Kronk Fighters

[BoztheMadman]

One of the most successful boxing schools was the Kronk Gym in Detroit, led by Emmanuel Steward. The facility where the Kronk Gym still stands was opened just after world war I and is the oldest recreation center in Detroit. Kronk Gym was founded in its basement. It gained fame in the 70's when Steward took over as trainer. Its' most famous son is undeniably Thomas Hearns. Michael Moorer, Gerald McClellan, Milton McCrory, Duane Thomas, Leeonzer Barber, Hilmer Kenty and Jimmy Paul were also world champions which were honed in the same gym. We shall take a look at some of these fighters.

 

The red and gold trunks characteristic of Kronk Gym came about when Steward was given a pair of such trunks by two US Marine soldiers who trained there and hence, the Marine Corps boxing shorts became Kronk Gym's official shorts. Steward put in a lot of work at the gym and also formed a cosmetic distribution company in 1972, which took up a lot of his time. When he finally was able to focus more on boxing, the Gym had lost all its' other trainers and so he had to start all over again. That same year the young Tommy Hearns joined the gym, aged 14. That year Steward also formed the boxing club ESCOT, standing for Emmanuel Steward's Champions of Tomorrow. They promoted monthly inter-city and inner city boxing shows. To cut the long story short, Hilmer Kenty became the first world champion of Kronk in March 2 1980, when he took the WBA lightweight title by stopping Ernesto Espana by TKO 9. Kenty was a very tall and lanky lightweight with an extensive amateur record who could box and punch and defended his title three times before losing it to Sean O'Grady on points. Three months later, he had a surgery to repair a detached retina and then went 9-1, losing to Hector Elizondo by corner retirement, before retiring in 1984. Hearns became the second and greatest world champion of Kronk when he knocked out the long-reigning Pipino Cuevas in only 2 rounds, 5 months after Kenty's triumph, on August 2. He would also defend that title, the WBA welterweight one, three times before valiantly losing it to Sugar Ray Leonard on September 16 1981, by a late TKO. Hearns was the better man for much of the fight, but gassed late in the fight and was stopped on the ropes in round 14. He would go on to become a 6-time world champion at 5 different weight classes. He beat fighters like Roberto Duran, Wilfred Benitez, Virgil Hill, Doug DeWitt, James Kinchen and Michael Olajide and arguably Sugar Ray Leonard in their rematch as well, but it was scored a draw.

 

Milton McCrory was the next champion. He won the WBC welter title when he beat Colin Jones by split decision on August 13 1983. McCrory was a very tall welter at 6'1 and a very good fighter with power, but not good enough to beat Donald Curry. After making 4 defenses against lesser opponents, he had the unification bout against the WBA and IBF champ Curry December 6 1985 in Las Vegas. He was easily handled by the superior Curry and knocked out in 2 rounds. He then tried to capture a world title at 154 against Mike McCallum, the WBA champion, but was stopped in 10 rounds after a brave fight. McCrory's nickname was "Iceman". The next Kronk champion, Jimmy Paul, was no joke either. A lightweight who had the skills and endurance, as well as some power, he first stopped Andy Ganigan "The Hawaiian Punch" in 6 rounds in 1983, before capturing the IBF belt on April 6 1985 against undefeated Harry Arroyo. Paul defended that title three times and also in between beat Freddie Pendleton by UD, before losing it to young and undefeated Greg Haugen by MD in December 1986. That was the end of his golden era and he later got stopped by big puncher Carlos Gonzalez in 2 rounds in a fight for the vacant WBO super lightweight title, in 1992. He retired in 1993 but came back in 1999 for one more fight, which he won. His nickname was "The Ringmaster".

 

The next world champion to come out of Kronk turned out to be its' longtime protege, Duane Thomas. Thomas was highly touted early on and beat Sumbu Kalambay on points. Kalambay at that point had only one loss in 36 fights. But Thomas also got exposed before that when he was stopped by Buster Drayton, a hard-hitting and solid, but unspectacular fighter, by TKO 7. He won the WBC belt by fluke, when his opponent John Mugabi injured his left eye after getting thumbed, accidentally it appears, by Thomas. Mugabi had to quit in round 3, but was ahead on points at that time. It was coincidentally, on the same card where Jimmy Paul lost his belt to Greg Haugen. Thomas then lost his title in the first defense to Lupe Aquino, who put him down twice and won by UD. He also got stopped in the attempt to reclaim the belt against the man who took it from Aquino, Gianfranco Rosi. Rosi, though not a particularly hard hitter, curiously managed to stop him in 7 rounds. Thomas retired shortly thereafter, but made a comeback to the ring in April 2000. However, only 2 months after his first comeback fight, which was successful, he got shot in East Detroit, over a minor drug dispute. So his life ended tragically at the age of 39.

