Even Steward’s personal style was quintessentially Detroit, with a no-nonsense look and hairstyle favored by working class African-American men of the 1950s and 1960s who rejected the offensive “conk” hairstyles of the era. Beyond race, Kronk also reflected the plight of Detroit: a crime-ridden city with few opportunities, where young people often had to search for non-traditional methods, such as athletics, to escape from poverty.
Initially made up entirely of African-American fighters (although in later years Steward’s stable of fighters expanded greatly, eventually becoming a multi-racial, multi-national stable), Kronk reflected the Detroit of the 1970s and 1980s, which had gone through a drastic demographic change racially in its recent past.
#Emanuel steward boxing record professional
Kronk already had a substantial reputation in the amateur boxing world, but the success of Hearns and others quickly thrust Kronk to the forefront of the professional boxing world. In a shockingly one-sided fight, Hearns defeated Cuevas in the second round, launching himself, Steward, and Kronk to the top of the boxing world. With a 28-0 record, Hearns earned a title shot against WBA welterweight champion Jose “Pipino” Cuevas, who had been champion for four years and had successfully defended his title eleven times, winning all but one defense by knockout. Hearns worked his way up the welterweight division for the first three years of his career, defeating nearly all his opponents by knockout, including Bruce Curry (who later held the WBC junior welterweight title), Saensak Muangsurin (previously a two-time WBC junior welterweight champion), and Angel Espada (a former WBA welterweight champion). Under Steward’s tutelage, Hearns learned to use his physical advantages (significantly greater than average height and reach for his weight) effectively, and learned to throw punches with greater power, eventually becoming a devastatingly powerful puncher for someone so thin. Beginning his career in 1977, Thomas Hearns had already had an impressive amateur career. However, it was Steward’s next champion who brought Steward and Kronk to the attention of the boxing world. Kenty had begun his career in Columbus, Ohio in 1977, but had relocated to Detroit in 1978 where he began training with Steward. Steward’s first major success as a trainer in professional boxing happened on March 2, 1980, when Hilmer Kenty became Steward’s first champion by defeating Ernesto España by a 9th round TKO to win the WBA lightweight title. After successfully training many amateur boxers, Steward made the transition to training professional boxers. In the 1970s, Kronk was a hotbed on amateur boxing. It was an old school boxing gym in every way, having opened in the early 1920s in a basement of a recreation center in Detroit and was the same type of hot, sweaty, grimy gym that inner city youths have learned to box in since the earliest days of boxing.
Although initially coming to prominence in the 1980s, the Kronk Gym was by no means a product of the ‘80s. Never losing his interest in boxing, Steward later got a part-time job at the Kronk Gym in 1971 as a boxing coach. Rather than attempting to pursue a career as a professional boxer, Steward instead got a job at the Detroit Edison power company to help support his family. Inspired by his hero, Floyd Patterson, Steward began a successful amateur career there fighting as a bantamweight, with a 94-3 record, culminating in winning the national Golden Gloves tournament at 18 years old in 1963, which he later described as the greatest sports moment of his life. In Detroit, Steward began training as a boxer at the recreation center on Brewster Street, the same gym where Joe Louis and Eddie Futch had trained. After Steward’s father’s life was cut short due to an extremely difficult life working as a coal miner, the Steward family moved to Detroit in the mid-1950s. Given his first boxing gloves at 8 years old, boxing immediately became Steward’s passion in life. He was also a friend, mentor, and sometimes father-figure to his boxers and always tried to look after their best interests both inside and outside the ring.Īlthough synonymous with Detroit boxing, Steward was born in West Virginia on July 7, 1944. A major figure in the boxing scene for more than 30 years, Emanuel Steward was one of the most successful boxing trainers of all-time and is universally considered to be among the all-time greats. Last month, the sports world lost one of the giants of boxing.
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