THOMAS HEARNS WANTS TO SAVE KRONK GYM
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 29 Oct 2012
The famous Kronk Gym in Detroit, Michigan closed a day after legendary trainer Emanuel Steward died. The sister of the Hall-of-Famer Diane Steward-Jones ordered the gym locked up and the signage removed and all the memorabilia inside cleared.
Her reason for closing the gym was to ?to safeguard the legacy? of late brother and was in doubt of some people working at the gym. ?There are people in the gym, scavengers, who would try and take everything out of my brother?s gym,? said Steward-Jones, as quoted by atlantablackstar.com. ?I?ve alerted the police. People are not going to rape and ravage that place. There will be nothing left. The ring is even being removed.?
Thomas Hearns, 53, one of the greatest fighters of all time and six-division world champion shared the sorrow with other Kronk trainers and fighters. "I really don't know what's going on -- I have no idea," Hearns was quoted by boxingscene.com. "All I know is that Emanuel wanted things to keep moving. I'm willing to work all the way, not just part-way, in helping Emanuel's dreams."
Hearns, who had 61 wins, five losses, one draw and 48 knockouts in his illustrious career, volunteered to spearhead the reopening of the famed stable which has produced several world champions both professional and amateur boxers.
"If there was anything that could be done to honor Steward now,? Hearns said, ?it would be to reopen the original Kronk, which was closed by the city because of financial hardship in 2006.?
Kronk Gym opened in 1920 shortly after World War I and operated at the basement of the oldest recreation center of the City of Detroit. The gym produced its first world champion in Hilmer Kenty and Hearns became world titlist months after. Other notable champions who trained at Kronk Mickey Goodwin, Milton McCrory, Jimmy Paul, Duane Thomas, Steve McCrory, Wilfred Ben?tez , H?ctor Camacho, Julio C?sar Ch?vez, Naseem Hamed, Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis and Jermain Taylor, among others.
In 1998 Kronk opened Kronk Gym website, which featured the gym and its boxers. A "Save the Kronk" campaign, in order to preserve its facilities because of budgetary constraints was led by Steward to be used to build a new Kronk stable.
?Without Emanuel Steward, there would have been no Thomas Hearns; without Thomas Hearns and Emanuel Steward, there would have been no Kronk. Just that simple,? wrote Lindy Lindell of fightnews.com.
?The City of Detroit, the State of Michigan?if they could clean up the building on McGraw and reopen the gym there, it would be awesome. It would make Emanuel proud and happy. We would be doing it all again,? declared the Hitman as quoted by The Detroit Free Press.
"Manny told me as a kid, I'd be a world champion one day," Hearns told USA Today. "Emanuel was like my father. He molded me, shaped me. Manny had the eye.?
Photo by Kimberly Mitchell/AP: Thomas Hearns at the Kronk Gym mourning Emanuel Steward?s death.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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