Sports
Milton McCrory
born 1962 · boxer, WBC welterweight champion
Detroit-born Kronk fighter who won the WBC welterweight title in 1983, the first Detroit-born champion from Emanuel Steward's gym.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 64- Also known as
- Ice Man
- Detroit years
- 1962–1990s
- Field
- Sports
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Milton McCrory was born and raised in Detroit and learned to box alongside his younger brother Steve at the Kronk Recreation Center, Emanuel Steward's basement gym on the west side. Tall and rangy for a welterweight, like his gym-mate Thomas Hearns, he earned the nickname "Ice Man". In 1983 he fought Welshman Colin Jones for the WBC welterweight title that Sugar Ray Leonard had vacated; the first bout was a draw, and McCrory won the rematch to become the first Detroit-born world champion from the Kronk. He defended the belt until December 1985, when Donald Curry knocked him out in a unification fight. His brother Steve won Olympic gold in 1984, making the McCrorys one of Detroit's best-known boxing families. Milton retired in 1991.
Highlights
- WBC welterweight champion 1983–1985
- First Detroit-born world champion from the Kronk Gym
- Brother of 1984 Olympic champion Steve McCrory
- Trained throughout his career by Emanuel Steward
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
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.
Played here · 1970s–1991
Kronk Gym (original, Kronk Recreation Center)
Demolished · 1921–2006
The gym where he and his brother Steve trained under Emanuel Steward; demolished in 2018.