If a great puncher in Saddler managed to beat Pep, would another Greta puncher in terrible Terry have been able to?
This thread definitely deserves to garner more interest than it has. If is a clash of two great featherweights, whose styles are about as different as you can get. We must start with the observation that Pep is a known quantity, while McGovern requires a bit more interpretation. We can see Pep's brilliance in all its glory. McGovern was an absolute force of nature, who peaked early, and burned out quickly. McGovern beat every style of fighter imaginable. He destroyed clever boxers, and sometimes even outpointed them. Having said that, he was probably more beatable at featherweight, then he was at bantamweight. Make of all this what you will.
January 1900 and McGovern is waiting for that invisible chain to drop, he'd get to Willie. For about an 8 month spell, McGovern would be favoured in my mind. The rest of the time, Willie would get him, like Dixon and Erne and maybe even Forbes would have.