11/05/24
November 30, 2006
The Kronk is no more: The Kronk Gymnasium, a dingy room in the basement of an aging Detroit rec centre, has closed its door for good. Emanuel Steward used The Kronk to train more than two dozen world champs, including Thomas Hearns and Michael Moorer.
I remember Thomas Hearns get in the ring in his yellow satin trunks with the word "KRONK" on his waistband. Man, those were great days in boxing. It sure ain't like that anymore. Too bad to lose another piece of boxing history.
posted by Desert Dog at 11:23 AM on November 30, 2006
Sad. Just another in a long line of Detroit institutions that perish and strip the city of its identity. Kronk ... this Stroh's is for you.
posted by gradys_kitchen at 11:36 AM on November 30, 2006
Yes, it is too bad. The place is obviously legendary. However, if one is looking for blame, personally I have to start with the sport itself (well, you know, outside of the specific asshole who fake-chequed his way through a funderaiser). It's just too fucking crooked and rigged and too many people are aware of it. Hard to find new boxing fans/participants and that does have an effect down the line.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 12:53 PM on November 30, 2006
Kronk has unfortunately joined the list of other Detroit mainstays: Tiger Stadium, The Olympia, J.L. Hudsons, Strohs Brewery, Motown Records etc... It's sad to see them go. Hopefully the Kronk Gym will find another home in the metro Detroit area and continue to produce champions. I forgot to mention the Silverdome, the greatest venue for Monster Trucks (certainly not for football).
posted by sterlingsilver at 03:49 PM on November 30, 2006
I was watching one of those cop shows,I believe it was Detroit Swat on A&E. Not that this has anything to do with this thread, but when I saw Tiger Stadium as one of the places that have been shut down in the above post, I thought they may still be using it as some kind of an athletic facility after the new stadium was built. The Detroit Swat team uses it as a target practice range. I couldn't believe it.Tiger Stadium as a target practice range. So much for historic places in Detroit.
posted by Ghastly1 at 11:01 PM on November 30, 2006
Added information: an earlier fundraiser to try to help keep the Kronk open was undercut by an online gambling firm put up a bogus $1.3M pledge. FTA: "This guy gets up in the ring and waves this big check, and that stopped everybody who was going to help," Steward said. "Even Lennox (Lewis) said he was going to help, but everybody was thinking we had raised enough funds." I say an excellent fundraiser would be letting Lennox Lewis beat the shit out of the owners of that firm on PPV. I'd pay $29.99 for that.