SaddoBoxing had the chance to catch up to Emmanuel Steward over the weekend at Starlight Inc's "Beauties And The Beats" fightcard in Detroit, Michigan and spoke to the legendary trainer/manager about the closing of the Kronk Gym.
Mr. Steward had worked out a deal with the city to keep Kronk open, but it seemed that the straw that broke the camel’s back came when thieves broke into the building and stole copper piping this past September.
"We're trying to buy the building," Mr. Steward said on Saturday night.
The building, named after former Detroit City Councilman John F. Kronk, was first used by Steward in 1969 to train his brother, James, guiding him to an eventual Detroit Golden Gloves championship. Steward would later take a part-time coaching position with the boxing program there.
There have been various fund-raising events for the Kronk and Steward stated in a previous interview with SaddoBoxing that it was personally costing him $3,000 a week to keep the gym open. Most recently, Sylvester Stallone came to Detroit in support of the Kronk and donated the proceeds of his charity screening of “Rocky Balboa”.
Steward met with city administration yesterday, and while there is no word yet from the mayor’s office on what progress had been made, the trainer was optimistic. “There will be a Kronk there,” Steward said. “There will always be a Kronk.”
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