Christy Martin, born Christy Renea Salters on June 12, 1968, in Mullens, West Virginia, is a trailblazing American boxer widely credited with legitimizing and popularizing women’s boxing in the 1990s. Known as “The Coal Miner’s Daughter,” she competed professionally from 1989 to 2012, compiling a record of 49 wins (32 by knockout), 7 losses, and 3 draws. She became the first female boxer signed by Don King. She made history as the first woman to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated following her breakout 1996 bout against Deirdre Gogarty on the undercard of a Mike Tyson fight. In 2009, she won the WBC super welterweight title and was later inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2020, the first year women were eligible.
Outside the ring, Martin’s personal life was marked by resilience. A survivor of domestic violence, she nearly died in 2010 after being attacked by her then-husband and trainer, Jim Martin, who was later convicted of attempted murder. Since then, she has become a powerful advocate for domestic violence awareness and LGBTQ+ rights, openly identifying as a lesbian and marrying fellow boxer Lisa Holewyne in 2017. Martin now runs her own promotion company, works as a boxing analyst and motivational speaker, and was the subject of the Netflix documentary Untold: Deal With the Devil (2021). Her remarkable story continues to inspire in and out of the ring.
