Of course, it's early in his career but it's hard to see any battle scars. Maher is an amateur boxer and training for his first Golden Gloves competition. The Irish Echo recently caught up with him before Friday Night Fights, a weekly boxing event here in the city.

Although Maher is a trained athlete who came up through the minor hurling and football leagues in his native Waterford, it took a chance meeting at a gym to get him started on his boxing career.

"I'd always had an interest in boxing and my father was a fan back home and watched it on the telly, but when I came over to the states on a sports scholarship, I started taking boxing classes at a gym just to keep fit," he said.

"When Mickey Toohill, my trainer, saw me, he said that I had a natural talent so I started training with him twice a week and twice a week on my own and it just progressed from there."

Duking it out in the cut-throat real estate world where Maher was a broker was, perhaps, a perfect entreé into the arena of amateur boxing, but he said it got to the point where he was training so hard (anywhere from three to four hours a day) that he needed to get a night job so he could continue his schedule.

"I bartend now at Mo Pitkins downtown so my days are free," he said.

Fighting form

What does a typical training day consist of for a boxer? Does he start cracking and drinking seven raw eggs, á lá Rocky?

"No, I eat a light breakfast, get to the gym two hours later, and warm up with shadow boxing," Maher said. "Then I follow up with three rounds of heavy bags, three rounds of lighter bags, 10 to 20 rounds with pads about three minutes each and maybe some sparring. I also do the speed bag. Every day I do abdominal work and one day a week I run and do light weights as well."

The Golden Gloves can be a lot of work for no monetary payoff. Why does Maher push so hard?

"Well I've always enjoyed sports, and soccer and hurling were both team sports. With boxing, it's just me and my trainer basically. You have to push yourself -- it's up to you to train as hard as you like. I'm not planning at this stage to turn pro but my dream is to win the Golden Gloves competition. As an amateur who took up the sport (just a year-and-a-half ago], it would be a big coup. The New York competition above all, just because of the amount of competitors would be even more prestigious to win. I love the challenge."

Maher, who fights in the light middleweight category (152 lbs.), says it's anyone's guess who'll he be drawn against in the Golden Gloves, which is coming up in February.

"You don't know who you're going to get, your opponent is picked out of a hat. The number of entrants in the competition will determine how many fights you will have to go through to get to the final."

According to Maher, the competition in his weight category is tough.

"The heavyweight section, for example, doesn't have as many entrants; three fights and they're in the final, I might have six or more."

When asked whether he was worried about getting hurt, and how he prepared for that psychologically, Maher offered: "You think about your strategy; pain is not a factor. You keep your mind on what you're doing and how you can win the fight, your next move. Yes, you're going to get hit along the way; you get punched in the nose, your eyes water up. But the main thing is not to get angry, to stay focused and take the shot. The adrenaline kicks in."

So far, Maher hasn't sustained any dents. The broken noses were as a result of soccer and hurling, and not boxing. But he has inflicted damage on an opponent.

"Everyone recognizes that this is not a sport that you can dance around in. People can get hurt. When you're sparring, typically you're sparring at about 60 percent, but sometimes you can get caught up in the fight and throw a punch that can do some damage."

Maher has a lot of support from his friends -- a contingent of supporters who come out to see him fight. His family was a little more cautious. They knew how dedicated he was when it came to his love of sports but it's a big leap from hurling to getting into the ring with a well-matched opponent.

"It took a while but my parents came around. But it's hard when they haven't seen me fight. It would be great if they could come over".

His girlfriend Christy also lends her support. Although initially skeptical, once she saw him in action, she was reassured that this was one man who could take care of himself.

Maher watches his diet, shunning white bread and beer, especially coming up to a fight. But working out so intensely every day is the main way that he keeps at his fighting weight.

"I eat little and often coming up to a fight, and drink lots of lemon water."

Right now, Maher is focused exclusively on his boxing career but it shouldn't come as a surprise that he may think auditioning to pursue acting down the line.

"I've been told I need to get some headshots and have been reading a few scripts and there is a possibility of some modeling in the future but for now boxing is where my head is. I'm hard to hit and I hit hard!"

With this young boxer's eye firmly on the prize, he may prove hard to miss.

The Golden Gloves is largest, oldest and most prestigious amateur boxing competition in the U.S., and is sponsored and controlled by the Golden Gloves Association of America. First sponsored by the Chicago Tribune in 1926, the tournaments were held between Chicago and New York from 1927. Later more cities began to be involved, developing into a national competition. New York finals will be held at Madison Square Garden on April 6 and 7.

The winner receives a solid gold, diamond-studded boxing glove. There are two divisions, open and novice class and the number of rounds fought depend on which class the fighter is in; typically three-minute rounds for open and two minute for novice. The Golden Gloves now has a special tournament for women fighters.

Many famous professional boxers have participated and been winners in the National Golden Gloves competition including Mohamed Ali, Oscar de la Hoya and Evander Holyfield. New York winners include Zab Judah, Riddick Bowe and ear-chomper Mike Tyson. Lord of the Dance himself, Michael Flatley, was also a winner in Chicago.

For more information on boxing tournaments in NYC, go to www.fridaynightfightsnyc.com