Sports
Emanuel Steward
1944–2012 · boxing trainer, commentator, former boxer
The 'godfather of Detroit boxing', who built the Kronk Gym into a world-famous training ground and coached forty-one world champions, among them Thomas Hearns, Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko.
- Born
Bottom Creek, West Virginia- Died
Chicago, Illinois
aged 68- Also known as
- Manny
- Detroit years
- 1956–2012
- Field
- Sports
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Steward moved to Detroit from West Virginia with his mother at age twelve and, after an early job in the auto industry, found his way to the Brewster Recreation Center, the same gym where Joe Louis had once trained. In 1971 he began coaching part-time at the nearby Kronk Recreation Center on McGraw Avenue, and over the following decades built its basement gym into arguably the most famous boxing address in the world, producing amateur and professional champions including Thomas Hearns. He later trained heavyweights Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko to world titles and became a respected HBO commentator, all while remaining rooted in Detroit and funding youth education programs in the city. The original Kronk Gym closed in 2006 and was later destroyed by fire and demolished, but in 2025 a new ownership group revived the Kronk name in the historic Brewster-Wheeler building where Steward himself had trained as a boy.
Highlights
- Began coaching at Detroit's Kronk Gym in 1971
- Trained 41 world champion boxers, including Thomas Hearns, Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko
- Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame
- Long-time HBO Boxing commentator
- Known as the 'godfather of Detroit boxing'
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1971–2006
Kronk Recreation Center (Kronk Gym, site)
Demolished · 1921–2006
The basement boxing gym he built into a world-famous training ground; closed in 2006, damaged by fire in 2017 and demolished in 2018.
Studied here · 1956–1971
Brewster–Wheeler Recreation Center
The historic recreation center, once used by Joe Louis, where Steward first trained as a youth; the KRONK name and gym returned here in 2025.