Kronk Gym is a boxing gym in Detroit, Michigan. The original gym closed in 2006. Its founder was Emanuel Steward, who was the trainer for Lennox Lewis when he beat Mike Tyson. The original Kronk Gym was destroyed in a fire on October 7, 2017. Some of the boxers involved with the gym were Thomas Hearns, Hilmer Kenty and Ricky Womack. James Bashir Ali was a trainer for Kronk Gym for seventeen years.^[5] A new gym was opened in 2015 with some of the same staff of the old Kronk Gym.^[21]

The building where Kronk Gym was housed was built in 1921.

Kronk Gym was located on 5555 McGraw Street in Detroit.

It was on the west side of the city.

The Kronk Community Building was a recreation center named for former Detroit City Councilman John Kronk who served Detroit from approximately 1919 through 1940.

The center rose to prominence in the early 1970's after Emanuel Steward took on a part-time job as the head coach of the boxing program.

Members of the Kronk boxing team won many Detroit Golden Gloves championships throughout the seventies.

The gym was run out of the basement of the Kronk Recreation Center.

Prior to its closing in 2006, it was the oldest recreation center of the city of Detroit.

In 1980, Hilmer Kenty became Kronk's first world champion, and Thomas Hearns followed him as world champion later in the same year.

In 1983, Kronk fighter Milton McCrory won the World Boxing Council world welterweight title. Another Kronk champion was Jimmy Paul, who beat Harry Arroyo for the International Boxing Federation world lightweight title.Duane Thomas was WBC super welterweight champion in 1987;he was a Kronk fighter.^[23]

Steward stepped in with an offer to buy the center rather than see it close, eventually reaching an agreement with the city to pay the operating costs out of his own pocket.

The cost to reopen the gym was estimated to be between $500,000 to $1 million dollars annually.

In September 2006, criminals broke in into the center and stole much of the copper pipes that helped provide water supply to the center.

On November 28, 2006, the recreation department would close and the Kronk Gym was closed due to the prohibitive cost of repairs to the plumbing and building infrastructure.

Final efforts to re-open the gym failed in 2012 after the death of Emanuel Steward.

^[22]

Steward's sister, Diane Steward-Jones, removed 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

What was left of the gym burned to the ground on October 7, 2017.

There is a website run by Marie Steward, a relative of Emanuel Steward.

It is called kronksports.com.

On the website you can purchase kronk gym athletic apparel.

According to the website, their is a Kronk affiliated gym located in a church on 9520 Mettetal Ave in Detroit, Michigan.

Thomas Hearns and Milton McCrory are affiliated with the new gym.

According to Everipedia editor, Matthew E. O'neil, Kronk Gym amateur boxers have been competing in the annual Silver Gloves tournament in downtown Detroit since the opening of the new gym.^[7] In December 2019 it was announced that lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury fired his old trainer and hired Javan "Sugar" Hill and members of the Kronk team for his boxing match against WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder on February 22, 2020. Javan Hill is the nephew of the late Emanuel Steward.^[18]

Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder II occurred on February 22, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Fury won the boxing match and won the Word Boxing Council heavyweight championship. Javan "Sugar Hill" Steward of Kronk Gym was Fury's head trainer for the fight. Steward also trained Fury for Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder III.