CHRISTY MARTIN had a life and career fit for the big screen – and her story from escaping death to marrying an old opponent is heading to Hollywood.
The boxing legend was stabbed and shot by her ex-husband and trainer Jim Martin after years of abuse.
It threatened to bring a tragic end to one of the sport’s most inspiring and influential careers.
But after overcoming the frightening ordeal, Christy revealed in a Netflix documentary how surviving that day was her greatest victory.
She said: “I came to some realisation that I got my 50th win when I got off the floor, November 23, 2010.”
Christy’s boxing journey began in 1986 when she was dared by her friends to enter a toughwoman contest.
She knocked out all three of her opponents and pocketed $300 while becoming hooked on the sport.
Christy was then put in contact with coach Jim by a promoter – and her life would never be the same.
Jim – embarrassed at the thought of even training a women – instructed his boxers to try break Christy’s ribs and punch her out the gym.
He soon found out that was not an option.
Jim, speaking from Orange County Jail in Florida, said: “Christy’s got a granite chin.
“You hit her with a sledgehammer and she’s still standing there looking at you.”
Christy was forced to fight for free to even get a shot by promoters, earning as little as $60 if she ever did get paid.
But as her KO streak grew so did her relationship with Jim – before one day something out of the ordinary happened.
Christy revealed: “After one of the fights, you know you’re so excited and everyone’s so happy. And I kissed him.
“I don’t even know what happened.”
Christy had grown up a secret lesbian, hiding it from her family despite being in a relationship with an old school friend Sherry Lusk.
She soon went public with her relationship with cornerman Jim – who was 25 years her senior and even older than her dad.
The two married in 1991 after buying their rings from Walmart and three years later Christy was signed to legendary but controversial promoter Don King.
King was initially going to watch tapes of Martin’s previous fights to help him decide whether to give her a contract – but after his TV stopped working he instead made her shadow box in front of him and saw enough to give her a deal.
But King was not the only iconic boxing name to take notice – an incarcerated Mike Tyson was among Martin’s admirers.
So much so by the time he came out of jail in 1995 – after serving three years for a rape charge – he wanted her on his undercard.
Tyson said: “I believe I was in jail and they were talking about “Coleminer’s daughter”, she’s knocking out people, she’s really exciting.
“I’m like, ‘Get the f*** out of here.’ But then I started going to some of her fights.
“She throws a lot of hard punches, crowd-pleasing. She gave everybody their money’s worth. So I said, ‘Put Christy Martin on my undercard.'”
Martin made history by fighting in the first-ever women’s bout on pay-per-view the night Tyson knocked out Frank Bruno in 1996.
She was booed into the ring with fans convinced it was no more than a novelty act – but Martin was cheered out.
Martin fought Lisa Holewyne in 2001 and made jibes about her opponent’s sexuality – despite her secret lesbian past.
She throws a lot of hard punches, crowd-pleasing. She gave everybody their money’s worth. So I said, ‘Put Christy Martin on my undercard.’
Mike Tyson
She admitted: “I said a lot of rude comments about homosexuals. But also, Jim did encourage that type of behaviour.
“And I would tell him, ‘Jim, you don’t understand, I’m gonna keep saying this stuff and somebody from my past is going to creep up.”
As Martin’s career as a star boxer reached its height in the early 2000s – her private life was the opposite.
She wanted to bring in a new trainer – but husband Jim would not tolerate the thought – and made it known during a sparring session.
Christy said: “He knocked me out. I’d never been knocked out. I’d never been dropped even.
“You know when you’re hitting someone in the right spot. You know when you’re hitting someone hard enough to knock them out.
“He knew exactly what he was doing. Is it abuse? Yeah, he’s smart. He disguised it.
“All I wanted to do was leave him, all I wanted to do was live my life freely.”
In 2003, Christy stepped up to super-middleweight to challenge Muhammad Ali’s daughter Laila despite the ONE STONE weight difference.
Laila dominated the bout but Jim refused to pull Christy – perhaps on purpose as punishment.
