The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-12-01

NEW YORK, Nov. "a new cham
pion of the world has dawned upon
THE pugilistic arena, and scarcely a
ripple of excitement resulted. This is
the penalty of the Fitzsimmons-Corbet
fiasco.
Peter Maher. the new champion, will
not be champion for long, if the
knowledge of EXPERTS counts for amy
thing-and sometimes it doesn't. When
Corbett and Sullivan met, the experts
all figured out Sullivan to be certain
winner, and when Dempsey and Fitz-
simmons met, the same experts could
not see anyone but Dempsey as the
victor
It is certain that no champion ever
earned the title as easily as Maher did.
All the Others had to fight their way
UP from the bottom of the ladder ard
knock out a real champion before the
title was theirs; but Maher, by the
force of favorable circumstances,
stepped in at time when there was no
champion and by beating a second-rate
man wanted into the much-envied po-
sitiolN
Maher frankly acknowledges that his
present high state in the pugilistic
world is as much a surprise to him as
TO anyone else. Two months ago
championship honors were far from
his mind. He was content to get on
match with some good second-rater
and tight for all he was good for Tor
moderate purse. He has never been a
talking machine. simply because no
one would listen to him or print what
he said. 1t is doubtful now if he de-
Nelops into a windbag with such hor-
rible examples before him as Corbett
and Fitzsimmons
& 11Ilr,1l,aT of e,,oorr;,,rr ,o..
MAKERS claim to the championship. hut
these men assume that position simply
because Manner has not earned the IL
tie in the traditional way. Leaving all
sentiment aside and looking at the
matter purely from a logical stand
point, Maher is justly entitled to his
claim. Corbett had retired from the
ring and had officially announced the
fact. The two heavy-WaigEts next in
order were Steve O'Donnan and Peter
Maher. These two men met, and in
trlf1e over a minute of terrific slug
g1ng Peter Maher put O'Donnall to
sleep. Had Hitzsimmons been the op-
ponent of O'Donnell in that fight and
had knocked the latter out no one
would have questioned the claim OF
Fitzsimmons to the championship.
Is an Awful Hitter.
Now Fitzsimmons must meet and
best Maher before he can claim the til
tie. That FitzsimmonS can do this
thel5 is little doubt. Maher belongs
to the Sullivan school of fighters, and
against an adept of the new school like
FitZsimmons he stands little chance of
winning. Maher is capable of swing
ing blow that would Kill an OK. His
terrific hitting powers are lis only
hope. He is not a ring general or a
skilled defensive fighter. and cannot
be called scientific man judged from
the standard of ring science today.
Maher has this in his favor, however
he is a regular bulldog in tie ring
and fights like whirlwind. lie wastes
no time in preliminary tiddling or siz-
ing up an opponent His ole idea is to
get at his man and knock him out
in the quickest possible time. If he
can land one blow in the early part
of the fight he is likely to be returned
q winner
O'DOnne1Is Tribute.
Steve ODonnell, after the fight at
Maspeth, L. l., said that he did not
remember anything after the first blow
Maher landed on him. All he could
think of was that he must try to get
on his feet before the bell rang. The
second smash on his jaw did not cause
him any pain, but left him empty head
ed. He said that he crawled onto his
feet mechanically without knowing
what he was doing. After the third
blow he did not regain his senses I'M
til Maher had been declared champion