Have Battling Nelson and Joe Gans ever fought each other?

Yes. Battling Nelson and Joe Gans have met 3 times and Battling Nelson leads the series 2-1.

Who has the better record, Nelson or Gans?

Battling Nelson is 69-33-27 and Joe Gans is 160-12-21. Joe Gans has the higher win percentage.

Who has more knockouts, Nelson or Gans?

Battling Nelson has 40 knockout wins and Joe Gans has 0. Battling Nelson has more.

Do Nelson and Gans have any common opponents?

Battling Nelson and Joe Gans share 5 common opponents: Joe Burke, Rudy Unholz and Jimmy Britt (and 2 others). Joe Gans fared better against 2 of them.

How much fight data does Kill The Body have on Nelson and Gans?

This comparison is drawn from 134 bouts tracked for Battling Nelson and 194 bouts tracked for Joe Gans. Method and activity splits reflect those bouts only.

Battling Nelson vs Joe Gans — Records, Stats & Common Opponents

🇺🇸UNITED STATES

Joe Gans

Battling Nelson (69-33-27) and Joe Gans (160-12-21) are compared on record, finishing method, activity, and common opponents on Kill The Body. The two have met 3 times. They share 5 common opponents.

Nelson

Wins40 KO · 58%

Losses

Draws134 tracked bouts

Gans

160

Wins

Losses

Draws194 tracked bouts

Head to Head

Nelson leads 2–1

Battling Nelson and Joe Gans have met 3 times; Nelson leads 2–1.
Met	1906Sep 3	1908Jul 4	1908Sep 9	Series
Battling NelsonFighter A	LLost	WWon	WWon	2–1W–L
Joe GansFighter B	WWon	LLost	LLost	1–2W–L
Result	DQGans vs Nelson	KOR17Gans vs Nelson	KOR21Gans vs Nelson	3Meetings

The Numbers

Nelson 3 · Gans 4 of 7 measurable rows

NelsonEdge = longer wingGans

Record: 69-33-27160-12-21 (edge)
Win %0–100%: 64%
88.3% (edge)
Wins by knockoutmax 40: 40 (edge)
0
KO rate0–100%: 57.97% (edge)
0%
Stoppage rate (tracked wins)^†0–100%: 58%
63% (edge)
Times stopped^†max 5: 3 (edge)
5
Title reignslevelmax 0: 0
0
Bouts per year^‡max 12.7: 6.5
12.7 (edge)
Bouts trackedcoveragemax 194: 134
194

† Counted from bouts Kill The Body has ingested, not a career total. · ‡ Across each fighter's tracked career span. · Bars are scaled per row — percentages on 0–100, counts against the larger of the two. Every figure is also printed as text.

Tale of the Tape

Heightnot held: Battling Nelson: No height on file; Joe Gans: 5′7″
Reachnot held: Battling Nelson: No reach on file; Joe Gans: 71″
Agenot comparable: Battling Nelson: Died aged 71; Joe Gans: Died aged 35
Stance: Battling Nelson: Orthodox; Joe Gans: Orthodox

Battling Nelson left, Joe Gans right, as everywhere on this page. Age is stated, not scored — neither age nor stance carries an edge.

How They Win

Tracked bouts only

Battling Nelson69 wins · from 134 tracked bouts

40 by KO/TKO 58%18 on the cards 26%11 by another method or unrecorded 16%

Joe Gans160 wins · from 194 tracked bouts

101 by KO/TKO 63%39 on the cards 24%20 by another method or unrecorded 13%

One square per tracked win. Counted from the bouts Kill The Body has ingested for each fighter — Battling Nelson 134, Joe Gans 194 — not from a career-complete method table.

Common Opponents

5 shared

5 shared · Nelson better on 1 · Gans better on 2 · even on 25 shared · Battling Nelson better on 1 · Joe Gans better on 2 · even on 2

NelsonBattling Nelson

Opponent

GansJoe Gans

Battling Nelson
Win, NWS
1913Feb 1913
BurkeJoe BurkeEvenEven — 1–0 both
Joe Gans
Win, RTD 2
1902May 1902
Battling Nelson
Loss, NWS
1908Feb 1908
UnholzRudy UnholzGans betterJoe Gans better — 1–0 to 0–1
Joe Gans
Win, TKO 11
1908May 1908
Battling Nelson
1–2–1 against
Draw, NWS
1908Mar 1908
Loss, PTS
1907Jul 1907
Win, KO 18
1905Sep 1905
Loss, PTS
1904Dec 1904
BrittJimmy BrittUnited States 13–7–3Gans betterJoe Gans better — 2–0 to 1–2–1
Joe Gans
2–0 against
Win, TKO 6
1907Sep 1907
Win, DQ 5
1904Oct 1904
Battling Nelson
Win, PTS
1903Nov 1903
MemsicGeorge MemsicEvenEven — 1–0 both
Joe Gans
Win, PTS
1907Sep 1907
Battling Nelson
Win, NWS
1906Mar 1906
McGovernTerry McGovernUnited States 65–6–8 · BantamweightNelson betterBattling Nelson better — 1–0 to 0–1
Joe Gans
Loss, KO 2
1900Dec 1900

Both sides are set at the same size on purpose. Kill The Body does not score a second-round knockout above a split decision — the edge counts losses first and wins as the tiebreak, and the rest is yours to argue. Shared opponents are matched on fighter identity, not on name, so two different fighters with the same name never merge into one row.

Current Form

Oldest left · newest right

Battling Nelson had won one in a row before losing to Freddie Welsh. Nelson last boxed on Apr 17, 1917.WLLWL

Gardner Apr 1915Waugh Sep 1915Reagan Nov 1915Matthews Mar 1917Welsh Apr 19176.5 tracked bouts per year

Joe Gans has won once since back-to-back stoppage losses to Battling Nelson. Gans last boxed on Mar 12, 1909.WWLLW

Robson Apr 1908Unholz May 1908Nelson Jul 1908Nelson Sep 1908White Mar 190912.7 tracked bouts per year

Common Questions

With the rows behind them

Have Battling Nelson and Joe Gans ever fought each other?: Yes. Battling Nelson and Joe Gans have met 3 times and Battling Nelson leads the series 2-1.
Who has the better record, Nelson or Gans?: Battling Nelson is 69-33-27 and Joe Gans is 160-12-21. Joe Gans has the higher win percentage.
Who has more knockouts, Nelson or Gans?: Battling Nelson has 40 knockout wins and Joe Gans has 0. Battling Nelson has more.
Do Nelson and Gans have any common opponents?: Battling Nelson and Joe Gans share 5 common opponents: Joe Burke, Rudy Unholz and Jimmy Britt (and 2 others). Joe Gans fared better against 2 of them.
How much fight data does Kill The Body have on Nelson and Gans?: This comparison is drawn from 134 bouts tracked for Battling Nelson and 194 bouts tracked for Joe Gans. Method and activity splits reflect those bouts only.

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Battling Nelson vs Joe Gans — record, stats and common opponents compared

Battling Nelson

Joe Gans