Over a 24-year career in the boxing ring, Christy Martin became one of the best female fighters in the world — a Hall of Famer and super welterweight champion who fought 59 times and won 49, the majority by knockout. She was promoted by the legendary Don King, arguably the most bombastic personality in a sport full of them. Martin competed on cards headlined by Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Julio César Chávez.
It takes a lot to impress her. But seeing Sydney Sweeney portray her in “Christy” — which debuted in theaters on Friday — Martin said she was at a loss for words.
“If you see anybody do that, it’s one thing. But you see Sydney Sweeney doing that? It was a whole ’nother level of ‘wow,’” Martin told NBC News in a recent interview conducted over Zoom. “She’s the ‘it’ girl. She’s the hottest thing right now in Hollywood. She got down and dirty and became a professional fighter.”
But this wasn’t Sweeney’s first experience in the combat sports world. For most of her teenage life, she was a kickboxer and grappler.
“I started when I was 12, and I trained up until I was 19 [or] 20, so I’d been hit before,” Sweeney told NBC News. “I’ve been choked out. I’ve been stuck in triangles that I can’t get out of. So I kind of already had that background with me. But being able to jump back into it and do it back home with my whole family there, watching me and cheering me on, was just a great experience.”
Still, playing Martin didn’t come easy to the A-lister. To prepare, Sweeney said she read Martin’s autobiography, watched her documentary, analyzed interviews and devoured old fight footage. And, of course, she had the legendary boxer herself for instruction.
A typical day, she said, would consist of weight training, slalom skiing, boxing and sometimes hiking. Often these activities would be repeated and involve eating “tons of food.” She put on 35 pounds for the role.
Martin, who grew up in rural West Virginia and was later nicknamed the “Coalminer’s Daughter” after her father’s job, was a trailblazer in the sport. After winning in local “Toughwoman” contests, she developed as a boxer after meeting trainer Jim Martin. That was the start of a relationship in and outside of the ring that changed her life in both good ways and bad.
While she did gain recognition as arguably the best woman in the sport — and the first female boxer ever to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated — Martin’s private life was anything but easy. In 1991, she married Jim Martin, despite a 25-year age gap, and he abused her both physically and emotionally. And neither he nor her family ever accepted her for her sexuality (Martin was a closeted lesbian for much of her life).
Sweeney said she was initially unaware of the boxer’s story. But after diving into Martin’s incredible life of perseverance, she was “completely blown away.”
“I knew that I had to be a part of making sure that every single person knew who Christy Martin was,” she said.
Part of Sweeney’s transformation also entailed tuning out the noise from the outside world, including commentary on her body (which she responded to in December 2024 by posting a video of her training for “Christy”), and criticism of her recent American Eagle “great jeans” ad. Even her recent appearance with Martin at a World Series game in Los Angeles drew attention online.
When asked about how she feels about often turning into a lightning rod for online discourse, Sweeney appeared indifferent.
“We just went there to watch a baseball game and eat some good hot dogs,” she said. “So that was a really fun time.”
“We’re just living our life,” she added when pressed about trying to ignore the outside talk.
In a cover story for GQ magazine, the actor went more in depth about her public image.
“I know who I am. I know what I value,” she said. “I know that I’m a kind person. I know that I love a lot, and I know that I’m just excited to see what happens next. And so I don’t really let other people define who I am.”
When addressing the backlash toward the ad specifically, she told the publication she tried not to pay attention. “I kind of just put my phone away,” she said, noting that she focused on her work.
Her transformation efforts for “Christy” paid off. Even Martin said it was “a little scary” to see Sweeney’s mannerisms so similar to her own when they first met.
“By the time I got on set with her, she was already in my mind, she was already walking like me, talking like me,” Martin said. “She wasn’t just there because this was the job of the day. This was something that she wanted to really wholeheartedly jump into.”
Sweeney can back up that statement. She said she temporarily moved back home to Idaho and turned her grandma’s garage into a gym. For two and a half months (and often twice a day), she worked with a boxing trainer and a nutritionist.
Martin did admit that there was one area where Sweeney needed a bit more attention.
“The only true [advice] I gave her was to twist a little more on her left hook,” she joked.
For Martin, now 57, this film is about more than her boxing accolades. It’s about showing viewers that no matter how difficult something gets, there’s always a way past it.
“It’s just an inspirational story, my life,” she said. “It could be anyone’s life, but I was fortunate enough that I can share my life and just help other women that are in tough situations have a path to get out of their domestic violence situation. Or if you are debating about your sexuality coming out, hopefully this will open minds to acceptance.”