What Was The Longest Bare Knuckle Fight In History. Bare knuckle bouts were brutal and could last for hours. Some rounds lasted many minutes others only a second or two.
The time length of the fight was the important thing because under london prize ring rules a round ended when a man fell or was knocked or thrown to the ground. James kelly and jonathan smith fought for six hours and fifteen minutes before the match was ended in a draw. The record for the longest bare knuckle fight is listed as 6 hours and 15 minutes for a match between irishman james kelly and an english soldier named jonathan smith fought near fiery creek victoria australia on december 3 1855 when smith gave in after 17 rounds with 400 pounds of prize money going to kelly.
The bare knuckle fighter jem mace is listed as having the longest professional career of any fighter in history.
Fighters could become famous and some peculiarly picked up a political following. On april 6 1893 andy bowen and jack burke fought the longest gloved boxing match in history at the olympic club in new orleans louisiana. It was also one of the first sporting events in the united states to receive national press coverage. The prize was the lightweight championship of the south and a purse of 2 500.
