Have George Johnson and Sonny Liston ever fought each other?

Yes. George Johnson and Sonny Liston met once on May 19, 1969, and Sonny Liston won by TKO in round 7.

Who has the better record, Johnson or Liston?

George Johnson is 22-27-5 and Sonny Liston is 50-4. Sonny Liston has the higher win percentage.

Who has more knockouts, Johnson or Liston?

George Johnson has 11 knockout wins and Sonny Liston has 39. Sonny Liston has more.

Do Johnson and Liston have any common opponents?

George Johnson and Sonny Liston share 5 common opponents: Sonny Moore, Amos Lincoln and Henry Clark (and 2 others). Sonny Liston fared better against 5 of them.

Who is bigger, Johnson or Liston?

Sonny Liston is the taller fighter at 185 cm, 10 cm above the other.

How much fight data does Kill The Body have on Johnson and Liston?

This comparison is drawn from 42 bouts tracked for George Johnson and 54 bouts tracked for Sonny Liston. Method and activity splits reflect those bouts only.

George Johnson vs Sonny Liston — Records, Stats & Common Opponents

🇺🇸UNITED STATES

Sonny Liston

George Johnson (22-27-5) and Sonny Liston (50-4) are compared on record, finishing method, activity, and common opponents on Kill The Body. The two have met once. They share 5 common opponents.

Johnson

Wins11 KO · 50%

Losses

Draws42 tracked bouts

Liston

Wins39 KO · 78%

Losses

Draws54 tracked bouts

Head to Head

Liston leads 1–0

George Johnson and Sonny Liston have met 1 time; Liston leads 1–0.
Met	1969May 19	Series
George JohnsonFighter A	LLost	0–1W–L
Sonny ListonFighter B	WWon	1–0W–L
Result	TKOR7Liston vs Johnson	1Meeting

Liston vs Johnson · May 19, 1969

The Numbers

Johnson 0 · Liston 8 of 8 measurable rows

JohnsonEdge = longer wingListon

Record: 22-27-550-4 (edge)
Win %0–100%: 45.4%
92.6% (edge)
Wins by knockoutmax 39: 11
39 (edge)
KO rate0–100%: 50%
78% (edge)
Stoppage rate (tracked wins)^†0–100%: 53%
78% (edge)
Times stopped^†max 9: 9
3 (edge)
Title reignsmax 3: 0
3 (edge)
Bouts per year^‡max 3.2: 1.2
3.2 (edge)
Bouts trackedcoveragemax 54: 42
54

† 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

Height+4″: George Johnson: 5′9″; Sonny Liston: 6′1″ (edge)
Reachnot held: George Johnson: No reach on file; Sonny Liston: 84″
Agenot held: George Johnson: Died aged 66; Sonny Liston: No date of birth
Stance: George Johnson: Orthodox; Sonny Liston: Orthodox

George Johnson left, Sonny Liston right, as everywhere on this page. Age is stated, not scored — neither age nor stance carries an edge.

How They Win

Tracked bouts only

George Johnson17 wins · from 42 tracked bouts

9 by KO/TKO 53%8 on the cards 47%

Sonny Liston50 wins · from 54 tracked bouts

39 by KO/TKO 78%11 on the cards 22%

One square per tracked win. Counted from the bouts Kill The Body has ingested for each fighter — George Johnson 42, Sonny Liston 54 — not from a career-complete method table.

Common Opponents

5 shared

5 shared · Liston better on 55 shared · Sonny Liston better on 5

JohnsonGeorge Johnson

Opponent

ListonSonny Liston

George Johnson
Win, SD
1964Apr 1964
MooreSonny MooreListon betterSonny Liston better — 2–0 to 1–0
Sonny Liston
2–0 against
Win, KO 3
1969Sep 1969
Win, TKO 3
1968Oct 1968
George Johnson
Loss, KO
1965Aug 1965
LincolnAmos LincolnListon betterSonny Liston better — 1–0 to 0–1
Sonny Liston
Win, KO 2
1968Dec 1968
George Johnson
Loss, PTS
1965Sep 1965
ClarkHenry ClarkListon betterSonny Liston better — 1–0 to 0–1
Sonny Liston
Win, TKO 7
1968Jul 1968
George Johnson
Loss, UD
1965Sep 1965
RushElmer RushListon betterSonny Liston better — 1–0 to 0–1
Sonny Liston
Win, TKO 6
1967Apr 1967
George Johnson
Loss, UD
1966Sep 1966
MachenEddie MachenUnited States 50–11–3 · HeavyweightListon betterSonny Liston better — 1–0 to 0–1
Sonny Liston
Win, UD
1960Sep 1960

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

George Johnson has lost two straight. Johnson last boxed on Dec 2, 1999.LLDLL

Quarry Feb 1975Jones Mar 1975LeDoux Aug 1975Bobick Nov 1975Andrade Dec 19991.2 tracked bouts per year

Sonny Liston has won once since losing by stoppage to Leotis Martin. Liston last boxed on Jun 29, 1970.WWWLW

Joiner Mar 1969Johnson May 1969Moore Sep 1969Martin Dec 1969Wepner Jun 19703.2 tracked bouts per year

Common Questions

With the rows behind them

Have George Johnson and Sonny Liston ever fought each other?: Yes. George Johnson and Sonny Liston met once on May 19, 1969, and Sonny Liston won by TKO in round 7.
Who has the better record, Johnson or Liston?: George Johnson is 22-27-5 and Sonny Liston is 50-4. Sonny Liston has the higher win percentage.
Who has more knockouts, Johnson or Liston?: George Johnson has 11 knockout wins and Sonny Liston has 39. Sonny Liston has more.
Do Johnson and Liston have any common opponents?: George Johnson and Sonny Liston share 5 common opponents: Sonny Moore, Amos Lincoln and Henry Clark (and 2 others). Sonny Liston fared better against 5 of them.
Who is bigger, Johnson or Liston?: Sonny Liston is the taller fighter at 185 cm, 10 cm above the other.
How much fight data does Kill The Body have on Johnson and Liston?: This comparison is drawn from 42 bouts tracked for George Johnson and 54 bouts tracked for Sonny Liston. Method and activity splits reflect those bouts only.

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George Johnson vs Sonny Liston — record, stats and common opponents compared

George Johnson

Sonny Liston