HARD KNOCKS LIFE
How boxing legend played by Sydney Sweeney beat cocaine addiction before surviving murder attempt by vicious hubby
Christy’s husband had always vowed he would kill her if she left him
WITH a bullet lodged three inches from her heart and several stab wounds, boxing champ Christy Martin lay on the floor and prepared to throw in the towel.
But then a voice in her head said it was not her time to die just yet.
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Showing incredible strength and de- fiance against her monstrous husband Jim Martin, who had just tried to kill her, Christy dragged herself outside, where a passing stranger took her to hospital.
Now, 14 years on, the woman who made female boxing mainstream, fought as the undercard to Mike Tyson and was the first female slugger to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated, is being played by Sydney Sweeney in a movie about her life.
This week, the actress was unrecognisable during filming on location in North Carolina.
The as yet untitled flick will show how the fighter from small- town West Virginia took the sporting world by storm, earning more than £3million during 35 undefeated bouts, only to lose herself in domestic violence and drugs.
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Christy, now 56 and happily married to a woman having divorced violent former manager Jim, is keen to make one thing clear: “It is not a boxing movie.”
She said in an exclusive interview: “That was the main thing I wanted to stress when I met the producers.
‘Not born to box’
“This is the underdog story. It’s about domestic violence, sexuality and sexual abuse.
“I’m a coal miner’s daughter from a small town and no one expected I would make it. And at the same time, I had all these other things happening in my life.
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“I hope it’s a movie that, in ten years, a father will sit down with his daughter and say, ‘These are the things I don’t ever want you to endure. I don’t ever want you pushed into a relationship’.
“I want parents to watch it then say to their children, ‘If you’re gay, we will love you no matter what’.
“I want people to know that to be a professional boxer, you don’t have to sell your soul to the devil. It’s a complex story and I hope it’s got a lot to say to lots of different people.”
It was November 2010 when Christy, following years in an abusive marriage, finally plucked up the courage to walk out the door.
Enraged Jim stabbed his wife multiple times in the chest and shot her once with her own pink revolver.
The bullet narrowly missed her heart and her leg was cut almost to the bone.
But in a heroic effort, she managed to escape and flag down help.
Anyone But You actress Sydney, 27, signed up to play Christy despite — or perhaps because of — being famed for racy TV shows, rom coms and horror movies until now.
Both women hail from unfashionable US towns. Sweeney is from Spokane, Washington, while Christy grew up in Mullens, West Virginia.
But while the Hollywood star, who set pulses racing in Euphoria and White Lotus, is engaged to producer Jonathan Davino, Christy spent much of her life hiding her sexuality.
Heterosexual actors playing gay roles has proved controversial in the past.
Sydney coming onboard is huge. I met her over a Zoom call the other day. She has a mixed martial arts background, so she understands combat sports. It’s not exactly the same, but she understands the mentality
Christy
But Christy said: “I wasn’t worried that a straight person would be playing the part.
“I was more concerned how she would feel portraying a gay person. I think she will do fine. It’s acting, so you get to be whoever you want, straight or gay.
“Too much is put on that stuff. Let’s just be us and whatever happens, happens.”
She added: “Sydney coming on board is huge. I met her over a Zoom call the other day. She has a mixed martial arts background, so she understands combat sports. It’s not exactly the same, but she understands the mentality.
“I watched her in Anyone But You and I liked her. It will be interesting seeing her being me and I’m excited.
“Sydney is an A-lister. If you ask a young guy who she is, they know her, so I think she’s pretty cool.”
Christy first boxed in college, aged 18, when she was secretly dating a woman.
Raised in America’s devoutly religious Rust Belt, her parents would not have approved and fighting was an escape.
At her current home in Austin, Texas, Christy said: “I was definitely not born to box.
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“I accidentally stumbled into boxing while I was in college. I thought it would be a great challenge and I got hooked.
“My mother wasn’t happy about it and my dad said, ‘If you are going to do it, get trained and don’t get hurt’. I trained very hard.
“I think the instinct to go for a knockout came from the emotional turmoil within me. I knew I was gay and I knew it wasn’t going to be accepted.
“My family was very religious. When I was six, an older cousin sexually molested me and I didn’t tell anyone because I was scared. I had a lot of internal turmoil and, when you get into the boxing ring, you can be aggressive and violent and that is acceptable.
“But to learn the skills I had to spend hours in the gym on hand pads trying to improve my hook and jab. I had to work really hard. Nothing came easy for me.”
‘Prayed to survive’
The sporting star was 22 when she met Jim, who was 25 years her senior.
They married in 1991, at a time when she was becoming a household name, on a run of 35 consecutive fights undefeated and appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1996.
The same year, she fought on the undercard to heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson in a bout promoted by Don King.
Boxing brought unimaginable riches and she estimates she made around $4million in a career that stretched from 1989 to 2012, and saw her win the WBC female super-welterweight title in 2009.
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Meanwhile, her troubled personal life ended up bringing nothing but pain.
She said: “Jim controlled every move I made and every person I spoke with. I was his ATM machine, his only source of income, and he isolated me.
“I tried to love him and be happy, but he knew I had feelings for women and he would threaten to expose me. It was not easy to be accepted as a female boxer, and I was always worried my fans would turn against me if they found out I was gay.”
In 2007, she began using cocaine to escape the misery and it took her three years to kick the habit.
She said: “My husband was supplying me with coke and I was snorting it. Before I even got out of bed in the morning, he would bring a line to me. If I complained I was tired after the gym, he would crush up a line before I had the chance to take my gloves off. I would be up for days — coke, coke, coke — and I was drinking a lot of beer. I wouldn’t even leave the house because I was afraid someone would see me high.
“I’m lucky I didn’t die. I looked in the mirror one night and thought, you look like an addict.
When I lay down, I was ready to die
Christy on night Jim tried to kill her
“And I had to accept, you don’t look like an addict, you are an addict.
“It took me a couple of days to get clean, but I had to realise, this is not who I am.”
Christy’s husband had always vowed he would kill her if she left him.
And in 2010, when she finally plucked up the courage to walk out of his life, he attempted to make good on his word.
Having found the strength to fight back from the brink, Christy now lives with fellow former boxer Lisa Holewyne, 58, who she fought in Las Vegas in 2001 and married 16 years later.
Christy said of the night Jim tried to kill her: “When I lay down, I was ready to die.
“But at some point during the attack, I told him, ‘You can’t kill me’, and I prayed to survive.
“I believe God had a plan for me, which must be talking about domestic violence and stopping others from going down that path.
“And I hope my ex spends every day of his life in jail.
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“If he ever gets out, I am convinced he will kill me and, who knows, he might. I still look over my shoulder sometimes. He always told me, ‘If I can’t kill you, I will find someone that will’.
“I get the occasional message from someone who has been in jail with him, and that shakes me up a bit.”
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