Risto Luukkonen vs. Young Martin

Risto Luukkonen 112 lbs beat Young Martin 112 lbs by PTS in round 15 of 15

• Date: 1959-09-04
• Location: Olympic Stadion, Helsinki, Finland
• Referee: Bill Williams

A crowd of 12,000 came to the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki to see their home boy Risto Luukkonen fight for the European flyweight title against title holder Young Martin of Spain. Promotor was former European lightweight champion Elis Ask who had revived pro boxing in Finland in October 1957 when he debuted as promotor and had his last fight on the same show.

Also on the card that time was debutant Risto Luukkonen. Now only after 10 fights, he was ready for a title fight. Martin had held the title since 1955, had even tried for Pascual Perez' world title.

The two 28 year olds kept a furiously fast pace from start to finish. The correspondent for Boxing News (September 11.1959) observed that even in the 15th round, reporters were perplexed at the speed and variation in the ring. The fight was very even, balancing on a razor's edge with Luukkonen having slightly more hits (and cleaner hits) with his two fisted counter punches.

No one protested when Luukkonen got the verdict. Young Martin accepted the defeat, a little disappointed over his own performance. Referee was Bill Williams of Great Britain.