Have Dave Holly and Sam Langford ever fought each other?

Yes. Dave Holly and Sam Langford have met 4 times and the series is level at 1-1 with 2 draws.

Who has the better record, Holly or Langford?

Dave Holly is 4-8-5 across the 17 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, Holly or Langford?

Dave Holly has 0 knockout wins and Sam Langford has 126. Sam Langford has more.

Do Holly and Langford have any common opponents?

Dave Holly and Sam Langford share 4 common opponents: Dixie Kid, Jack Blackburn and Joe Gans (and 1 other). Sam Langford fared better against 4 of them.

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

This comparison is drawn from 17 bouts tracked for Dave Holly and 312 bouts tracked for Sam Langford. Method and activity splits reflect those bouts only.

Dave Holly vs Sam Langford — Records, Stats & Common Opponents

Dave Holly

🇨🇦CANADA

Sam Langford

Dave Holly (4-8-5 across 17 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 4 times. They share 4 common opponents.

Holly

Tracked record

4–8–5

counted from 17 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

Series level 1–1 with 2 draws

Dave Holly and Sam Langford have met 4 times; Series level 1–1 with 2 draws.
Met	1904Apr 11	1904Sep 30	1904Nov 4	1905Feb 13	Series
Dave HollyFighter A	WWon	DDraw	DDraw	LLost	1–1–2W–L–D
Sam LangfordFighter B	LLost	DDraw	DDraw	WWon	1–1–2W–L–D
Result	PTSLangford vs Holly	PTSLangford vs Holly	NWSLangford vs Holly	NWSLangford vs Holly	4Meetings

The Numbers

Holly 1 · Langford 5 of 6 measurable rows

HollyEdge = longer wingLangford

Record^†: 4-8-5210-43-53 (edge)
Win %0–100%: 38.2%
77.3% (edge)
Wins by knockoutmax 126: 0
126 (edge)
KO ratenot comparable: —60%
Stoppage rate (tracked wins)^‡0–100%: 0%
60% (edge)
Times stopped^‡max 9: 0 (edge)
9
Title reignslevelmax 0: 0
0
Bouts per year^§max 12.8: 4.3
12.8 (edge)
Bouts trackedcoveragemax 312: 17
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: Dave Holly: No height on file; Sam Langford: 5′7″
Reachnot held: Dave Holly: No reach on file; Sam Langford: 74″
Agenot held: Dave Holly: No date of birth; Sam Langford: Died aged 72
Stance: Dave Holly: Not recorded; Sam Langford: Orthodox

Dave Holly 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

Dave Holly4 wins · from 17 tracked bouts

1 on the cards 25%3 by another method or unrecorded 75%

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 — Dave Holly 17, Sam Langford 312 — not from a career-complete method table.

Common Opponents

4 shared

4 shared · Langford better on 44 shared · Sam Langford better on 4

HollyDave Holly

Opponent

LangfordSam Langford

Dave Holly
1–1 against
Loss, NWS
1904Nov 1904
Win, NWS
1904Oct 1904
KidDixie KidUnited States 92–45–21Langford betterSam Langford better — 2–0 to 1–1
Sam Langford
2–0 against
Win, KO 3
1910Jan 1910
Win, RTD 5
1909Sep 1909
Dave Holly
1–2–1 against
Loss, NWS
1906Oct 1906
Loss, NWS
1904Aug 1904
Win, NWS
1903Nov 1903
Draw, NWS
1903May 1903
BlackburnJack BlackburnUnited States 117–24–22Langford betterSam Langford better — 1–0–4 to 1–2–1
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
Dave Holly
0–3–2 against
Loss, PTS
1906Jul 1906
Draw, NWS
1904Jun 1904
Loss, NWS
1903Dec 1903
Draw, NWS
1903Oct 1903
Loss, NWS
1902Oct 1902
GansJoe GansUnited States 160–12–21 · LightweightLangford betterSam Langford better — 1–0 to 0–3–2
Sam Langford
Win, PTS
1903Dec 1903
Dave Holly
1–1 against
Loss, DQ
1906Jan 1906
Win, NWS
1904Sep 1904
WalcottBarbados Joe WalcottBarbados 96–31–27 · WelterweightLangford betterSam Langford better — 0–0–1 to 1–1
Sam Langford
Draw, PTS
1904Sep 1904

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

Dave Holly last boxed on Oct 11, 1906 — 43,839 days ago. Holly had lost five straight.LLLLL

Kid Nov 1904Langford Feb 1905Walcott Jan 1906Gans Jul 1906Blackburn Oct 19064.3 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 Dave Holly and Sam Langford ever fought each other?: Yes. Dave Holly and Sam Langford have met 4 times and the series is level at 1-1 with 2 draws.
Who has the better record, Holly or Langford?: Dave Holly is 4-8-5 across the 17 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, Holly or Langford?: Dave Holly has 0 knockout wins and Sam Langford has 126. Sam Langford has more.
Do Holly and Langford have any common opponents?: Dave Holly and Sam Langford share 4 common opponents: Dixie Kid, Jack Blackburn and Joe Gans (and 1 other). Sam Langford fared better against 4 of them.
How much fight data does Kill The Body have on Holly and Langford?: This comparison is drawn from 17 bouts tracked for Dave Holly and 312 bouts tracked for Sam Langford. Method and activity splits reflect those bouts only.

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Dave Holly vs Sam Langford — record, stats and common opponents compared

Dave Holly

Sam Langford