Martin Marco Voto (March 5, 1931 – June 17, 2006) better known as Young Martin, was a Spaniard professional boxer in the Flyweight division. He won various regional level titles and challenged once for the world's flyweight championship.
European Boxing Union champion
Martin challenged Welch boxer, until then undefeated (27-0)
Dai Dower
David William "Dai" Dower MBE (20 June 1933 – 1 August 2016), was a Welsh professional boxer who was a British, Empire and European Flyweight boxing champion, and is considered by fans and critics alike as one of the most successful Welsh box ...
for the
EBU
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who are members of the Co ...
's flyweight title on Monday, 3 October 1955 at the ice rink in
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
,
England. The then 24 year old Martin won the championship by knocking Dower out in round twelve of a scheduled 15 rounder contest. Martin won the contest with a devastating body attack, producing a number of knockdowns (and ultimately, a knock-out) with hard punches to Dower's body. Martin successfully defended that title three times until losing it on his fourth defense, beaten by Finnish fighter
Risto Luukkonen
Risto Luukkonen (31 July 1931 – 12 August 1967) was a Finnish boxer. He competed in the men's flyweight event at the 1952 Summer Olympics. As a professional, he was the EBU's flyweight champion after defeating Spain's Young Martin
Mar ...
on Friday, September 4, 1959 in
Helsinki, Finland
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city' ...
, by a fifteen rounds decision.
World championship fight
In the midst of his reign as European champion, the Spaniard traveled to
Argentina to face world flyweight champion,
International Boxing Hall of Fame member
Pascual Perez. Perez and Martin duly met on Saturday, December 7, 1957 at the
Club Atletico Boca Juniors
Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...
in
Buenos Aires. Perez dominated and stopped Martin in round three to retain the world title.
Retirement
Martin retired after an eight-rounds decision defeat to Victor Carrascosa, which took place on September 6, 1962 at the
Plaza de Toros de Vista Alegre in
Bilbao.
Career in review
A former Spain national and European Boxing Union flyweight champion and one-time world title challenger, Martin retired with a record of 71 wins, 17 defeats and 5 draws (ties) in 93 professional boxing contests, with 28 of his wins and 5 of his losses by way of
knockout
A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...
.
Death
Young Martin died on June 17, 2006.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:martin, Young
1931 births
2006 deaths
Sportspeople from Madrid
Spanish male boxers
Flyweight boxers