Christy Martin: The Greatest Female Boxer of all Time?

Many people think that boxing is a sport for men only. We idolized and remember the boxers to the extent that we use their names to name our kids after them. We watched them brutalized their opponents in the ring to win the bout and the fans as well. People are talking about their upcoming fights and recent activities. Ask the children and the average boxing fans about boxing and they will tell you a lot of names. But these names are all men like Manny Pacquiao, Muhammad Ali, and Oscar Dela Hoya to name a few.

Women boxers are also exciting as their male counterparts. Ironically, these women never reached the popularity and recognition that they deserved by promoting this sport of boxing through fighting each other. The closest among women’s boxers that almost break the barrier that separates men and women are Christy Martin y Salters most commonly known as “The Coal Miner's Daughter” and Laila Ali as of now because Laila Ali is still campaigning in the super middleweight class.

Christy Martin started her boxing career at the age of 21. Her first bout ended in a draw with Andrea Buchanan. One month later she knocks out Buchanan in the second round of their rematch. After one more bout she faced Andrea DeShong and lost by decision in a five round bout. She racked nineteen wins in a row including two wins over Jamie Whitcomb. Her first entrance to the world title came on October 15, 1993, against Beverly Szymansky. She became champion in women's Jr. Welterweight when she knocks out Szymansky in the third round. Martin defended her title six times. She then matched to Deirdre Gogarty On March 16, 1996, in what many boxing fans considered a great fight where Showtime aired the bout. She won by a decision and became a celebrity profile after that fight. She was featured in Sports Illustrated magazine shortly after the dramatic fight.

Martin won more eight bouts beating DeShong once again. She lost her title to Sumya Anani in 1998 in a ten round contest by decision. She added nine more wins in a row beating the likes of Belinda Laracuente, Kathy Collins and Sabrina Hall. Martin beat Mia St. John in her last bout from welterweight by a decision in a ten round contest. Rumors started to circulate about her plan to fight the undefeated Laila Ali (the daughter of the great Muhammad Ali) in the middleweight class.

Finally the announcement was made on June 30, 2003. Many boxing pundits viewed the fight as a mismatched due to size differences of the two fighters. Laila who stands (5'10", 162 lbs) while Christy stands 5'4½ and weights 147 lbs on fight night proves fatal to Christy Martin. She lost by a knock out in the fourth round to Ali. Her plan to fight Lucia Rijke never materialized due to Rijker’s injury. It was dubbed as a “Million Dollar Lady" fight. In her last fight she lost to Holly Holm a 23-year-old southpaw from Albuquerque, New Mexico via unanimous decision 100-90 (twice) and 98-92.