Fifteen years ago this week (November 23), Christy Martin should have died. Stabbed multiple times and also shot, this by her husband and trainer, James Martin, the former WBC female super welterweight champion lost a ton of blood, she went into shock, but she lived. In doing so, the female fighting trailblazer won her biggest fight.
Surviving the Unthinkable
Martin, after recovering from the wounds that could so easily have taken her life, became, as she remains today, an inspiration to millions outside of the ring. Martin’s incredible life story would have been quite a powerful tale to tell even if absolute scumbag Martin hadn’t committed his ghastly and cowardly act (he used Christy’s own gun in the attack), and right now in theatres everywhere, the movie ‘Christy’ is telling it. Now, the film has received some negative reviews, mainly because star Sydney Sweeney is not very popular right now (in part due to the actor’s political leanings).
But the film is great. It’s an accurate telling of a story that could so easily have been exaggerated, and everybody is excellent: Sweeney as Christy, Ben Foster as the loathsome Jim Martin, Chad L. Coleman as Don King.
Why the New Film Matters
It could be argued that the superb Netflix documentary, ‘Deal with the Devil,’ from 2021, is a more engrossing and more moving piece of work, yet the new movie is absolutely worth seeing. Martin, a great fighter who came up the hard way and fought hard right the way through her entire boxing career – from tough-man (or woman) fights to the world stage and becoming the first female athlete to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated – is impossible not to like and admire Martin along with her many achievements. Martin, who died in November of 2024, was impossible not to hate.
And the new flick captures it all and more.
Back in 2021, Martin was kind enough to speak with ESB, largely about the documentary and her current feelings about her would-be killer. Martin was certain back then that Jim Martin would live long enough to return to freedom, and, the former champ feared, try again to kill her – “He would be 92 if he gets out,” Christy said of Martin. “Do I think there’s a chance he’ll live to be one or two days past his release date just so he can try and kill me again? Absolutely.”
Thankfully, this will not be the case, with Martin dying at age 80.
Why ‘Christy’ Is Worth Seeing Today
“It was good therapy for me [the making of the documentary], to go through that crazy life and to share it,” Christy told me. “The moment I woke up in the hospital after being shot and stabbed and left for dead, I said to myself that God put me here for a reason. And still today, I feel that reason is to help other people. I used to feel like, if I help one other person, then I’ve done my job. But recently, I’ve felt like I need to help one person every day. That’s my goal.
Go and see ‘Christy,’ and who knows, it might help you a whole lot, while also entertaining, inspiring, and moving you.