Have Bill Watkins and Sam Langford ever fought each other?

Yes. Bill Watkins and Sam Langford have met 3 times and Sam Langford leads the series 3-0.

Who has the better record, Watkins or Langford?

Bill Watkins is 1-6 across the 7 bouts Kill The Body has tracked and Sam Langford is 210-43-53. Sam Langford has the higher win percentage. Records shown as tracked have not yet been independently verified as complete career totals.

Who has more knockouts, Watkins or Langford?

Bill Watkins has 1 knockout win and Sam Langford has 126. Sam Langford has more.

Do Watkins and Langford have any common opponents?

Bill Watkins and Sam Langford share 3 common opponents: Jim Johnson, Joe Jeanette and Jack Blackburn. Neither fighter fared better across the shared opponents overall.

How much fight data does Kill The Body have on Watkins and Langford?

This comparison is drawn from 7 bouts tracked for Bill Watkins and 312 bouts tracked for Sam Langford. Method and activity splits reflect those bouts only.

Bill Watkins vs Sam Langford — Records, Stats & Common Opponents

Bill Watkins

🇨🇦CANADA

Sam Langford

Bill Watkins (1-6 across 7 tracked bouts) and Sam Langford (210-43-53) are compared on record, finishing method, activity, and common opponents on Kill The Body. The two have met 3 times. They share 3 common opponents.

Watkins

Tracked record

1–6

counted from 7 bouts Kill The Body has ingested

Langford

210

Wins126 KO · 60%

Losses

Draws312 tracked bouts

Heads up: at least one of these records is a tracked record — the wins and losses Kill The Body has ingested so far, not an independently verified career total. Treat the comparison as a read on the bouts we hold, not a settled ledger.

Head to Head

Langford leads 3–0

Bill Watkins and Sam Langford have met 3 times; Langford leads 3–0.
Met	1914Mar 23	1914May 25	1921Feb 7	Series
Bill WatkinsFighter A	LLost	LLost	LLost	0–3W–L
Sam LangfordFighter B	WWon	WWon	WWon	3–0W–L
Result	TKOR1Langford vs Watkins	KOR4Langford vs Watkins	KOLangford vs Watkins	3Meetings

The Numbers

Watkins 2 · Langford 5 of 7 measurable rows

WatkinsEdge = longer wingLangford

Record^†: 1-6210-43-53 (edge)
Win %0–100%: 14.3%
77.3% (edge)
Wins by knockoutmax 126: 1
126 (edge)
KO ratenot comparable: —60%
Stoppage rate (tracked wins)^‡0–100%: 100% (edge)
60%
Times stopped^‡max 9: 5 (edge)
9
Title reignsmax 2: 0
2 (edge)
Bouts per year^§max 12.8: 0.8
12.8 (edge)
Bouts trackedcoveragemax 312: 7
312

† One or both records are tracked, not career-verified. · ‡ 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: Bill Watkins: No height on file; Sam Langford: 5′7″
Reachnot held: Bill Watkins: No reach on file; Sam Langford: 74″
Agenot held: Bill Watkins: No date of birth; Sam Langford: Died aged 72
Stance: Bill Watkins: Not recorded; Sam Langford: Orthodox

Bill Watkins left, Sam Langford right, as everywhere on this page. Age is stated, not scored — neither age nor stance carries an edge.

How They Win

Tracked bouts only

Bill Watkins1 win · from 7 tracked bouts

1 by KO/TKO 100%

Sam Langford211 wins · from 312 tracked bouts

126 by KO/TKO 60%49 on the cards 23%36 by another method or unrecorded 17%

One square per tracked win. Counted from the bouts Kill The Body has ingested for each fighter — Bill Watkins 7, Sam Langford 312 — not from a career-complete method table.

