"Life is much more peaceful these days for Martin, now 57. She says it's been a blast watching Sweeney "Hollywood's it girl" mimic her famous boxing ring antics, including sticking her tongue out at opponents. "My style was definitely 'seek and destroy,' like Mike Tyson and Joe Frazier," Martin says, reminiscing about her boxing career. "Knocking somebody out and trash-talking. It was fun.""
"As a college student on a basketball scholarship, she suggested to a local promoter that women should also fight in the amateur tough-man contests. "You know, it's when you're young and you're crazy, I thought it would be fun. I had no idea what I was doing, but neither did anyone else," she chuckles. "I was an athlete, they were just barroom brawlers, just tough women.""
Christy Martin rose to prominence in the 1990s as a powerful and popular female boxer, winning a super-welterweight title and becoming the first woman signed by Don King. She was later inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. She endured decades of violence outside the ring but now leads a quieter life at 57, enjoying companionship from her Pomeranian Champ and watching Sydney Sweeney portray her in the film Christy. Martin's ring persona combined aggressive knockout-focused tactics and trash-talking. She grew up in West Virginia playing on boys' teams, entered amateur tough-man contests while in college, and married her trainer and manager, Jim Martin, at 22.
Read at www.npr.org
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