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Kill The Body

and the head will die

Marvin Johnson vs Tom Bethea — record, stats and common opponents compared

🇺🇸LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Marvin Johnson

🇺🇸UNITED STATES

Tom Bethea

Marvin Johnson (43-6) and Tom Bethea (3-9-1 across 13 tracked bouts) are compared on record, finishing method, activity, and common opponents on Kill The Body. The two have met once. They share 2 common opponents.

Johnson

43

Wins35 KO · 81%

6

Losses

0

Draws50 tracked bouts

Bethea

Tracked record

3–9–1

counted from 13 bouts Kill The Body has ingested

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

Johnson leads 1–0

Marvin Johnson and Tom Bethea have met 1 time; Johnson leads 1–0.

Marvin Johnson and Tom Bethea have met 1 time; Johnson leads 1–0.
Met1977Apr 22Series
Marvin JohnsonFighter AWWon1–0W–L
Tom BetheaFighter BLLost0–1W–L
ResultTKOR41Meeting

The Numbers

Johnson 6 · Bethea 1 of 7 measurable rows
JohnsonBethea
Record†
43-6 (edge)3-9-1
Win %0–100%
87.8% (edge)
26.9%
Wins by knockoutmax 35
35 (edge)
2
KO ratenot comparable
81.4%—
Stoppage rate (tracked wins)‡0–100%
82% (edge)
67%
Times stopped‡max 5
5
4 (edge)
Title reignsmax 3
3 (edge)
0
Bouts per year§max 3.6
3.6 (edge)
1.4
Bouts trackedcoveragemax 50
50
13

† 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
Marvin Johnson: 5′10″
Tom Bethea: No height on file
Reachnot held
Marvin Johnson: 72″
Tom Bethea: No reach on file
Age10 yrs apart
Marvin Johnson: 72
Tom Bethea: 82
Stance
Marvin Johnson: Southpaw
Tom Bethea: Not recorded

Marvin Johnson left, Tom Bethea right, as everywhere on this page. Age is stated, not scored — neither age nor stance carries an edge.

How They Win

Tracked bouts only
Marvin Johnson44 wins · from 50 tracked bouts

Marvin Johnson: 44 tracked wins — 36 by KO/TKO (82%) and 8 on the cards (18%). Counted from 50 bouts Kill The Body has ingested.

36 by KO/TKO 82%8 on the cards 18%

Tom Bethea3 wins · from 13 tracked bouts

Tom Bethea: 3 tracked wins — 2 by KO/TKO (67%) and 1 on the cards (33%). Counted from 13 bouts Kill The Body has ingested.

2 by KO/TKO 67%1 on the cards 33%

One square per tracked win. Counted from the bouts Kill The Body has ingested for each fighter — Marvin Johnson 50, Tom Bethea 13 — not from a career-complete method table.

Common Opponents

2 shared

2 shared · Johnson better on 1 · even on 1

Johnson

Opponent

Bethea

  • Marvin Johnson

    Loss, KO 4

    1981

    SpinksEven

    Tom Bethea

    Loss, UD

    1978

  • Marvin Johnson

    Win, TKO 5

    1977

    DouglasJohnson better

    Tom Bethea

    1–1 against

    Win, MD

    1976

    Loss, UD

    1970

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

Marvin Johnson last boxed on May 23, 1987 — 14,393 days ago. Johnson had won four in a row before losing by stoppage to Leslie Stewart.WWWWL

Searcy Oct 1985Lux Dec 1985Stewart Feb 1986Emébé Sep 1986Stewart May 19873.6 tracked bouts per year

Tom Bethea last boxed on Nov 11, 1978 — 17,508 days ago. Bethea had lost four straight, after one straight win.WLLLL

Douglas Mar 1976Quarry Oct 1976Johnson Apr 1977Spinks Feb 1978Camel Nov 19781.4 tracked bouts per year

Common Questions

With the rows behind them
Have Marvin Johnson and Tom Bethea ever fought each other?
Yes. Marvin Johnson and Tom Bethea met once on April 22, 1977, and Marvin Johnson won by TKO in round 4.
The meeting

WApr 22, 1977 · Johnson · TKO R4

Head to Head ↓
Who has the better record, Johnson or Bethea?
Marvin Johnson is 43-6 and Tom Bethea is 3-9-1 across the 13 bouts Kill The Body has tracked. Marvin Johnson has the higher win percentage. Records shown as tracked have not yet been independently verified as complete career totals.
Records · win %

Johnson43–687.8%

Bethea3–9–126.9%

The Numbers ↓
Who has more knockouts, Johnson or Bethea?
Marvin Johnson has 35 knockout wins and Tom Bethea has 2. Marvin Johnson has more.
Knockout wins · KO rate

Johnson3581.4%

Bethea2

The Numbers ↓
Do Johnson and Bethea have any common opponents?
Marvin Johnson and Tom Bethea share 2 common opponents: Michael Spinks and William Douglas. Marvin Johnson fared better against 1 of them.
2 shared opponents

Michael SpinksLL

William DouglasW1–1

Common Opponents ↓
How much fight data does Kill The Body have on Johnson and Bethea?
This comparison is drawn from 50 bouts tracked for Marvin Johnson and 13 bouts tracked for Tom Bethea. Method and activity splits reflect those bouts only.
Bouts tracked · no edge

Johnson50bouts

Bethea13bouts

How They Win ↓

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