Posted on Friday, February 03, 2006 - 3:51 pm:

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...the world famous Kronk Gym, a bruised, battered and beaten-down rec room that has produced 50 amateur boxing champions, 30 world champions and three Olympic gold medalists.

Tommy Hearns, Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, Michael Moorer, Oscar De La Hoya, Prince Naseem Hamed .… they've all trained here. They've all read those last words, entered the room with the cracked walls, the peeling paint and the missing floor tiles and allowed legendary trainer Emanuel Steward to push them to places they never imagined possible.

"This is the Mecca," said Andy Lee, a 21-year-old Irish middleweight whose dreams of being next are sustained right now by the sweat pouring down his yellow Kronk tank. "I've trained all over the world -- Cuba, Italy, Russia, Finland -- but nothing compares to this. There's an attitude, a confidence. Walk through that door and it just hits you."

On the inside, nothing awaits Lee and the others but pain. Fight through it, though, and there's opportunity. A shot at fame. And a way out.
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To those entrenched in the boxing world, permanently locking Kronk's doors would be like closing Wrigley Field or tearing down the Apollo Theatre. It's an institution. Perhaps no single room in America -- with its two heavy bags, two speed bags and one lonesome ring -- has produced more boxing champions than this one.
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For a $35 yearly fee, the gym is open to anyone 8 years or older. Every weekday afternoon, it serves two purposes: For the larger bodies, it builds champions; for the smaller ones, it builds confidence. There are boys, girls, men, women, whites, blacks, Hispanics, Arabs. Everyone from an Atlanta Braves minor leaguer trying to stay in shape during the offseason to super-smiling 8-year-olds who hop around like wind-up toys.
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The sparring sessions in Philadelphia gyms are legendary; the ones in this Detroit club were gothic and everyday.

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