Kronk Will Never Be Forgotten
Music: Cinematic Inspiration Without Main Melody by amaksi
https://rebekahbrown.com/kronk-will-n... (Detroit, Michigan) Journalist Rebekah Brown covered Kronk Recreation Center & Boxing Gym and other Detroit Gyms from 1987 to 2004.
Kronk was an amazing boxing gym where more than 30 world boxing champions trained.
From Hilmer Kenty, Thomas Hearns, Michael Moorer, Gerald McClellan and more than 20 other world champions, the great Kronk Gym will remain in the memories of fight fans.
Rebekah visited Kronk and shot this footage September 28, 2017. Sadly, less than 2 weeks later, the great Kronk Gym burned down October 7, 2017.
Brown watched amateurs come into the gym for the first time and train with trainers including Floyd Logan, Bill Miller, Sammy Poe, Taylor Smith, Walter Smith.
World champions came from around the world in many weight classes to Kronk to be trained by Emanuel Steward.
During that timeframe, Brown sat in the gym watching workouts and doing interviews.
Few people were allowed inside the gym and Brown as a member of the media was able to chronicle the fighters battles inside and outside the ring.
The footage that you just watched was something that I shot in September 2017. Less than two weeks later, the great Kronk Gym burned to the ground.
The gym may be gone but it’s not forgotten; its history remains.
I’m a native Detroiter and I’m glad to see that the City of Detroit rebounded, but angered to see so many Detroit Recreation Centers have closed:
Detroit Brewer Rec Center
Detroit Brewster-Wheeler Rec Center
Detroit Cannon Rec Center
Detroit Herman Gardens Rec Center
Detroit Johnson Rec Center
Detroit Kronk Rec Center
Detroit O’Shea Rec Center
Because through the red and gold doors of Kronk Gym and others like it, many great fighters were made. Detroit gyms are a part of Detroit history.
Here’s a list of some of the fighters I interviewed during that timeframe. They shared their stories, I watched them train like warriors, and they all fought like champions.
So here’s a thank you from me, Rebekah Brown, to you fighters, letting you know that those great boxing memories will be preserved and that you will never be forgotten.
Thank you for your stories. I will do all I can to preserve them.
So here’s a thank you from me to you letting you know that those great boxing memories will be preserved and you will never be forgotten.
Hilmer Kenty
Thomas Hearns
Steve McCrory
Milton McCrory
Duane Thomas
Jimmy Paul
Stanley Longstreet
Sugar Ray Leonard
Muhammad Ali
Michael Moorer
Dennis Andries
Gerald McClellan
James Toney
Tom Johnson
Anthony Jones
John David Jackson
Leeonzer Barber
Ole Klemetsen
Mark Breland
Hector Camacho
Meldrick Taylor
Julio Cesar Chavez
Oliver McCall
Donny LaLonde
Gerry Cooney
Leon Spinks
Mike Tyson
Lennox Lewis
Oscar De La Hoya
Tony Tucker
Julian Jackson
Ray Mancini
Evander Holyfield
Hasim Rahman
Marvin Hagler
George Foreman
Reggie Johnson
Nigel Benn
Roy Jones, Jr.
Mike Weaver
Ken Norton
Ricky Womack
Jemal Hinton
Oba Carr
Tarick Salmaci
Bobby Czyz
Bernard Harris
Chris Eubank, Sr.
Michael Carbajal
Livingstone Bramble
Pinklon Thomas
Dwight Davison
Bert Cooper
Iran Barkley
Tommy Morrison
John Mugabi
Donovan Ruddock
Riddick Bowe
Floyd Mayweather
Ray Mercer
Arthel Lawtorn
Bill Lee
Mike McCallum
Anthony Hembrick
Jesse Benavides
Vinny Pazienza
Bronco McCart
Pernell Whitaker
Greg Haugen
Bernard Hopkins
Gaby Canizalez
Tony Ayala, Jr.
Shane Mosley
Perscell Davis
Damian Fuller
Ray Beltran
Talal Salmaci
David Palac
Arthur Palac
Darrell Chambers
Everett Martin
Mickey Goodwin
Bobby Hitz
Billy Hearns
Booker T. Word
Theotrice Chambers III
Waxxem Fikes
Warren Jackson
Frankie Liles
Fabian Williams
Brett Lally
Danell Nicholson
Willie Smith
Marlon Thomas
Corey Johnson
Kady King
Tyrone Trice
Lonny Beasley
Chris Byrd
Patrick Byrd
Pepe Reilly
Montell Griffin
Jeremy Williams
Jamar Nolan
Ferdell Pitts
Graciano Rocchigiani
Rydell Booker
Kenny Gould
Philippa Martin
Lindell Holmes
Warren Kilgore
Leo Nolan
Mashood Stanley
Demetrius Jenkins
Kevin Whaley-El
John Walker
Ron Morgan
Todd Riggs
Robert Bailey
Donald Stokes
Octavio Lara
Jon Lepak
Darnell Knox
Stevie Darnell
Hurley Snead
Fadi Faraj
Craig Payne
Frank Tate
Scotty Buck
Terry Pitts
Darius Purtese
And, of course…
Emanuel Steward
Walter Smith
Luther Burgess
Floyd Logan
Bill Miller
Sammy Poe
Taylor Smith
Eddie Futch
Angelo Dundee
Joe Byrd
Eddie Carr
Ted Palac
Brad Lally
Alex Sherer
Keith Lee, Sr.
Anthony Nolan, Sr.
Tony Ayala, Sr.
Al Dunmore
Freddie Guinyard
Dr. Stuart Kirschenbaum
Jackie Kallen
Bill Kozerski
Chief
Dave Shoulders
Glenn Wilson
Chuck Arnold
Jerry Hauser
Lane Combs
Peter Goldfield
Ismael Vargas
Ron Gentry
Frank Garza
Bobby Watson
Sam Williams
Dale Grable
Tom Briscoe
Tom Vacca
Don King
Bob Arum
Ferdie Pacheco
Harold Smith
Lou Duva
Shelley Finkel
Rock Newman
Dan Goosen
Thomas Hauser
Butch Lewis
Ralph Cintron