Emanuel Steward represented Detroit boxing

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Emanuel Steward represented Detroit boxing

Emanuel Steward, owner of the Kronk Gym in Detroit, trained boxers Thomas Hearns, Evander Holyfield and Oscar De La Hoya. He died Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012 at age 68. (Max Ortiz/The Detroit News)

Kronk Boxing will never be the same.

The "Godfather," the architect and the brains behind the most famous boxing team, is no longer with us. When Emanuel Steward died Thursday, it began the slow death of one of Detroit's greatest institutions.

Sure, you can buy T-shirts or sweat pants but Kronk won't be the same. Steward, who died at age 68, is Kronk Gym. He is the heat, the humidity, the sweat and the foundation of Detroit's most important sports institution not named Lions, Tigers, Pistons or Red Wings.

The flame is out because there's no other Steward.

Our first memories of Steward are in the corner of boxing legend Thomas "Hit Man" Hearns at Olympia Stadium and Cobo Arena. Steward turned Hearns from a boy to a man, and nurtured him in and out of the ring. They were like father and son, even when they went to Freed's shoe store in Atlanta, where Hearns would buy a dozen shoes.

"I would be like, Tommy, we can't be getting all these shoes," Steward said this summer. "We got to watch our budget a little. I can't be going on these shopping sprees all the time."

Steward laughed at the story. He loved Hearns even though they were not as close as they used to be. Hearns recently called Steward "The Godfather" of boxing.

Hearns was a skinny kid from the east side and he was the first beneficiary of Steward helping inner-city kids strike gold. Hilmer Kenty, Mickey Goodwin and others followed.

On Thursday, Hearns drove around Detroit distraught, upset and confused. He'd heard his mentor had died. But he wasn't sure. He was getting conflicting reports and Hearns was conflicted.

But he knew it would never be like it was in that hot, humid and musty basement on Detroit's west side. Hearns was the young boxing prodigy who would go on to win five world titles. Steward was the confident boxing trainer whose every word turned to gold.

Confirmation of Steward's death came later and it shook the boxing world.

Foremost a teacher

"Emanuel taught me about being a man," Hearns said. "He was not just about boxing. I can't just say he taught me about boxing. I learned a lot from him."

Boxing learned a lot from Steward. If you were developing and wanted to maximize your career, you got in contact with Steward. He went from a guy who hunted for talent to one whom the top names sought out. That included Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield.

"Emanuel was Kronk," said former state boxing commissioner Dr. Stuart Kirchenbaum, Steward's friend for more than 40 years. "They are one and the same."

Now the flame has gone out. A piece of boxing history is gone.

"He gave people a chance at a good life," Kirchenbaum said.

This summer Steward called me several times. He wanted to reconnect and was trying to promote boxing in Detroit. He knew boxing was losing ground to MMA fighting and he wanted to revive the sport. He planned fights. He wanted to build a new boxing center in Detroit.

"I know where the great boxing champions are," Steward said. "They are playing defensive end in the NFL. Those kids don't come to the gym anymore. They are playing football and are making it in that sport. If I could get some of those guys early, I could turn them into something."

No one knew

It's sad to lose an icon like Steward, but the saddest thing is Steward, one of the most personable people in sports, did not get to hear how much the boxing community and sports fans loved him. His family didn't let out how sick he was. He was suffering from cancer, but that never came out.

The family said he had stomach ailments and would be OK. If more had been known, people would have been able to reach out to him and shower him with well wishes, balloons, love and gratitude. Steward died with his cellphone filled with messages that he never got to hear.

I am willing to bet a number of the messages were simple.

"We love you, Manny. Get well."

The world does not hear about Thomas Hearns if not for Steward. Kronk is nothing more than an aging recreation center. He gave life to both and put Detroit on the map as the boxing capital of the world ahead of New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.

We got to be on top because of Steward. We treated young inner-city kids as if they were our own. Hearns and Goodwin were embraced the same as the Tigers, who are in the World Series.

It was a time when our sports were the Tigers, Lions, Red Wings, Pistons and Kronk Gym.

It was all because of Detroit's Godfather of boxing.

Source : Detroit News - http://www.detroitnews.com