Imagine settling in to watch a boxing match that starts at 9 PM—and doesn't end until sunrise. That was reality for fight fans in the 1800s. Prize fights before 1900 regularly exceeded 100 rounds, with some stretching past 200. The longest on record? A staggering 276 rounds between Jack Jones and Patsy Tunney in 1825, lasting four and a half hours of continuous combat.

These marathon bouts weren't flukes. They were the natural result of rules that sound insane by today's standards.

Why Fights Went On Forever

Under the London Prize Ring Rules that governed 19th-century boxing, a round didn't have a time limit. Instead, a round ended only when someone hit the canvas. Once a fighter went down, he had 30 seconds to walk to his corner unaided. Then the next round began.

This meant skilled defensive fighters could keep rounds going for minutes at a time by simply staying upright. And fights themselves? They continued until one man literally couldn't stand anymore—no matter how long that took.

The result was fights that would horrify modern athletic commissions:

110 rounds — Andy Bowen vs. Jack Burke (1893): 7 hours, 19 minutes, ending only when both men were too exhausted to continue. Declared a no contest.
185 rounds — Claimed for a fight in Virginia City, Montana, lasting over 3 hours
99 rounds — Simon Byrne vs. James Burke (1833): 3 hours, 6 minutes of punishment
75 rounds — John L. Sullivan vs. Jake Kilrain (1889): The last major bare-knuckle championship in America

Bare Knuckles Made It Worse

Many pre-1900 fights were fought without gloves. Paradoxically, this made fights last longer, not shorter. Bare knuckles are more likely to cut skin and break hands, so fighters were more cautious. Gloved boxers can throw haymakers all night; bare-knuckle fighters had to pace themselves or risk breaking every bone in their hands.

The Bowen-Burke fight saw spectators literally falling asleep in their seats as the bout dragged past midnight. By round 100, both men were stumbling zombies. The referee finally called it off when neither could answer the bell—not because either had been knocked out, but because seven hours of fighting had reduced them to human wreckage.

The Rules Finally Changed

The Queensberry Rules, introduced in 1867, began the transformation to modern boxing. They established three-minute rounds with one-minute rest periods, mandated gloves, and banned wrestling. But adoption was gradual—bare-knuckle fights continued into the 1890s.

Today's championship fights max out at 12 rounds, 36 minutes of actual fighting. That's less time than one-tenth of the longest 19th-century bouts. Modern fighters are undoubtedly more skilled, faster, and hit harder. But could they survive 276 rounds? The 1825 version of toughness was a different beast entirely.

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