I was reading about Danny Needham vs Patsy Kerrigan, and I got wondering about the progression for longest MoQ boxing matches, obviously these records have been unreachbale now for over a century, but I still think the progression is interesting This is just provisional, without looking into the fights much to verify the specific lengths (which I'll do once I have a decent list). Obviously it'd get silly going back to the earliest recorded ones, there's no clear line and it's totally arbitrary, but I want to start with significantly long ones. I edited in to update ones mentioned below 1884-04-10 William Sherrif Vs John Welsh 73 round or 5h 6min 1887-11-16 Jack McAuliffle Vs Jem Carney 74 rounds or about 5h 1889-02-28 Kid Lavigne VS George Siddons 77 rounds 1889-03-31 Ike Weir Vs Frank Murphy 80 rounds 5h 20min 1890-02-27 Danny Needham Vs Patsy Kerrigan 100 rounds or 6h 42m 1893-04-06 Andy Bowen Vs Jack burke 110 rounds or 7h 20min (also claimed 109 rounds or 7h 16min) Others mentioned in this thread 1882 exact date unknown Denver Ed Smith vs Jack Roach 73 rounds 1887-07-20 Ike Weir Vs Jack Havlin 61 rounds 1887 Ed Kelly Vs Dan Dally Any I missed?
Denver Ed Smith vs Jack Roach is listed as 73 rounds on boxrec in 1882, but exact date unknown, which adds a big question mark, will look for a report.
Define significantly long ones. The earliest one is supposed to be between Bill Taylor and Tom Longer on Jan 10, 1881, Taylor winning in the 52nd round and the Sporting Life reported that Queensberry rules were used, but the rounds description and the time occupied don't confirm that statement, 1 hour 33 minutes would be 31 three-minute rounds without breaks. Next one would be between Larry Foley and William Miller on May 28, 1883, resulting in a 40-round draw. Then a 73 or 76 round draw between William Sheriff and John Welsh on April 10, 1884, just over 5 hours long. And many more after that.
23 Mar 1886 Tommy Warren defeated Tommy Barnes in the 45th round, a report at the time calls it the longest on record
Ed Kelly Vs Dan Daly was also called the longest on record at the time April 26 1887 it ended after 63 rounds
1879 Aug 19 Mike Donovan Vs William McClellan was 3 hours 45min and and 94 rounds. Gloved, but obviously not MoQ. Interesting one, but I probably wouldn't count it.
Id be curious to know which of these had three minute rounds etc. Often times for these fights held during the transition between LPR and MoQ rules rounds are listed but then you find out that these guys fought 45 rounds or whatever but the fight lasted an hour because of the short rounds due to knockdowns, falls, etc. Thats kind of comparing apples and oranges to a fight like Gans-Nelson that went 42 3 minute rounds in the desert sun.
2min rounds seem to have been fairly common in the UK around the same time too. The reports often mention the lengths in time, so I'll add that in when I can find it
Listing only fights of 50 and more rounds: January or February 1888, at Newmarket, England, Monk lost to Donovan after 63 rounds, lasting 3h 25m, MoQ rules 1889-01-09 George Mulholland D87 Bill Mahan, San Francisco, CA, about 6 hours 1889-03-16 (or rather March 17, as the first round was started after midnight) Billy Mahan D63 Jack Sullivan, Sacramento, CA, over 4 hours 1889-04-25 Kid Lavigne D55 George Siddons, near Grand Rapids, MI, over 4 or 5 hours depending on source 1889-10-10 Tommy Ryan D57 or NC57 Jimmy Murphy, Grand Rapids, MI, about 4 hours 1889-09-24 Frank Murphy NC68 Tommy Warren, San Francisco, CA, about 4 1/2 hours 1889-09-26 Joe Soto W-KO57 Tommy Danforth, Los Angeles, CA, MoQ rules 1889-11-21 Tommy White NC53 or NC54 Tommy Morgan, near Hammond, IN, MoQ rules 1889-12-12 Young Griffo D70 Young Pluto, Melbourne, VIC, MoQ rules 1890-05-23 Joe Ellingsworth W-KO50 or W-KO51 Denny Kelliher, San Francisco, CA 1890-06-03 Fred Bogan NC73 Dal Hawkins, San Francisco, CA 1890-12-06 Tommy White D90 or D91 Dan E. Daly, Omaha, NE 1891-02-17 Tommy Ryan W-TKO76 Danny Needham, Minneapolis, MN 1891-08-28 Jim Sullivan L-KO53 Australian Harry Daly, San Francisco, CA 1891-11-27 Martin Flaherty D60 Abe Kid Lloyd, Streator, IL 1892-01-26 Bill Page W-KO55 Phil Duncan, San Francisco, CA 1892-01-28 Jack McAuley W-TKO55 Dan Connors, Los Angeles, CA 1892-03-17 Deacon Jones NC69 Harry Dally, San Francisco, CA 1892-03-31 John Worley D Jack Davis, Burlington, IA, 4h 15min or over 5 hours, depending on wire 1892-04-14 Billy Frazier D83 Jack Favley, Providence, RI, 5 1/2 hours 1892-05-09 Jerry Sullivan D56 P. McAllister, Shreveport, LA, over 4 hours 1892-06-29 Joe Drew W-DQ63 Farris Parks, Little Rock, AK, MoQ rules 1892-07-31 Jack Davis D51 Mickey Flynn, near Memphis, TN, but within AK state 1892-08-30 Alec Greggains D50 Martin Costello, San Francisco, CA 1892-09-29 George Siddons D56 Solly Smith, San Francisco, CA 1892-11-28 Alec Greggains D80 Martin Costello, Brooklyn, NY 1892-12-08 Mike Haugh W-TKO50 Tommy Creed, Buffalo, NY 1892-12-23 Joe Drew D60 Billy Poole, Little Rock, AK 1893-02-05 Harry Sharpe W-TKO77 Frank Crosby, near East St. Louis, IL 1893-02-27 Tommy Cox D50 James Boyce, Washburne, IL 1893-03-02 Dan Daly D82 Billy O'Donnell, Rowena, IA 1893-03-07 Ed Corcoran D50 Joe Oates, Elizabeth, NJ, 3 1/2 hours 1893-05-31 Andy Bowen W-RTD84 Jack Everhardt, New Orleans, LA 1893-07-03 Jim Holloway D73 Barney Malone, Johannesburg, South Africa 1894-08-21 Solomon English D56 John Ball, Baltimore, MD 1923-01-05 Merci Montes W-KO51 Jimmy Dundee, El Toreo, Mexico City, Mexico
There are likely more than what I listed, but those are the ones I stumbled upon and cared to add to the list.
Thanks, another you could add is. 1890-04-10 Abe Cougle Vs James Dohoney fought a 53 round draw Focusing on the record progression that puts us at 1884-04-10 William Sherrif Vs John Welsh 73 round or 5h 6min 1887-11-16 Jack McAuliffle Vs Jem Carney 74 rounds or about 5h 1889-01-09 George Mulholland D87 Bill Mahan 1890-02-27 Danny Needham Vs Patsy Kerrigan 100 rounds or 6h 42m 1893-04-06 Andy Bowen Vs Jack burke 110 rounds or 7h 20min (also claimed 109 rounds or 7h 16min)