San Rafael: Boxing Mecca
by Laurie Thompson
Once upon a time, “Billy Shannon’s Villa” at San Rafael’s West End, was a saloon and training camp for veteran and burgeoning boxers. Billy Shannon himself was a former Pacific Coast amateur lightweight champion, who chose San Rafael as a mecca for boxers due to its mild climate and peaceful setting.
The January 5, 1905 Marin Journal reported that “Young Corbett” had recently arrived to Billy Shannon’s Villa to begin training for a future fight with Jimmy Britt:
Young Corbett ex-champion featherweight boxer of the world is now quartered at William Shannon’s near West End in this city. Whatever anyone may think about boxing and pugilists, their presence here boldly proclaims the fact that Marin County has the climate. They do not come here to fight or entertain their friends but they come to go through a course of training and put themselves into as good physical shape as possible.
They are men who have trained in all parts of the country and they know a good thing in the climate line when they see it. Lightweight champion of the world Joe Gans, who always trains at Shannon’s said some weeks ago… ‘This is the healthiest place that I ever saw. It is now winter but there is the grass, sunshine and flowers. The San Francisco smoke and fog never reach you. A few hours after a heavy rain the roads are dry and a fellow can jog along them and never know that he is training. That is why I always train here….
Originally published at https://annetkent.kontribune.com.
