Mario "Marty" Severino (November 3, 1919 – February 9, 1969) was a professional

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

who held the undisputed world welterweight championship being the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

, NYSAC, and ''The Ring'' welterweight titles. Servo began boxing in the mid-1930s. He became a professional boxer in 1938 and was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1989.

Amateur career

Servo had an impressive amateur career. He captured the Golden Gloves and Diamond Belt Featherweight titles, and ended his career with an impressive record of 91-4.

Professional career

He turned professional as a lightweight and, in his first three years as a professional boxer, managed a 42–0–2 record. As a welterweight he lost two close decisions to the legendary

Sugar Ray Robinson Walker Smith Jr. (May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989), better known as Sugar Ray Robinson, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1940 to 1965. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. He is often regarde ...

. Servo’s boxing career was interrupted by service in the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He resumed his career after the War and won the World Welterweight Title by knocking out Freddie "Red" Cochrane in the fourth round on February 1, 1946. Servo and his manager, Al Weill, then made a bad career decision. He agreed to fight the middleweight contender

Rocky Graziano Thomas Rocco Barbella (January 1, 1919 – May 22, 1990), better known as Rocky Graziano, was an American professional boxer and actor who held the World Middleweight title. Graziano is considered one of the greatest knockout artists in boxing ...

in a non-title match. Graziano was a big favorite in

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and the bout was seen as a big money fight. The two fought on March 29, 1946. This bout effectively finished Servo as a top-line fighter. The heavier and stronger Graziano knocked Servo out and severely injured his nose. Servo never recovered from the injuries and he was forced to relinquish his title and retire. His final ring record, including a knockout loss suffered in an ill-advised comeback attempt, was 48 wins (15

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, ...

s), 4 losses and 2 draws.

Professional boxing record

Titles in boxing

Major world titles

* NYSAC

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

champion (147 lbs) * NBA (WBA) welterweight champion (147 lbs)

''The Ring'' magazine titles

* ''The Ring'' welterweight champion (147 lbs)

Undisputed titles

* Undisputed welterweight champion

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Servo, Marty American people of Italian descent 1919 births 1969 deaths Welterweight boxers Sportspeople from Schenectady, New York American male boxers United States Coast Guard personnel of World War II 20th-century American sportsmen