Outside of Liston, he also won against top contenders Alvin Lewis, Karl Mildenberger, Thad Spencer, Sonny Banks, and Roberto Davila, and was listed by The Ring as one of the 100 greatest punchers of all time.
Martin rebounded from the Ellis defeat by traveling to Germany to knock out German and European heavyweight champion Karl Mildenberger in seven rounds.
Martin appeared to be back in contention for a title shot when he dropped a decision to California heavyweight Henry Clark (record 14-3-2).
His title quest, however, was again derailed when Martin travelled to Argentina to meet Oscar Bonavena in his home town of Buenos Aires, where he lost by decision.
Rather than attempting to slug with the bigger and heavier Liston, Martin stayed away from him, boxing and waiting for the older man to tire.
This victory was short-lived, however: Martin had suffered a detached retina during the fight, and was forced to retire before he could capitalize on the biggest win of his career.
In November that year, Martin had a stroke brought on by hypertension and complications from diabetes, and died en route to a local hospital, aged 56.