Martin Holm

Martin Holm
Born	November 27, 1976(1976-11-27) Stockholm, Sweden
Died	June 24, 2009(2009-06-24) (aged 32)
Nationality	Swedish
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	103.0 kg (227 lb; 16.22 st)
Division	Super Heavyweight
Style	Muay Thai
Team	Vallentuna Boxing Camp
Years active	1994–2004
Kickboxing record
Total	69
Wins	60
By knockout	43
Losses	9
By knockout	0
last updated on: June 25, 2009

Martin Holm (November 27, 1976 – June 24, 2009) was a Swedish Muay Thai kickboxer and former WMC Muaythai World Champion. In K-1 he fought against some of the biggest stars at the time, like Ernesto Hoost, Ray Sefo, Michael McDonald and Glaube Feitosa.

Biography and career

When Martin Holm was seven years old, he started swimming in the local swimming school. A few years later he became interested in Aikido and practiced it for four years. Soon after he became interested in Shotokan Karate. When he was 14 he entered one of the Muay Thai gyms in Stockholm, "Slagskeppet Muay Thai," where he met Jörgen Kruth and immediately was taken by the sport.

Martin was 18 years old and vacationing in Thailand with friends when he had his first fight. He was not prepared for the fight but his opponent was an experienced local Muay Thai fighter. Holm attacked hard, fired a lot of shots and won the fight by a knockout with knee strikes at the 30 second mark in the first round. Martin decided to follow his training friend Jorgen Kruth to the most professional fighting gyms in Scandinavia, Vallentuna Boxing Camp www.vbc.se, in an attempt to get to the next level. From Vallentuna he had some professional fights and later entered K-1 two years after Kruth.^[1]

Holm fought over 30 fights before the WMC World Title match in 1999, in Thailand.

In 2002, he made his K-1 debut at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 in Nagoya. He knocked out Namibian Jokki Oberholtzer at 1'38" in the first round. His next fight was against Brazilian karate practitioner Glaube Feitosa. Holm won again by a first round knock out.

In 2002, in Saitama, Japan, he faced his toughest opponent yet, K-1 superstar Ray Sefo from New Zealand. Holm lost the evenly fought battle by majority decision. He finished his rookie year in K-1 at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 Finals undercard against Canadian Michael McDonald.

In 2003, in Paris, Holm fought against four-time K-1 World Champion Ernesto Hoost and lost by unanimous decision.

In 2004, after his fight against Albanian Xhavit Bajrami, as a rising star in K-1 and in a surprise to all his fans, Martin Holm retired from fighting in order to focus on his family and newborn son.

After three years off, in January 2007, he announced he will be making his comeback to K-1.^[2]

Martin Holm was found dead on 24 June 2009. The cause of death was suicide by hanging. Holm had been privately struggling with depression and an emotional imbalance.

Titles

• 1994 SIMTA Pro Muay Thai European Champion
• 1997 WKA Amateur Kickboxing World Champion
• 1998 IAMTF Amateur Muay Thai European Champion
• 1999 IFMA Kings Cup Winner
• 1999 WMC Pro Muay Thai World Champion

See also

• List of K-1 events
• List of male kickboxers
• List of kickboxing organizations
• Muay Thai

References

1. ^ ""Martin Holm Interview"". http://asgardmma.com/. http://www.fansofk1.com/article?Category=6&aID=96. Retrieved 2007-01-06. 
2. ^ ""Martin Holm Interview"". www.asgardmma.com/. http://asgardmma.com/2006/12/19/martin-holm-interview/. Retrieved 2007-01-06. 

External links

• Profile at K-1

Persondata
Name	Holm, Martin
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	November 27, 1976
Place of birth	Stockholm, Sweden
Date of death	June 24, 2009
Place of death