Did you know that Billy Bird fought a recorded 356 times in his 28 year-career and holds the record of the most knockouts at 138 in any fighting career?

Billy Bird, born on January 1, 1899, was a British professional boxer who was active from 1920 to 1948 and boxed in the welterweight division. He was regarded as one of the most active boxers of his time and holds the record of the most knockouts in any fighting career.

He fought a recorded 356 times in his 28 year-career, but has been rumored to have even more fights during his career which were not professional matches. Bird currently holds the knockout world record at 138; the second closest is Archie Moore with 132 knockouts.

Bird racked up 260 wins, 73 losses and 20 draws. This record is more impressive because he only needed 18 years to accomplish this incredible feat as the Briton fought from 1920 until 1948.

Bird fought the majority of his fights in England and only competed outside of the country twice, when he faced Joe Ralph in Belgium in September 1928 and Mario Bosisio in Italy in January 1929. The Chelsea, London native competed in the welterweight division but never won a minor or significant title. His farthest he came into a title shot was when he participated in a title eliminator match against Johnny Quill in December 1934 but lost via points.

Bird worked as a taxi driver when he was not boxing. He died on 6 February 1951 at the age of 52 years.

Other boxers who also hold a record of highest knockouts include Archie Moore who holds the record for the second-most knockouts in boxing history with 132. Moore had a total of 220 fights, winning 186, losing 23 and drawing ten of them.

Young Stribling, who hailed from Georgia and had 12-year professional boxing run from 1921 to 1933, competed in 291 total fights. He finished with 224 wins, 13 losses and 14 draws, including 129 knockouts, putting him in the third spot in boxing history with the most finishes. Like Smith and Langford, he never won a major title.

Sam Langford, a Canadian, who fought from 1903 to 1926 in 314 total professional fights, has the fourth-most knockouts in boxing history with 126. He won 178 fights, was defeated 30 times and had 38 draws. He began competing in the lightweight division and gradually moved to the heavyweight division. Unfortunately, but he never won a major boxing title.

Buck Smith, known as the “Tombstone” had a 22-year professional career and was able to compete in 229 bouts throughout its duration with a knockout record of 121. Smith finished with an overall record of 183 wins, 20 losses and two draws. Despite this incredible feat, Smith didn’t capture any major titles as he only managed to win the USA Oklahoma State Welterweight Title in December 1994 over Verdell Smith via unanimous decision.

Sources: BetMGM | Wikipedia 

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