November 29, 2006
SAD NEWS IN DETROIT
THE KRONK GYM IN DETROIT IS CLOSING!
I worked out there last year when 'Classic Now' was in Motown for the Superbowl.
The people in the gym were all real cool guys. I even bought a shirt to show my support. It's a shame one of the rich and famous boxers didn't come through with some cash. I guess they forgot about their roots.
(thanks Jeff Heyman for this note)
FROM AP --
DETROIT (AP) - The Kronk Gym, the dingy basement that helped
produced world champions Evander Holyfield and Oscar De La Hoya,
has closed.
Champions Thomas Hearns and Lennox Lewis also trained at Emanuel
Steward's gym, which had been struggling after thieves stole copper
pipes in September, cutting off its water supply.
Steward had been paying to keep the Kronk running for months
after Detroit shut down the recreation center that houses it
because of a budget shortfall.
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.
"It's the oldest rec center in the city. It has lived a useful
life," he told the Detroit Free Press in Wednesday's edition.
