Have Howard King and Sonny Liston ever fought each other?

Yes. Howard King and Sonny Liston have met 2 times and Sonny Liston leads the series 2-0.

Who has the better record, King or Liston?

Howard King is 3-19-1 across the 23 bouts Kill The Body has tracked and Sonny Liston is 50-4. Sonny Liston has the higher win percentage. Records shown as tracked have not yet been independently verified as complete career totals.

Who has more knockouts, King or Liston?

Howard King has 0 knockout wins and Sonny Liston has 39. Sonny Liston has more.

Do King and Liston have any common opponents?

Howard King and Sonny Liston share 3 common opponents: Willi Besmanoff, Eddie Machen and Zora Folley. Sonny Liston fared better against 3 of them.

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

This comparison is drawn from 23 bouts tracked for Howard King and 54 bouts tracked for Sonny Liston. Method and activity splits reflect those bouts only.

Howard King vs Sonny Liston — Records, Stats & Common Opponents

🇺🇸UNITED STATES

Howard King

🇺🇸HEAVYWEIGHT

Sonny Liston

Howard King (3-19-1 across 23 tracked bouts) and Sonny Liston (50-4) are compared on record, finishing method, activity, and common opponents on Kill The Body. The two have met 2 times. They share 3 common opponents.

King

Tracked record

3–19–1

counted from 23 bouts Kill The Body has ingested

Liston

Wins39 KO · 78%

Losses

Draws54 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

Liston leads 2–0

Howard King and Sonny Liston have met 2 times; Liston leads 2–0.
Met	1960Feb 23	1961Mar 8	Series
Howard KingFighter A	LLost	LLost	0–2W–L
Sonny ListonFighter B	WWon	WWon	2–0W–L
Result	RTDR7Liston vs King	TKOR3Liston vs King	2Meetings

The Numbers

King 0 · Liston 7 of 7 measurable rows

KingEdge = longer wingListon

Record^†: 3-19-150-4 (edge)
Win %0–100%: 15.2%
92.6% (edge)
Wins by knockoutmax 39: 0
39 (edge)
KO ratenot comparable: —78%
Stoppage rate (tracked wins)^‡0–100%: 0%
78% (edge)
Times stopped^‡max 10: 10
3 (edge)
Title reignsmax 3: 0
3 (edge)
Bouts per year^§max 3.2: 2.6
3.2 (edge)
Bouts trackedcoveragemax 54: 23
54

† 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: Howard King: No height on file; Sonny Liston: 6′1″
Reachnot held: Howard King: No reach on file; Sonny Liston: 84″
Stance: Howard King: Not recorded; Sonny Liston: Orthodox

Howard King left, Sonny Liston right, as everywhere on this page. Stance is stated, not scored.

How They Win

Tracked bouts only

Howard King3 wins · from 23 tracked bouts

3 on the cards 100%

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 — Howard King 23, Sonny Liston 54 — not from a career-complete method table.

Common Opponents

3 shared

3 shared · Liston better on 33 shared · Sonny Liston better on 3

KingHoward King

Opponent

ListonSonny Liston

Howard King
Loss, SD
1960Nov 1960
BesmanoffWilli BesmanoffGermany 51–34–8Liston betterSonny Liston better — 1–0 to 0–1
Sonny Liston
Win, TKO 7
1959Dec 1959
Howard King
Loss, TKO
1955Sep 1955
MachenEddie MachenUnited States 50–11–3 · HeavyweightListon betterSonny Liston better — 1–0 to 0–1
Sonny Liston
Win, UD
1960Sep 1960
Howard King
0–3 against
Loss, MD
1959Aug 1959
Loss, TKO
1955May 1955
Loss, TKO
1954Jan 1954
FolleyZora FolleyUnited States 79–11–6 · HeavyweightListon betterSonny Liston better — 1–0 to 0–3
Sonny Liston
Win, KO 3
1960Jul 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

Howard King last boxed on Jan 18, 1963 — 23,285 days ago. King had lost four straight, after one straight win.WLLLL

Richardson Sep 1961Mildenberger Nov 1961Moore May 1962London Jun 1962Piccoli Jan 19632.6 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 Howard King and Sonny Liston ever fought each other?: Yes. Howard King and Sonny Liston have met 2 times and Sonny Liston leads the series 2-0.
Who has the better record, King or Liston?: Howard King is 3-19-1 across the 23 bouts Kill The Body has tracked and Sonny Liston is 50-4. Sonny Liston has the higher win percentage. Records shown as tracked have not yet been independently verified as complete career totals.
Who has more knockouts, King or Liston?: Howard King has 0 knockout wins and Sonny Liston has 39. Sonny Liston has more.
Do King and Liston have any common opponents?: Howard King and Sonny Liston share 3 common opponents: Willi Besmanoff, Eddie Machen and Zora Folley. Sonny Liston fared better against 3 of them.
How much fight data does Kill The Body have on King and Liston?: This comparison is drawn from 23 bouts tracked for Howard King and 54 bouts tracked for Sonny Liston. Method and activity splits reflect those bouts only.

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Howard King vs Sonny Liston — record, stats and common opponents compared

Howard King

Sonny Liston