itself. The new facility opened on Memorial Day weekend 2015 at 9520 Mettetal St.
