Manny Steward and the end of the end of another era

It’s a sad time for Michigan fight fans and, really, fight fans the world over that enjoyed seeing the products from the Detroit pugilism machine known as the Kronk Gym churn out champs, contenders and prospects for 30 plus plus years.

The legendary Kronk Gym, a grimy basement gym that housed two dozen world champions, has shuttered its doors for good for good, the city’s Recreation Department announced.

Emanuel Steward’s gym was already struggling, and took one on the chin when thieves stole copper pipes in September, cutting off its water supply and forcing Steward to close the noted fighter factory.

Steward, who came to Kronk in 1971, had been keeping the Kronk running for months, paying out of his own pocket, after Detroit shut down the recreation center that houses it because of a budget deficit. But it takes around half a million bucks a year to keep the fight fixture open, and the city can’t spare a dime.

The cost of fixing the plumbing and making other major repairs led officials to decide to make the gym’s shutdown permanent, said the Recreation Department’s deputy director, Lawrence Hemingway to the AP. “It’s the oldest rec center in the city. It has lived a useful life,” he told the Detroit Free Press for a story published Wednesday.

Hilmer Kenty was the first Kronkie to win a world title, in 1980, and Tommy Hearns, the Motor City Cobra, soon followed suit. Milt McCrory, Jimmy Paul, Duane Thomas, Steve McCrory, Mike McCallum, Michael Moorer – the gym kept producing well-schooled technicians who also liked to bang, and weren’t afraid to finish a foe if the time was right.

More importantly, perhaps, Kronk was a safe haven for untold numbers of kids destined for an unsavory street education. They learned structure and discipline, and fired fists instead of guns in their spare time.

Farewell, Kronk. You will be remembered fondly, and will never be replaced.