The Boxing Match That Lasted 111 Rounds

August 30, 2024

September 7, 1892 — American world heavyweight boxing champion John L. Sullivan lost his title on this day – and it was mainly the fault of an English aristocrat.

Sullivan was a bare-knuckle fighter who had learned to scrap in the bars of Boston where he would declare that he “could lick any man in the house.” He became known as the “Boston Strong Boy”.

Then in 1882, he took on Paddy Ryan, the American world heavyweight champion, in Mississippi City. It was a bare-knuckle contest which Sullivan won by a ninth-round knockout, starting his ten-year reign as champion.

Seven years later, Sullivan met Jake Kilrain at Richburg, Mississippi, for another bare-knuckle heavyweight title bout. After Sullivan actually vomited in the 44th round he looked like a certain loser but the champion recovered, overcame his opponent and Kilrain's manager threw in the towel after the 75th round.

In England, meanwhile, John Douglas, the 9th Marquess of Queensberry – a patron of sport and a noted boxing enthusiast – was busy overseeing a set of twelve rules for boxing matches. They became known universally as the Queensberry Rules and would govern the sport worldwide.

One of the rules declared that boxers had to wear padded gloves and that bare-knuckle fighting was out. Queensberry also put time limits on a match. Until then, a fight could go on for an unlimited time and would end only when one of the boxers was knocked out or could not physically continue to fight.

Rounds were of an indefinite length, but, when a boxer was hit and put at least one knee to the mat the round was ended, and the boxer had a fixed time to be ready for the next round.

The longest bare-knuckle fight in history took place in Australia between Irishman James Kelly and Jonathan Smith from England. Held in 1849, the fight lasted 111 rounds and lasted almost seven hours!

Mercifully, the Queensberry Rules dictated that a round could last no longer than three minutes and there must be a one-minute break between rounds. But a bout could still go on for up to 45 rounds and last up to two hours and fifteen minutes.

In the US this limit was eventually cut to 20 rounds, then 15. In the 1980s all championship matches had a maximum of 12 rounds, which is where it stands today.

Back in 1892, Sullivan fought under the Queensberry Rules for the first time, being reluctantly forced to abandon bare-knuckle fighting and wear five-ounce gloves. His opponent, James J. Corbett, was young, agile and known for his skill in the ring.

A crowd of over 10,000 men – and a few women – jammed the arena in New Orleans to watch the fight. And they witnessed the end of a champion’s reign. The powerful Sullivan, who enjoyed drinking and enjoyed an indulgent lifestyle, was out of condition, outboxed – and knocked out by the weaving and dodging Corbett in the 21st round.

Sullivan never fought again. He retired to a Massachusetts farm, having frittered away most of the $1 million that he had earned in his career. He died from heart disease on February 2, 1918, aged 59.

* It was not only in the boxing ring that the Marquess of Queensberry relished a fight. He famously took on the author and playwright Oscar Wilde in the law courts, accusing the writer of illegal homosexual practices. Wilde lost the case, his reputation, his career, his home, his wealth and – after two years of hard labour behind bars – ultimately his life. A broken man, he died within three years of his release from prison.

Published: September 1, 2023
Updated: September 4, 2023