 

Another tragic Kronk story is the one of Gerald McClellan. Perhaps the most spectacular and talented fighter to come out of Kronk since Hearns, G-Man McClellan was a tall middleweight with sensational power and exceptional speed. Coincidentally, he also became the world champion for the first time against John Mugabi, but in contrast to Thomas, he annihilated Mugabi in one round to capture the vacant WBO middleweight title on November 20 1991. He vacated title however, since back then WBO was not that highly regarded as organization, and set his goals higher. On May 8 1993, he waged an unforgettable war against then-WBC champ Julian Jackson. Both guys were hurt in the fight but McClellan prevailed by a knockout in 5 in the end. He then dispatched Jay Bell in his first defense in just 20 seconds. Also Gilbert Baptist fell in one round and so did Julian Jackson in the rematch. Having trouble making the 160 weight at his 6'0 frame, Gerald vacated the title and then challenged the English WBC super middle champion Nigel Benn in a fight which nobody will forget. He almost knocked Benn out in one round when he sent him through the ropes with a quick flurry punctuated with a right hand. But Benn got back into the ring and the fight and started landing big punches. Gerald again sent him down in round eight but it was clear that he was getting tired and being worn down by Benn's constant attack. In round 10, he sat down on the canvas and didn't make the count, his eyes blinking rapidly. Shortly thereafter, he slipped into a coma and awoke to find himself half-blind and permanently brain damaged. His hearing was also seriously impaired. Benn later called him not just the best puncher but the best fighter he has faced as well. McClellan is now cared for by his sister and his condition has remained the same. He was only 27 when his star got extinguished.

 

Michael Moorer was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Pennsylvania, but as his amateur career started to take off, he came to Detroit to train with Manny Steward. He became the first WBO light heavyweight champion by stopping the tough and tall Ramzi Hassan by TKO 5 on December 3 1988. He made 9 defenses of the title and among others knocked out former WBA champ Leslie Stewart in 8 rounds. In 1991, the 6'2 and well built Moorer decided it was time to move up to heavyweight. After knocking out contenders like Leslie Stewart and Levi Billups, in May 1992 he faced Bert Cooper for the vacant WBO title and became the WBO champion at heavyweight too, after knocking out Cooper with a great combination after a stunning war in 5 rounds. He never defended the title and instead challenged Evander Holyfield for the WBA and IBF titles on April 22 1994. Despite getting knocked down in round 2, he managed to win enough rounds and close strong to get a majority decision and so became the first southpaw heavyweight champion and the first light heavyweight world champion since Michael Spinks to win a world heavyweight title. He even won two. High times would come to an end soon however as he took on the much older underdog George Foreman 6 months later and after dominating most of the fight, he got knocked out by a left right in round 10. He came back and in 1996 won the IBF title by decisioning German Axel Schulz in his own country. He defended it against Francois Botha by TKO 12 and Vaughn Bean by MD12 before losing it to Holyfield by a corner retirement after 8 rounds. His career would never be as successful again and he only had a few notable victories such as a knockout of former cruiserweight world champ Vassily Jirov in 2004. He retired in 2008.

 

And last but not least, Leeonzer Barber is the name not many remember today, but he was another WBO light heavy champion from Kronk, who won the title on May 9 1991 by retiring Tom Collins after 5 rounds. He defended it four times and also stopped Nicky Piper in 9 in his last successful defense. He lost the belt in September 1994 to the future great Dariusz Michalczewski, on points. Standing 6'3 and quite muscular, he later campaigned as a heavyweight and cruiserweight, but didn't have many fights there and was stopped by Ramon Garbey in 9 in January 1999 and had one unsuccessful comeback fight in 2004. He was later hillariously infamous for being a victim of a name-misuse by a porn site.