Kronk
Boxers Relocate Again “We don’t have a Kronk Gym,” said Kronk trainer Javan “Sugar” Hill. Hill was part joking and part serious. Mostly serious. Hill went April 14 to what had been the home of Kronk – above a Gold’s Gym in Dearborn – since vandals and years of decay forced their move from its original home on McGraw twenty months ago, to find the gym closed, a barricade placed in front of the door. He and others went inside and removed their belongings and the search was on for someplace for the boxers to work out. Kronk is not known for its communication skills and most boxers similarly learned of the gym’s fate when they showed up to train. A few – those that are competing starting Monday at the National Golden Gloves in Grand Rapids – were apparently informed of the latest “temporary” location while others have been left to fend for themselves. This article likely will be how at least a few Kronk amateurs learn of the gym’s newest refuge. “He never wanted us there in the first place is my impression,” Hill said regarding the Dearborn site. “His idea of a boxing gym is six to eight people.” Whether he meant Vince Viviano, trainer Charlie Peters or the person who owns the building was not clear but riffs developed early when members of the original Kronk descended on the Kronk Dearborn, or Kronk International as it was also called. Dearborn members felt intruded upon and Detroit's group didn't like the strange, new rules. Both sides felt put-upon. Kronk brought a lot more than 6-8 people to the small upstairs gym. Timing they say is everything and the upstairs had recently been divided into a larger workout room for women while a smaller back room with a boxing ring was suddenly filled beyond capacity with Detroit arrivals. That the landlord didn’t want lights used because it ran up the electric bill, even though Steward was paying rent, was repeated by more than Hill. Several times over the past two years, Emanuel Steward has spoken of various sites of interest for the new Kronk – a large Powerhouse Gym or Blockbuster video store, memory fails me on which, seemed to be a favorite - with the timetable never any closer. Steward has a lot of things going that all demand his attention and some things just seem to get forgotten. “Less
stress” is how Hill describes the situation where the Kronk
fighters are now training. Located inside an abandoned hand car
wash at 4760 St. Aubin, 1-1/2-blocks from Warren & Dequindre,
the Downtown Boxing Club is a little more than a mile from Bert’s
Warehouse Theatre in Detroit’s Eastern Market district where
Hill and promoter Rubin Stovall are committed to monthly Pro-Am
shows. How long Kronk will be guests of the D’Town club is
not known. |