In a bout billed as a world bantamweight title match on January 30, 1911, Attell won a ten-round newspaper decision to retain his title against Phil McGovern, brother to champion Terry, at the Athletic Club in Brooklyn. In a close and brutal bout, McGovern sent Attell to the floor three times in the first round. The "New York Tribune" wrote that Attell traded punches with McGovern at three to one, and used his advantage in height and reach as well as a hard, straight punch that crossed inside to win their newspaper decision. Attell was down in the second as well from a swing to the jaw, though he rose quickly after his trip to the mat. McGovern sensed a quick victory, but Attell stood him off with straight lefts. McGovern's aggressiveness made the bout look like a contest, and his ability to take his time with his opponent and effectively use lefts to the face, won him the decision of the "New York Tribune". Newspapers were divided on who had won the bout, but the local papers, "The New York Times", and "Brooklyn Daily Eagle" favored Attell as the winner. The "Brooklyn Daily Eagle" wrote that Attell used stabbing lefts to counter McGovern's advances in the fourth and fifth. After the fifth, Attell's left to the face and right cross to the jaw dominated the bout, and took the steam from McGovern. In the ninth and tenth, McGovern staged an ineffective rally, and was stopped by Attell's counterpunches.