1. Boxing: Andy Bowen vs. Jack Burke
Total Time: 7 hours, 19 minutes
11 hours of tennis is certainly grueling, but it’s got nothing on 7-plus hours of the pure physical punishment that is boxing. The longest boxing match on record took place in New Orleans on April 6, 1893. Andy Bowen and Jack Burke stepped into the ring in the hopes of claiming the lightweight title, which had been left open thanks to the retirement of the previous champ, Jack McAuliffe. At the time, boxing was still enough of an underground sport that there was no such thing as a judge’s decision—one fighter had to be knocked out or “throw in the towel” before the contest could be considered over.
This rule set the stage for the most brutal boxing match of all time. Burke and Bowen clashed, and in what was considered to be a fairly even fight, proceeded to beat up on one another for 110 three-minute rounds. By the time the bell sounded for the 111
th, over 7 hours had passed and both men were so punch drunk that they couldn’t even step out of their corners. Seeing that things were getting out of hand, the referee finally declared the bout a no contest. By that point, the epic match had already taken a severe toll on the two fighters. Burke had broken every bone in both of his hands, and proceeded to go into semiretirement. Bowen, meanwhile, was ****ed in the ring in his very next fight.