San Francisco Athletic Club
The San Francisco Athletic Club was a boxing academy in San Francisco, California known as the main training center for young boxers in the San Francisco Bay Area.[1] The Club was opened in 1885 by Alex Greggains who had been a former middleweight boxing champion of California.[1][2][nb 1] Greggains was said to have formed the club because the California State Legislature had passed a law prohibiting boxing matches except before a licensed club.[2]
The venue held a twenty-foot boxing ring called "The Bear Garden".[2] Fighters who trained at the club included James J. Corbett, Jimmy Britt, Jack Dempsey, Joe Choynski, and brothers Abe Attell and Monte Attell.[1] Others who fought at the venue included Bob Fitzsimmons, James J. Jeffries, and Tom Sharkey.[2] On June 15, 1888, Australia's Peter Jackson sparred with a San Francisco deputy sheriff in an exhibition match before his American debut.[3]
The San Francisco Athletic Club, located in the neighborhood of what is now known as SoMa, was destroyed by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire.[1][2][nb 2]
References
- ^ a b c d e Somrack, F. Daniel (2005). Boxing in San Francisco. Images of America. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. pp. 7, 73. ISBN 9780738528861. Retrieved January 13, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g Barry, Richard (March 1913). "Abe Attell, The Ellusive Feather". Pearson's Magazine (New York: The Pearson Publishing Co.) 29 (3): 353–359. Retrieved January 13, 2013.
- ^ a b Petersen, Bob (2011). "Offensive Tour, 1888-1889". Peter Jackson: A Biography of the Australian Heavyweight Champion, 1860-1901. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 58. ISBN 9780786458813. Retrieved January 13, 2013.
