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 for the

EBU The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...

'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 south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. 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 on Friday, September 4, 1959 in

Helsinki, Finland Helsinki () is the capital and most populous city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipality, with million in the capital region and ...

, by a fifteen rounds decision.

World championship fight

In the midst of his reign as European champion, the Spaniard traveled to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

to face world flyweight champion,

International Boxing Hall of Fame The International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, right next to exit 34 of the New York State Thruway, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected on ballots cre ...

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 professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

. 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 Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

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, ...

Death

Young Martin died on June 17, 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:martin, Young 1931 births 2006 deaths Boxers from Madrid Spanish male boxers Flyweight boxers 20th-century Spanish sportsmen