Potrero Hill Boxing Club

Scratch the 1st rule of Fight Club, as I'm going to talk about Potrero Hill's very own fight club. No, it's not located in an abandoned warehouse on Pier 70, but rather within the cosy confines of World Gym at DeHaro and 16th.

This past saturday, the Potrero Hill Boxing Club hosted an exhibition of boxing, Muay Thai Kick boxing, and UFC style mixed martial arts fights. The motto of the club is 'We Don't Train Women, We Don't Train Men, We Train Fighters' - true to form, the exhibition matches included bouts from both male and female fighters.

Having never witnessed any type of live officiated fighting (with the exception of the WWF ... back in the days when Superfly Snuka and Andre the Giant reigned supreme), I gotta say, I was duly impressed. The fighters displayed a lot of physical stamina and heart. I was particularly struck by the mixed martial arts match-up between a 15 year old girl, and a guy a couple years her senior - she ended up winning through a leg lock submission to the poor guy's neck.

If you're itching to get in the ring, the Potrero Hill Boxing Club offers Boxing, Thai Boxing, and Juijitsu classes. Trainers include Cynthia Talmadge, who won 'Best Fighter Award' at the 2005 San Francisco Golden Gloves and Eliza Olson, a real-life Million Dollar Baby who is blazing the trail for professional female prize-fighters.

World Gym is located at 290 De Haro St, 415.703.9650