Common Opponents

3 shared

3 shared · Watkins better on 1 · Langford better on 1 · even on 13 shared · Bill Watkins better on 1 · Sam Langford better on 1 · even on 1

WatkinsBill Watkins

Opponent

LangfordSam Langford

Bill Watkins
Loss, KO 2
1912Sep 1912
JohnsonJim JohnsonUnited States 35–35–13Langford betterSam Langford better — 11–0–1 to 0–1
Sam Langford
11–0–1 against
Win, NWS
1918Aug 1918
Win, NWS
1918Aug 1918
Win, PTS
1918Jun 1918
Win, PTS
1917Jan 1917
Win, KO
1916Dec 1916
Win, PTS
1915Oct 1915
Win, NWS
1915Jun 1915
Win, NWS
1915Apr 1915
Draw, PTS
1914Sep 1914
Win, NWS
1914Aug 1914
Win, NWS
1914Mar 1914
Win, NWS
1910May 1910
Bill Watkins
0–2 against
Loss, NWS
1915Jul 1915
Loss, KO
1911Nov 1911
JeanetteJoe JeanetteUnited States 120–24–21 · HeavyweightWatkins betterBill Watkins better — 0–2 to 8–3–3
Sam Langford
8–3–3 against
Win, NWS
1917Sep 1917
Win, KO 7
1916May 1916
Loss, PTS
1915Apr 1915
Draw, NWS
1914Oct 1914
Win, PTS
1913Dec 1913
Loss, NWS
1913Oct 1913
Win, NWS
1911Sep 1911
Win, PTS
1911Jan 1911
Win, PTS
1910Sep 1910
Win, NWS
1908Sep 1908
Draw, PTS
1908Mar 1908
Draw, PTS
1907Jan 1907
Win, PTS
1906Apr 1906
Loss, TKO 8
1905Dec 1905
Bill Watkins
Win, KO 4
1914Oct 1914
BlackburnJack BlackburnUnited States 117–24–22EvenEven — Bill Watkins 1–0, Sam Langford 1–0–4
Sam Langford
1–0–4 against
No contest, NC 1
1905Oct 1905
Draw, PTS
1905Sep 1905
Win, PTS
1905Aug 1905
Draw, PTS
1904Dec 1904
Draw, NWS
1904Jan 1904
Draw, PTS
1903Dec 1903

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

Bill Watkins last boxed on Feb 7, 1921 — 38,607 days ago. Watkins had lost two straight, after one straight win.LLWLL

Langford Mar 1914Langford May 1914Blackburn Oct 1914Jeanette Jul 1915Langford Feb 19210.8 tracked bouts per year

Sam Langford had won one in a row before losing by stoppage to Brad Simmons. Langford last boxed on Aug 2, 1926.DWLWL

Sullivan Mar 1925Gonzales Apr 1925Gahee Sep 1925Johnson Jul 1926Simmons Aug 192612.8 tracked bouts per year

Common Questions

With the rows behind them

Have Bill Watkins and Sam Langford ever fought each other?: Yes. Bill Watkins and Sam Langford have met 3 times and Sam Langford leads the series 3-0.
Who has the better record, Watkins or Langford?: Bill Watkins is 1-6 across the 7 bouts Kill The Body has tracked and Sam Langford is 210-43-53. Sam Langford has the higher win percentage. Records shown as tracked have not yet been independently verified as complete career totals.
Who has more knockouts, Watkins or Langford?: Bill Watkins has 1 knockout win and Sam Langford has 126. Sam Langford has more.
Do Watkins and Langford have any common opponents?: Bill Watkins and Sam Langford share 3 common opponents: Jim Johnson, Joe Jeanette and Jack Blackburn. Neither fighter fared better across the shared opponents overall.
How much fight data does Kill The Body have on Watkins and Langford?: This comparison is drawn from 7 bouts tracked for Bill Watkins and 312 bouts tracked for Sam Langford. Method and activity splits reflect those bouts only.

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Bill Watkins vs Sam Langford — record, stats and common opponents compared

Bill Watkins

Sam Langford