Have Henry Cooper and Joe Erskine ever fought each other?

Yes. Henry Cooper and Joe Erskine have met 5 times and Henry Cooper leads the series 3-2.

Who has the better record, Cooper or Erskine?

Henry Cooper is 40-14-1 and Joe Erskine is 45-8-1. Joe Erskine has the higher win percentage.

Who has more knockouts, Cooper or Erskine?

Henry Cooper has 27 knockout wins and Joe Erskine has 0. Henry Cooper has more.

Do Cooper and Erskine have any common opponents?

Henry Cooper and Joe Erskine share 7 common opponents: Jack Bodell, Karl Mildenberger and Billy Walker (and 4 others). Henry Cooper fared better against 4 of them.

How much fight data does Kill The Body have on Cooper and Erskine?

This comparison is drawn from 55 bouts tracked for Henry Cooper and 18 bouts tracked for Joe Erskine. Method and activity splits reflect those bouts only.

Henry Cooper vs Joe Erskine — Records, Stats & Common Opponents

🇬🇧HEAVYWEIGHT

Joe Erskine

Henry Cooper (40-14-1) and Joe Erskine (45-8-1) are compared on record, finishing method, activity, and common opponents on Kill The Body. The two have met 5 times. They share 7 common opponents.

Cooper

Wins27 KO · 68%

Losses

Draw55 tracked bouts

Erskine

Wins

Losses

Draw18 tracked bouts

Head to Head

Cooper leads 3–2

Henry Cooper and Joe Erskine have met 5 times; Cooper leads 3–2.
Met	1955Nov 15	1957Sep 17	1959Nov 17	1961Mar 21	1962Apr 2	Series
Henry CooperFighter A	LLost	LLost	WWon	WWon	WWon	3–2W–L
Joe ErskineFighter B	WWon	WWon	LLost	LLost	LLost	2–3W–L
Result	PTSCooper vs Erskine	PTSCooper vs Erskine	TKOR12Cooper vs Erskine	TKOR5Cooper vs Erskine	TKOR9Cooper vs Erskine	5Meetings

The Numbers

Cooper 4 · Erskine 3 of 7 measurable rows

CooperEdge = longer wingErskine

Record: 40-14-145-8-1 (edge)
Win %0–100%: 73.6%
84.3% (edge)
Wins by knockoutmax 27: 27 (edge)
0
KO rate0–100%: 67.5% (edge)
0%
Stoppage rate (tracked wins)^†0–100%: 68% (edge)
0%
Times stopped^†max 8: 8
6 (edge)
Title reignslevelmax 0: 0
0
Bouts per year^‡max 3.3: 3.3 (edge)
2
Bouts trackedcoveragemax 55: 55
18

† 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: Henry Cooper: 6′2″; Joe Erskine: No height on file
Reachnot held: Henry Cooper: 75″; Joe Erskine: No reach on file
Agenot comparable: Henry Cooper: Died aged 76; Joe Erskine: 92
Stance: Henry Cooper: Orthodox; Joe Erskine: Orthodox

Henry Cooper left, Joe Erskine right, as everywhere on this page. Age is stated, not scored — neither age nor stance carries an edge.

How They Win

Tracked bouts only

Henry Cooper40 wins · from 55 tracked bouts

27 by KO/TKO 68%11 on the cards 28%2 by another method or unrecorded 5%

Joe Erskine10 wins · from 18 tracked bouts

9 on the cards 90%1 by another method or unrecorded 10%

One square per tracked win. Counted from the bouts Kill The Body has ingested for each fighter — Henry Cooper 55, Joe Erskine 18 — not from a career-complete method table.

