Have Leotis Martin and Sonny Liston ever fought each other?

Yes. Leotis Martin and Sonny Liston met once on December 6, 1969, and Leotis Martin won by KO in round 9.

Who has the better record, Martin or Liston?

Leotis Martin is 31-5 and Sonny Liston is 50-4. Sonny Liston has the higher win percentage.

Who has more knockouts, Martin or Liston?

Leotis Martin has 19 knockout wins and Sonny Liston has 39. Sonny Liston has more.

Do Martin and Liston have any common opponents?

Leotis Martin and Sonny Liston share 3 common opponents: Henry Clark, Dave Bailey and Amos Johnson. Sonny Liston fared better against 1 of them.

Who is bigger, Martin or Liston?

Sonny Liston is the taller fighter at 185 cm, 1 cm above the other. Sonny Liston also has the longer reach, by 20 cm.

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

This comparison is drawn from 37 bouts tracked for Leotis Martin and 54 bouts tracked for Sonny Liston. Method and activity splits reflect those bouts only.

Leotis Martin vs Sonny Liston — Records, Stats & Common Opponents

🇺🇸HEAVYWEIGHT

Sonny Liston

Leotis Martin (31-5) 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 3 common opponents.

Martin

Wins19 KO · 61%

Losses

Draws37 tracked bouts

Liston

Wins39 KO · 78%

Losses

Draws54 tracked bouts

Head to Head

Martin leads 1–0

Leotis Martin and Sonny Liston have met 1 time; Martin leads 1–0.
Met	1969Dec 6	Series
Leotis MartinFighter A	WWon	1–0W–L
Sonny ListonFighter B	LLost	0–1W–L
Result	KOR9Liston vs Martin	1Meeting

Liston vs Martin · Dec 6, 1969

The Numbers

Martin 2 · Liston 6 of 8 measurable rows

MartinEdge = longer wingListon

Record: 31-550-4 (edge)
Win %0–100%: 86.1%
92.6% (edge)
Wins by knockoutmax 39: 19
39 (edge)
KO rate0–100%: 61.29%
78% (edge)
Stoppage rate (tracked wins)^†0–100%: 61%
78% (edge)
Times stopped^†max 3: 2 (edge)
3
Title reignsmax 3: 0
3 (edge)
Bouts per year^‡max 4.7: 4.7 (edge)
3.2
Bouts trackedcoveragemax 54: 37
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+1″: Leotis Martin: 6′0″; Sonny Liston: 6′1″ (edge)
Reach+8″: Leotis Martin: 76″; Sonny Liston: 84″ (edge)
Agenot held: Leotis Martin: Died aged 56; Sonny Liston: No date of birth
Stance: Leotis Martin: Orthodox; Sonny Liston: Orthodox

Leotis Martin 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

Leotis Martin31 wins · from 37 tracked bouts

19 by KO/TKO 61%12 on the cards 39%

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 — Leotis Martin 37, Sonny Liston 54 — not from a career-complete method table.

Common Opponents

3 shared

3 shared · Liston better on 1 · even on 23 shared · Sonny Liston better on 1 · even on 2

MartinLeotis Martin

Opponent

ListonSonny Liston

Leotis Martin
Loss, MD
1968Apr 1968
ClarkHenry ClarkListon betterSonny Liston better — 1–0 to 0–1
Sonny Liston
Win, TKO 7
1968Jul 1968
Leotis Martin
Win, PTS
1965Feb 1965
BaileyDave BaileyUnited StatesEvenEven — 1–0 both
Sonny Liston
Win, KO 1
1967Mar 1967
Leotis Martin
Win, KO 3
1966Dec 1966
JohnsonAmos JohnsonEvenEven — 1–0 both
Sonny Liston
Win, KO 3
1966Aug 1966

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

Leotis Martin has won five straight, the most recent against Sonny Liston. Martin last boxed on Dec 6, 1969.WWWWW

Lewis Nov 1968Lewis Feb 1969Newton Oct 1969Russell Nov 1969Liston Dec 19694.7 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 Leotis Martin and Sonny Liston ever fought each other?: Yes. Leotis Martin and Sonny Liston met once on December 6, 1969, and Leotis Martin won by KO in round 9.
Who has the better record, Martin or Liston?: Leotis Martin is 31-5 and Sonny Liston is 50-4. Sonny Liston has the higher win percentage.
Who has more knockouts, Martin or Liston?: Leotis Martin has 19 knockout wins and Sonny Liston has 39. Sonny Liston has more.
Do Martin and Liston have any common opponents?: Leotis Martin and Sonny Liston share 3 common opponents: Henry Clark, Dave Bailey and Amos Johnson. Sonny Liston fared better against 1 of them.
Who is bigger, Martin or Liston?: Sonny Liston is the taller fighter at 185 cm, 1 cm above the other. Sonny Liston also has the longer reach, by 20 cm.
How much fight data does Kill The Body have on Martin and Liston?: This comparison is drawn from 37 bouts tracked for Leotis Martin and 54 bouts tracked for Sonny Liston. Method and activity splits reflect those bouts only.

Compare someone else

6 suggested matchups

Compare Martin with…

Compare Liston with…

Someone else?

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

Leotis Martin vs Sonny Liston — record, stats and common opponents compared

Leotis Martin

Sonny Liston