1893 In memory of the longest fight in the history of boxing: 110 rounds, fought over 7 hours and 19 minutes
Talk about a grueling fight. With a capital E. And not just for the two fighters but for the referee, the judges and the audience. Some fight fans, as well as avid readers of the Guinness Book of World Records, may be familiar with the names Andy Bowen and Jack Burke, just as they may be familiar with the date April 6, 1893.
Because it was on this day, more than 130 years ago, that Burke and Bowen engaged in what is listed as the longest recorded glove fight in boxing history. The two men met in Bowen’s hometown of New Orleans, and the fight began at 9:15 that night, with legal violence lasting, unimaginably, until 4:34 the next morning. None of those who entered the Olympic Club arena would ever leave the same.
The two boxers, fighting for the Southern lightweight title and a whopping purse of $2,500 at the time, were in for a hell unlike any modern boxer. Reports vary (and no wonder), but the fight is said to have been a riveting affair for a while. For a long time, in fact. For about 30 rounds (!), the fight on Royal Street was a riveting affair. Both men went down, both men went down, while Texan Burke opened a gash above one of Bowen's eyes. Bowen, the older man by a year at 25, was the more experienced boxer, and of course, he was boxing on home turf.
The large crowd, which had paid an admission fee of $1 or $3, and numbered a record 11,000, enjoyed the spectacle (according to some accounts, the actual number is again difficult to determine). For a while.
By the 30th round, as the pace of the fight inevitably slowed, the fans grew impatient. Soon, the only three people interested in the fight seemed to be the two warriors and the referee. Some fans had fallen asleep, the historical significance of the boxing match having been lost sight of for most in attendance.
But the fight was brutal in other ways, not just because it was far too long, ridiculously long, inhumane. Burke was nearly knocked out in the 48th round (!), while also suffering the disgusting pain of two forearms that were supposedly doubled in size. Additionally, both of Burke's hands were broken. According to reports, a piece of bone was protruding from Burke's hand. Yet he kept fighting, refusing to do what many members of the paying audience had done and quit.
At this point Bowen could have given up, the fight being offered to him as a draw, the purse being split in half. But Bowen refused and the fight continued. Burke's hands were said to have been injected with cocaine at this point.
Burke, a smart boxer who must have had nothing but an incredible fighter's heart and an insane pain tolerance, hesitated and feinted and slipped punches as he sought to run the clock seemingly to infinity. Bowen failed to land a significant blow. The fight went on and on. By round 93 (!), the referee was exhausted and had to be replaced. Still, the two fighters kept fighting.
In round 105—yes, round 105—Bowen went down after missing a punch, the momentum sending him crashing into his opponent’s elbow, jaw first. The fighter, battered and broken, went down. But only to get back up! Fortunately, the fight was finally stopped after the 110th round ended. Neither man had anything left to fight with, and the officials finally did what they should have done a long time ago, long ago, and that was to stop the fight.
And in the end, who won?
Neither man did, the fight ended in a draw. At dawn, after the wildest nights of fighting ever, both incredibly tired fighters were taken home, Burke in much worse physical condition than Bowen. In fact, Bowen had enough strength to scream that he had been robbed. Bowen was certainly much less banged up than Burke.
Reports indicate that Burke suffered the following problems: two broken hands, swollen forearms, a swollen stomach, swollen eyes and ears, and severe welts on his side and back. Burke was bedridden for weeks after the fight, while Bowen surprisingly had no marks other than the cut above his eye that he had suffered many hours before.
Of course, no fight should have lasted as long as this one and the lesson was learned. But the two men continued to fight.
Bowen died tragically in 1894, after hitting his head on an uncovered floor in the 18th round of another war. Burke died of a heart attack in 1913.
Together, these two incredibly courageous fighters occupy a unique, if not untouchable, place in boxing history.
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