Joe Thomas Fought more rounds with Stanley Ketchel than anyone else (73). He extended Ketchel to the 32nd round in their second fight and knocked him down (once or several times). His fights with Ketchel seemed to have taken a lot out of him because he retired with a 14-14 record, but had only one loss leading up to his first bout with Stanley. After the Ketchel fights he went 16 rounds with Billy Papke before getting stopped, took Frank Klaus a six-round distance and beat Terry Kellar.
What about Dave Shade? Ranked in the top five at either welterweight or middleweight from 1921-1934. Arguably deserved the nod over Jack Britton in a title fight that ended in a draw. Beat the snot out of Jimmy Slatterey.
McCarthy lived in Sidney, Ohio (my home town) for a time, and supposedly had his first amateur match there on the court house square. When he died, he was burried in nearby Piqua, Ohio @ the Forest Lawn Cemetary.
I think that the title of most forgotten top challenger could very, very easily go to Bill Farnan. Bill Farnan was the best boxer in Australia during his prime, a time when Australia as a whole probably had as strong or stronger scene than the US or Britain. When he won the title he defended it with a 3rd round KO Victory over Peter Jackson. Yet, when people talk about John L Sullivan, they nearly always refer to his ducking of Peter Jackson. I have never ever seen anyone even mention Bill Farnan as a potential challenger to John L Sullivan nowadays. If we did a survey on here, i seriously doubt whether anyone would include him in their top 100, 200 or even 1000 heavyweights that ever lived.
:good Best callout so far, i had forgot that he didnt win a world title, One of the best to never hold a belt:-(
I mentioned YAqui earlier, and he is not forgoten!!! Yaqui is known as one of the best fighters to never win a title.