CATCHING UP WITH KRONK
“We’re recreating the classic Detroit pipeline,” said Lepak. “With the same blueprint Emanuel and Bill Kozerski (who promoted the ‘Fight Night at the Palace’ series in Detroit during the 1980s) taught me. We’ll be guiding these kids from the amateurs to the pros, placing them on regular cards the way KRONK talent came up through Cobo Arena, Joe Louis Arena and The Palace.” Bhatti added, “We’re building a full- service, broadcaster-agnostic platform that delivers exclusive narrative and visuals you won’t see anywhere else. We’ll turn our amateurs pro right here in town while remaining open to signing established pros elsewhere and providing full advisory support.” While the new gym in downtown Detroit will serve as the headquarters of the developing KRONK boxing team, it also operates as a commercial gym for the community. There are memberships available for dedicated boxers, as well as regular people simply looking for a place to break a sweat during the week. “We are driving revenue through licensing, merchandising and sponsorships as well,” said Bhatti. “We have different category sponsorships with wall-space branding in the gym, with digital placement and sponsor features in our social media content. There is also program underwriting for our youth programs, our equipment and amateur events. And, of course, our KRONK apparel. Whether it’s direct- to-consumer sales or wholesale to gyms and retailers, we will continue to drive revenue from our popular KRONK gear that fight fans around the world love.” Social media growth and monetization are a key focus for KRONK’s new management team as well. A new YouTube channel was created in 2024, featuring exclusive training and sparring content from the original gym, as well as interviews with current trainers, fighters and executives. “We have a treasure trove of old content to share,” said Lepak. “In the coming months and years, we will be uploading more and more of it, along with videos of all our new guys all over
legitimate business infrastructure with diverse revenue streams. “You’ve got to have that bedrock before anything else,” added Lepak, now the company’s COO. “It’s about building something that will still be thriving decades from now. Something that will always be a part of the community.” Bhatti and Lepak told The Ring how they plan to build KRONK into a truly modern sports franchise while continuing to honor Steward’s legacy of mentorship, community service and building champions. “The foremost focus is, of course, our boxing team,” said Bhatti. “[We’ve started] recruiting young kids from the neighborhood who in most cases never even boxed before. Right now, we have over two dozen registered amateurs. There are over 100 kids training at the gym, all vying for a position on our youth amateur boxing team. The team captain is [20-year-old] William Myhre, who began training at KRONK at just 8 years old. He competes in the welterweight elite division and serves as a mentor to his younger teammates. “We will be doing regular amateur shows at the KRONK Gym. Detroit will know these kids well before they turn pro.” Lepak added, “All our trainers come out of 5555 McGraw, led by former champ and KRONK head trainer Johnathon Banks, who was hand- picked by Emanuel Steward to take over training Wladimir Klitschko after he passed. There is also Theo ‘Third’ Chambers, a lifelong KRONK guy who trains Jake Paul, and KRONK’s first Detroit-born world champ, Milton McCrory.” The amateur program is currently run by former KRONK boxers James Lester Jr., Tommy Yousif, Faiz Mona and Octavio Lara. Things are lining up on the professional boxing side as well. Lepak hinted at future recurring pro cards in the area, after recent conversations with Bobby Hitz and Detroit-based trainer and manager Jimmy Mallo.
social media. Our YouTube will be unique from any other boxing channel out there.” Bhatti and Lepak also envision KRONK public training events, exhibitions, meet-and-greets, seminars and pop-ups at the new gym and other parts of downtown Detroit in the coming years. These events will include VIP experiences, sponsor hospitality, donor nights and premium access packages. There are also plans in the works for licensing and franchising of KRONK gyms in other markets throughout the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. These various revenue streams will not only keep the lights on in the gym, but help recruit, develop and manage untapped boxing talent from Detroit and beyond. Is there a future world champion growing up in Corktown (Detroit’s oldest neighborhood) right now, waiting to be discovered? Speaking from experience, Lepak believes so. “I grew up in this city, I experienced some of those glory years at KRONK,” he told The Ring. “It was a different time and place. But I know for a fact that a new generation is out there, and this ownership team wants to bring them up wearing the iconic KRONK gold trunks in the ring. We also want to provide a new KRONK experience outside the ring from here and beyond.” In a cynic’s eyes, it may seem improbable for KRONK to ever return to its former glory, but Detroiters know better. Have you seen downtown lately? Take a walk down Woodward Avenue; there are construction cranes everywhere. Detroit is a place where people from humble beginnings dare to dream big. Detroit is Henry Ford, it’s Berry Gordy, it’s Emanuel Steward. Detroit is KRONK, and KRONK is here to stay. Michael Montero is a boxing writer, commentator, podcaster and has fought as an amateur and professional heavyweight. He can be found on social media @MonteroOnBoxing.
which produced heavyweight icon Joe Louis. Other greats, like Sugar Ray Robinson and Eddie Futch, called the gym home as well. And, as fate would have it, a young Emanuel Steward also trained and fought there as an amateur, going on to win the 1963 National Golden Gloves bantamweight championship. It was the perfect location for Detroit’s fifth franchise to return home. The Brewster-Wheeler redevelopment is emblematic of both the rich history of the Motor City and the modern revitalization taking place in Detroit’s core. So now that KRONK is back in business, what’s next? And how do we know this latest relaunch will succeed where other recent attempts fell short? “We are in this for the long haul,” now-CEO Bhatti told The Ring. “KRONK will always pay homage to the legacy of Emanuel Steward and all the great champions he produced. The best way to do that is for us to not only build a roster of up-and- coming fighters, but to build a viable, sustainable business.” In an era where many promotions employ a “get paid today, worry about tomorrow later” mentality, Bhatti and his team are focused on developing a
Thomas Hearns was and remains the KRONK gym’s greatest champion.
locations around Metro Detroit with different leadership groups. In 2017, after standing vacant for more than a decade, the original location was destroyed in a suspicious fire deemed arson by authorities. The remains of the structure were demolished by the city a year later. In 2020, the most recent location inside a church on the west side of town was forced to close after sustaining major flood damage. The gym then moved to nearby Westland, a town about 20 miles west of Detroit, and focused solely on maintaining the ESCOT (Emanuel Steward Champions of Tomorrow) youth development program. The reality was, by the early 2020s, KRONK Boxing was on life support. There were still professional boxers around the world representing the red and gold, but there was no official home for them in the Motor City. It felt like KRONK was on the canvas for good. But everything changed in the summer of 2024 when former junior middleweight world titlist Bronco McKart introduced members of the Detroit business community to longtime KRONK personnel. Through McKart, a local entrepreneur named Paul Bhatti connected with John Lepak, a Detroit
native who goes back to the original gym, where he worked directly with Steward for decades. Bhatti led a team of investors who purchased the KRONK brand and immediately got to work setting up a viable business structure, something the brand had desperately lacked in years past. Lepak brought the unique boxing industry experience and connections – vital ingredients that modern platforms often overlook. Later that year, KRONK signed an advisory contract with Canadian amateur standout Hunter Lee. It was their first “new KRONK” signing. Lee is promoted by Chicago-based Hitz Boxing, headed up by former heavyweight Bobby Hitz. The junior middleweight prospect, from nearby Windsor, Ontario, is now 5-0 (2 knockouts) in the paid ranks. In December 2025, KRONK Gym officially reopened at the historic Brewster‑Wheeler Recreation Center in downtown Detroit. The newly renovated site dates to the 1920s and included the famed Brewster Gym,
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