A fighter with a well-deserved
reputation for both toughness and skill, Martin has appeared on cards
with champions Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, had a long (and
sometimes contentious) relationship with infamous promoter Don King,
and was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated in April 1996.
Currently training in the outdoor ring at the
International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, Martin is looking to
bolster her record with a 49th win against Dakota Stone (9-7) and claim
the vacant WBC super welterweight title at the New York State Fair’s
Grandstand on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 7:30 p.m. The card also features
Olympic heavyweight Jason Estrada and James McGirt Jr., and four other
under-card bouts. Tickets cost $15 and $20; purchasers should save
their stub, which will be good for admission to the International
Boxing Hall of Fame.
Christy Martin, who boxes at the State Fair on
Wednesday, at 7:30 p.m.: “My father keeps telling me to retire, but as
long as I feel good I’ll keep going.”
Shortly before four impressive rounds of sparring with a capable male opponent, Martin sat down with The New Times for an interview.
Q: Joyce Carol Oates said, “Boxing is for men, and is about men, and is men.” What attracts women like you to boxing?
A: I didn’t grow up expecting to be a
professional boxer. I have a degree in education. In college someone
dared me to enter a “tough man” boxing event. I just got hooked on the
sport. I don’t think there’s anything more challenging, mentally or
physically, than the sport of boxing. We live in a man’s world. I don’t
have a problem with this. I’m not competing with men. I just always
wanted to fit into the sport of boxing.
Q: One of the things that happens in boxing is that you get hit in the face. Men don’t worry too much about that. Do you?
A: The way things are today, you break
something, you fix it. There are some pretty boys in the sport: Oscar
de la Hoya, Alexis Arguello, Roy Jones. Good-looking guys. Why do they
want to get hit in the face? I don’t think it’s any different for women.
Q: As a popular sport, boxing has gone through a period of decline. Where does women’s boxing fit into the current sports scene?
A: Boxing as a whole is down right now.
I don’t think women’s boxing was ever much. Christy Martin’s career,
promoted by Don King, the greatest promoter ever, fighting on the
under-cards of Mike Tyson, love him or hate him, one of the most
exciting heavyweights in the history of the sport. He wanted me to be
on the card. I was in the right place at the right time, I put on good
shows, I fought hard. I wanted to fit into boxing. I had and am
continuing to have a very successful boxing career. There’s no other
woman boxer that ever had, or probably ever will have, the career that
I’ve had.
Q: This is your 20th year in boxing. You have a record of 48-5-3. You’ve been a champion twice, and you were on the cover of Sports Illustrated. What are your goals now?
A: I want to get to 50 wins, so
hopefully we put 49 in the bank on Sept. 2. I want to retire a
champion, specifically a WBC champion. We’ll see. I feel good, and I’ll
continue to fight as long as I feel there’s a place for me. I’m
fighting for the WBC super welterweight championship on Sept. 2 against
Dakota Stone. She’s a tough girl, strong. She’s 5-foot-10, I’m a little
less than 5-4. I think it’s going to be a war.
Q: You’re 41 years old. By boxing standards, that’s ancient. Are you concerned about that?
A: Most men in boxing grew up fighting
amateur fights. I had none of that, so there’s 10 years that I didn’t
take punishment. That’s many blows to the head and body that I didn’t
take. My father keeps telling me to retire, but as long as I feel good
I’ll keep going.
Q: You had a tough night against Laila
Ali in 2003 {a TKO loss in the fourth round}. She’s 6 feet and
somewhere between 15 and 30 pounds heavier than you. Wasn’t that a
mismatch?
A: Maybe on paper, but I felt like I had
more power, more skills, more intelligence in the ring. But I got
caught by the first big right hand she threw. She jumped on me before I
got warmed up. I never recovered. It almost put me over the edge, that
I took a knee and stayed down. I’m not a quitter.
Q: Do you regret that?
A: Absolutely.
Q: Do you regret taking the fight?
A: No. I would love a rematch, but she will never give it to me. It was still the hardest fight that she ever had.
Q: Are there any other events in your career that you would like to do over again?
A: The only fight would be the Ali
fight. I would have gotten up again. But just being around the hype of
those Don King shows, with the Tyson/Holyfield fight, or Julio Caesar
Chavez with all his fan support, it was unbelievable. Or when they
closed Times Square and put up a ring so Christy Martin could spar.
That’s crazy. Or when I was grand marshal for the Boxing Hall of Fame
parade {in Canastota} in 1996. Those are the days I wish I had over.
Q: Will you fight differently in your upcoming fight than you did 10 or 15 years ago?
A: I’m going to go back to fighting like
I used to: reckless. It is what it is. If I get knocked out, I get
knocked out. I’m going to go out like a champion, fighting with all my
heart. I’m not going to lay back.
Q: Do you hope to see women inducted into the Hall of Fame someday?
A: To get into the Hall of Fame, you
have to be deserving. Who, as a woman fighter, has done enough to be
deserving? I don’t think there is anyone.
Q: Not even Christy Martin?
A: No. Would it be the biggest thing in my career? Absolutely. It would be awesome, but do I think I deserve it? No.
—J.T. Hall