Christy said: “He could’ve stepped up and stopped it. I could always say, ‘Jim stopped it, I didn’t quit.’
“But I quit and that’s hard for me to live with.”
In the years following, Christy and Jim became hooked on cocaine, even using it while training for fights.
Christy said: “If I was hitting the heavy bag, I’d say, ‘Jim, I’m so tired. Do you have any more?’ He’d say, ‘Keep hitting the bag.’
“He would go cut a line, I’d still have my gloves on. I was high all the time. But I couldn’t stop, I didn’t want to stop.”
The relationship was disintegrating behind the scenes and Christy pleaded for divorce.
She said: “I would tell him, ‘You know I’m a lesbian, so let’s get divorced! I’m begging you to please divorce me.’
“I went as far as to write up a contract, I’ll take care of all these expenses, just please leave.’
“He hit me and knocked my tooth through my lip. Blood went everywhere.”
Jim denied that Christy asked for a divorce. But he made her fight on in the ring.
In 2010, Christy reconnected with her old partner and friend Sherry on Facebook – but she claimed Jim threatened to kill her if she left.
Eventually, Christy did walk out and Jim released explicit images of her in retaliation.
“This was my revenge,” he admitted.
But the compromising pictures pale in comparison to what would come next as on November 23, 2010 an argument broke out between Christy and Jim.
Following a physical altercation, Jim stabbed Christy four times and ignored her desperate pleas to help.
Christy said: “He stopped everything and just left me laying there… I could hear my lung gurgling. So I know it’s filling up with blood.
“He’s walking in and out of the room to see if I had to died yet. I’m begging him, ‘Please don’t let me die. I’m sorry Jim, I made a mistake. Truth is, I love you.’
“But then by the time I realised he can’t let me live I was like, ‘Oh, f*** you. I never loved you. You’ve been a piece of s*** the whole time. I’m your personal ATM, you’ve done nothing but use me.'”
Jim did eventually walk back towards Christy – only to fire a shot into her torso.
Christy remembered: “He stands at my feet with my own pink 9-millimeter. I told him, ‘You don’t have the balls to shoot me.’ And he shot me.’
“My mind’s like, ‘No, I don’t wanna die. I have to get out. I have to save me. Some way, I have to save me.'”
Jim callously left Christy to die – but she was not done fighting yet.
My mind’s like, ‘No, I don’t wanna die. I have to get out. I have to save me. Some way, I have to save me.
Christy Martin after being stabbed and shot by her ex-husbanf
As her former trainer took a shower, Christy miraculously escaped the house on to the road where a stranger took her to hospital.
Jim fled and slept in a tool shed behind an abandoned home – still clutching on to a blood-soaked knife – until police found him.
The murder attempt exposed Christy’s sexuality – but she received widespread support from the boxing world.
Amazingly less than a year after the attack – with a bullet still lodged in her back – Christy began training for a comeback bout.
And she was seconds away from winning her return fight only for the ringside doctor to pull her out after she broke her hand.
Christy had just one more fight – losing in 2012 – before suffering a stroke.
By that time, her and Sherry had split up and soon Holewyne – almost a decade from their bitter bout – got back in touch.
Jim was also standing trial in 2012 and was later sentenced to a minimum of 25 years in prison for the attempted murder.
Five years on from Jim’s sentencing, Christy married former rival Holewyne in 2017 with the two happily together to this day.
She said: “I love her without question and I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my life. I’m happy in my own skin.”
Christy – who was inducted into the boxing Hall of Fame in 2020 – now works as a promoter and motivational speaker.
And her incredible life story is set to be depicted by Sydney Sweeney in a biopic directed by David Michod.
Sweeney, 26, told Deadline: “I grappled and did kickboxing from 12-19 years old.
“I’ve been itching to get back into the ring, train, and transform my body.
“Christy’s story isn’t a light one, it’s physically and emotionally demanding, there’s a lot of weight to carry. But I love challenging myself.”
Despite all the accolades in and outside the ring, Christy’s biggest triumph was surviving her evil husband.
She said: “That was not just my 50th win but that was my biggest win of my life.”