Common Opponents

7 shared

7 shared · Cooper better on 4 · Erskine better on 1 · even on 27 shared · Henry Cooper better on 4 · Joe Erskine better on 1 · even on 2

CooperHenry Cooper

Opponent

ErskineJoe Erskine

Henry Cooper
2–0 against
Win, PTS
1970Mar 1970
Win, TKO 2
1967Jun 1967
BodellJack BodellUnited Kingdom 58–13Cooper betterHenry Cooper better — 2–0 to 1–0
Joe Erskine
Win, PTS
1964Mar 1964
Henry Cooper
Win, DQ
1968Sep 1968
MildenbergerKarl MildenbergerGermany 53–6–3 · HeavyweightCooper betterHenry Cooper better — 1–0 to 0–1
Joe Erskine
Loss, PTS
1963Oct 1963
Henry Cooper
Win, TKO 6
1967Nov 1967
WalkerBilly WalkerUnited Kingdom 21–8–2 · HeavyweightCooper betterHenry Cooper better — 1–0 to 0–1
Joe Erskine
Loss, PTS
1964Oct 1964
Henry Cooper
3–0 against
Win, PTS
1964Feb 1964
Win, PTS
1959Jan 1959
Win, TKO 1
1956May 1956
LondonBrian LondonUnited Kingdom 37–20–1 · HeavyweightCooper betterHenry Cooper better — 3–0 to 0–1
Joe Erskine
Loss, KO
1958Jun 1958
Henry Cooper
2–0 against
Win, KO 5
1963Mar 1963
Win, TKO 5
1958Sep 1958
RichardsonDick RichardsonUnited Kingdom 31–14–2EvenEven — 2–0 both
Joe Erskine
2–0 against
Win, PTS
1959Jun 1959
Win, PTS
1956May 1956
Henry Cooper
Loss, KO 5
1957May 1957
JohanssonIngemar JohanssonSweden 26–2 · HeavyweightEvenEven — 0–1 both
Joe Erskine
Loss, TKO 13
1958Feb 1958
Henry Cooper
1–1 against
Loss, KO 9
1957Feb 1957
Win, PTS
1955Apr 1955
BygravesJoe BygravesUnited Kingdom 42–28–2 · HeavyweightErskine betterJoe Erskine better — 1–0 to 1–1
Joe Erskine
Win, PTS
1957Nov 1957

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

Henry Cooper had won four in a row before losing a decision to Joe Bugner. Cooper last boxed on Mar 16, 1971.WWWWL

Mildenberger Sep 1968Tomasoni Mar 1969Bodell Mar 1970Urtain Nov 1970Bugner Mar 19713.3 tracked bouts per year

Joe Erskine last boxed on Oct 27, 1964 — 22,635 days ago. Erskine had won one in a row before losing a decision to Billy Walker.LWLWL

Cooper Apr 1962Mack Aug 1963Mildenberger Oct 1963Bodell Mar 1964Walker Oct 19642 tracked bouts per year

Common Questions

With the rows behind them

Have Henry Cooper and Joe Erskine ever fought each other?: Yes. Henry Cooper and Joe Erskine have met 5 times and Henry Cooper leads the series 3-2.
Who has the better record, Cooper or Erskine?: Henry Cooper is 40-14-1 and Joe Erskine is 45-8-1. Joe Erskine has the higher win percentage.
Who has more knockouts, Cooper or Erskine?: Henry Cooper has 27 knockout wins and Joe Erskine has 0. Henry Cooper has more.
Do Cooper and Erskine have any common opponents?: Henry Cooper and Joe Erskine share 7 common opponents: Jack Bodell, Karl Mildenberger and Billy Walker (and 4 others). Henry Cooper fared better against 4 of them.
How much fight data does Kill The Body have on Cooper and Erskine?: This comparison is drawn from 55 bouts tracked for Henry Cooper and 18 bouts tracked for Joe Erskine. Method and activity splits reflect those bouts only.

Compare someone else

6 suggested matchups

Compare Cooper with…

Compare Erskine with…

Someone else?

Release either fighter to put someone new in that slot — the other one stays put.

Henry Cooper vs Joe Erskine — record, stats and common opponents compared

Henry Cooper

Joe Erskine