Marty Servo: Boxing Career Cut Short

Marty Servo was born Mario Severino on November 3, 1919 in Schenectady, New York, a small town near Albany. Later in life, Severino was one of many Italian-Americans who changed his name (on a professional level at least) to better blend in with mainstream American society. He was a gifted athlete as a teenager, and ran cross-country for his high school in addition to his pursuit of amateur boxing. As an amateur featherweight, Servo ran up a 91-4 record and captured both a Golden Gloves and a Diamond Belt championship at featherweight.

Servo turned pro as a featherweight in August 1938, boxing to a 6-round decision victory at Griffith Stadium in Washington, DC. Standing 5'7", Servo spent most of his pre-war career fighting as a lightweight, and as a welterweight he never tipped the scales north of 143 lbs. Packing only an average punch, Servo relied upon his slick skills and usually boxed his way to victory. In the modern era, Servo would probably have peaked in the super lightweight (140 lbs) division as a fighter akin to today's Paulie Malignaggi, which makes his accomplishments all the more impressive.

Before Wartime Service
Marty Servo boxed his way up the pugilistic food chain, graduating from tomato cans and journeymen to a match-up with fellow prospect 16-0-1 George Salamone in August 1939. Then he met gatekeeper Bobby Ivy. Servo largely had his way with Ivy, but his opponent was dangerous throughout and floored him with a left hook in the 4th Round.

In 1940, Servo fought and beat Lenny Mancini, the father of famed future lightweight champion Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini. Later that same year, he knocked out Eddie Zivic, the brother of the infamous Fritzie Zivic. Overall, Servo kept fighting, kept winning, and kept growing with age. He eventually left the lightweight division behind, but always remained small for a welterweight.

As something of an avoided fighter, Servo had trouble getting top-ranked welterweights into the ring with him. The search for creditable opponents led Servo to the door of the rising, 24-0 Sugar Ray Robinson. In a clash of undefeated contenders, Servo played the aggressor and Robinson the matador. Using his height, reach and masterful understanding of space, Robinson scored heavily on Servo as the Italian-American came on. For his part, Servo landed a decent amount of leather, but usually came up just a little short for round after round. The result was a spirited contest, but a clear points victory for Robinson.

Ironically, the loss to Robinson led to a big fight with Lew Jenkins, the former lightweight champion. Servo handily defeated him. That led to a rematch with Robinson in May 1942, which was to prove Servo's last fight for a couple of years. A crowd of 15,000 jammed into Madison Square Garden that night, intent on seeing what promised to be a fiery rematch. They were not disappointed, as Servo forced the action and boxed well, intent on avenging his sole loss. It was not to be, but Servo made it a very near thing. The two ringside judges picked Robinson, while the referee scored the bout for Servo. Most of the crowd thought Servo had won as well, as the Split Decision victory for Robinson was loudly booed in the stands.

Following the Robinson rematch, Marty Servo was joined the Coast Guard and served with them for the remainder of the Second World War. He would not fight again until 1945.

The Championship
Once out of the Army, Marty Servo fought a couple of tune-ups and soon found himself with a shot at the title. The champion was Freddie "Red" Cochrane, who had won the title from Fritzie Zivic in 1941, but had not defended it sense due to the "title freeze" in effect during the war. Since resuming his own career, Cochrane had suffered back-to-back defeats at the hands of future middleweight king Rocky Graziano. Although smaller, Servo proved no less formidable, and Cochrane was knocked out in the 4th.

He would not keep the World Welterweight Title for long. Servo, perhaps acting on the advice of his manager Al Weill (later the manager of Rocky Marciano), complained of an "aching nose" and vacated the title. This might have been a move to avoid a rubber match with the man widely regarded as the uncrowned welterweight champion, Sugar Ray Robinson. If so, Weill promptly and stupidly guided Servo into an even worse match-up: a fight with Rocky Graziano.

Graziano weighed in only eight pounds heavier than Servo, but nonetheless it was essentially a fight between what today would be called a super lightweight (140 lbs) and a super welterweight (154 lbs). Graziano gave Servo a brutal, but mercifully short beating. Servo was knocked down three times in the 2nd Round before finally being stopped.

The End
The Graziano defeat proved to be the end of Servo's career. Before Graziano, Servo had lost only to the great Robinson. In 1947, Servo was knocked out by a nobody. He promptly hung-up the gloves. Marty Servo would die in 1969, just shy of his 50th birthday, due to the effects of a degenerative spinal disease. He finished his career with a record of 47-4-2 (14 KOs) and a brief stint as the Undisputed Welterweight Champion of the World.

Sources: Archival fight footage; boxrec.com; aprensa-sandiego.org/archieve/october24-03/gato.htm