I'd expect Maher to beat him by KO in a long fight, though Corbett could outbox him in 6-10 rounds bout. What do you think? Corbett was very talented but he wasn't as proven as Maher.
Fitz beat Maher (all be it when he was green), just with the jab after injuring his right. Corbett was another level to Fitz in terms of jabbing and moving. I think Corbett beats him rather easily.
I read Maher vs Fitz report long time ago, didn't remember that he injured his right. Fitz was quite unusual fighter and I wouldn't have this loss against Maher. He beat a lot of good fighters and not only hitters. Probably none of them was as good jabber as Corbett but it shows that you need more than just a jab to beat him. Corbett was of course very good defensively so he could outbox him and not get hit by Peter.
I was referring to their first fight in case it was unclear. It pretty much outjabbed and outboxed Maher until he got frustrated and quit. I think Corbett was significantly better than Maher in truth.
Yeah, I got that was about their first fight. Even Fitz wasn't so good to KO someone as good as Maher with jab in the first round Significantly better may be an overstatement. Corbett doesn't have better resume and Maher was significantly more experienced. Of course, Corbett was very talented fighter who should be viewed as better than his record suggest, but I still don't sde him as much better than Maher. I may be biased though, as I see Maher as probably 4th best HW of his era (behind Fitz, Jackson and Jeffries, though Jeffries wasn't exactly from his era).
BTW, your contribution in my new thread would be highly appreciated: https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/peter-maher-appreciation-thread.633078/
Corbett and Maher were in different ballparks. A tier fighter vs B tier fighter. Corbett outclasses and outboxes Beyond Maher's freakish power, he could honestly be described as a gatekeeper
Just how? Maher up to 1900 had a record of 105-5-4 and all of his losses are against world class level fighters (2 against Fitz, 2 against Goddard, 1 against Jackson). He has wins over Choynski, Goddard, Slavin, O'Donnel, Godfrey, Smith, Bulter and Klondike. He was definitely one of the best fighters in the world in the whole 1890s decade. You probably rank him from his 1900s results when he was past his prime and washed up (again, he had over 100 fights until 1900). In 1900s he had almost as much losses and he had wins, but that wasn't real Maher. What did Corbett do exactly to be in entirely different tier? Win over Choynski? Peter also beat him. Win over washed up Sullivan?
Reread that, slowly. He lost to pretty much EVERY top contender he fought. When Maher was coming up his wins were against nobodies, except for Old Chocolate, who was past his best. He has a good win against Choynski but Choynski avenged it. He lost to Hart, O'Brien, Ruhlin, McCoy, Fitzsimmons x2 (whom Corbett did much better against), and Goddard. He fought Sharkey to a draw and a No Contest. That's probably the highlight of his career Gatekeeper, fringe contender.
Matt's probably the best person to ask since he wrote the book on him. I honestly don't think I have a ton to add without doing some more research. Probably didn't peak as high as Tom Sharkey but much better longevity. I think Ruhlin was better at his best too honestly. I think his best win was probably over Choynski. Goddard was also a good win. He was a top contender of the era but I wouldn't consider him one of the best ever, very dangerous but a bit too vulnerable, and I think he was a bit crude.
He lost to Hart, O'Brien and Ruhlin when he was old and had over 100 fights on his record. He started in 1880s and you blame him for losing in his 120s fights. That's unreasonable, he fought everyone at every point in his career. Almost all of his loses comes from 1900s when he was clearly past his best. Again, he was 105-5-4 before McCoy fight and he faced a lot of good fighters. That's not "fringe contender".
I think they are all on quite similar level, but Maher's level of activity and consistency put him clealry higher than them overall. For what it's worth, he drew with Sharkey and drew with Ruhlin twice (I don't consider either win as Ruhlin was very green in their first fight and Maher was clearly past his prime in their last one). I don't think that either proved their superiority over Maher in terms of peak. I don't know much about his style, other than he wasn't the most durable and that he had huge punch. I'd say he was definitely one of the best contenders, though again it depends on how you define "one of the best".
Yes, Fitz jabbed his head off in that fight so you would logically expect Corbett to do the same.But if Maher lands a big one-----
As well as win over Jim Daly, Jack Fallon, George Godfrey, Frank Craig, Joe Butler, Steve O'Donnell (three times), Frank Slavin, Joe Choynski, C.C Smith (twice), Joe Goddard, Ed Dunkhorst (twice), Joe Kennedy and draws with Jim Hall, Gus Ruhlin, Tom Sharkey and Joe McAuliffe. That's really good resume for fringe contender.
