Sydney Sweeney has swapped her glamorous image for a tough new look while filming her new movie Black Bear.
The Euphoria star revealed a messy brown hairstyle and comfy outfit for her role as pioneering boxer Christy Salters-Martin in director David Michod’s upcoming biopic.
Christy’s extraordinary story is as incredible as any of the heroines Sweeney has played.
She married her trainer Jim Martin (played by Ben Foster in the film), who abused the boxer.
Christy’s fascinating story made headlines in 2010 when her controlling husband stabbed Christy repeatedly and shot her in the chest, nearly injuring her heart.
He did so after she told him she was dating her high school sweetheart, Sherry Lusk, and wanted a divorce.
Christy’s pink 9mm handgun was the weapon Martin used.
The boxer miraculously survived the assassination attempt. Jim Martin is now serving a 25-year sentence in a Florida prison for attempted second-degree murder. Its expected release date is 2035. It will be 91 years old.
Actress Sydney Sweeney revealed a messy brown hairstyle and comfy ensemble for her role as legendary boxer Christy Martin in director David Michod’s upcoming film Black Bear.
Christy Martin pictured during her WBC Women’s Lightweight Championship victory
Christy’s entry into the world of boxing began in 1986 when her friends challenged her to participate in a Tough Woman contest.
After winning the fight and earning $300 ($100 for each opponent she knocked out), she was hooked.
The young fighter would soon meet Jim Martin, her coach who would later become her husband.
The couple married in 1991. Christy was 23 and Martin was 48. But from the beginning there were signs of trouble: In an interview, she described their connection as more akin to a business relationship than a romantic one.
Christy Martin was 22 years old when she met her husband-turned-coach, Jim Martin. The couple is photographed in March 1996 in New York City.
Professional boxer Christy Martin prepares for a training session with her husband and trainer Jim Martin.
Christy, a brave and tenacious fighter, was undefeated and between 1989 and 2012 she won 35 consecutive fights. CBS Sports reported.
Don King, the legendary boxing promoter, recognized the young champion and hired her. He presented it at a Pay-Per-View event headlined by Mike Tyson. She became the first female boxer to work with King.
One of the highlights of her career was her victory over Deirdre Gogarty at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas in 1996 on the Tyson vs. Bruno II.
That fight put women’s boxing on the map.
WBC and WBA women’s champion Christy Martin (left) is hit in the head by her opponent Kathy Collins during their fight in New York on May 12, 2001. Martin retained her titles with a 10-round decision
Martin lifting Christy after she knocked out challenger Melinda Robinson in the fourth round of the Women’s Pound-For Boxing Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the MGM Grand Garden.
His celebrity grew.
She became the first female boxer to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated and made appearances on the television circuit on The Tonight, among others.
The highs kept coming, in 2009, she held the WBC women’s super welterweight title.
In 2012, he stopped competing but left his mark: he won 49 fights out of 59.
Christy lands a punch on opponent Andrea DeShong during the WBC Women’s Lightweight Championship on June 28. She retained her title in the seventh round.
Christy Martin celebrates her victory over Lisa Holewyne of Austin, Texas during the Pound for Pound Women’s Championship at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, November 17, 2001. Martin won the fight by unanimous decision
Martin won the fight against Andrea DeShong in the WBC Women’s Lightweight Championship
However, life outside the ring was full of stress and hardship.
Christy grew up in West Virginia and her father worked as a coal miner. Her nickname was “The Coal Miner’s Daughter.”
When he told his family he was gay, he said, they didn’t accept it. It was that rejection that prompted her to marry Jim Martin, she told CBS News.
“My family put a lot of pressure on me… not to be gay. It seemed like it was easy,” he said.
But from the beginning of her marriage she realized how homophobic her husband was.
“Jim would always tell me… at a press conference, if I’m fighting with a girl who’s clearly there with her girlfriend, oh, ‘Make sure you say something derogatory about her: sexuality,'” she revealed.
Christy with her father, who worked as a coal miner in West Virginia, and her mother.
During their turbulent relationship, he constantly manipulated her and threatened to expose the truth about her sexuality.
‘Jim Martin convinced me that the world hated me. … I’m talking about family, friends, the world of boxing,’ he said.
“He always said, ‘I’m going to tell the world you’re a lesbian.'” And for some reason, you know, I just wasn’t strong enough to say, ‘Go ahead…’ he said, in part.
In 2007, Christy’s career hit rock bottom. Jim had brought cocaine home. Feeling desperate, Christy began using while her husband supplied her addiction. But he finally cleaned himself up and regained control.
During that dark time, she believed Jim was recording her taking the drugs she believed were to blackmail her.
In November 2010, she was ready to leave her toxic relationship. She told Jim that she wanted to end her marriage and that she was dating her old high school sweetheart, Sherry Lusk.
He did not accept it and became violent.
“For 20 years he told me that if I ever left, he would kill me,” he recalled.
‘I stopped. I turned. And I looked him right in the eyes and said, ‘Do what you have to do,'” he said, in part.
That’s when Jim stabbed and shot Christy. Despite his terrible injuries, he managed to defend himself.
Bleeding and battered, Good Samaritan Rick Cole saw her on the street and rushed her to the emergency room. She was airlifted to a nearby trauma center and survived the horrific attack.
The pink 9mm pistol Martin used when he opened fire on his wife, shooting her in the chest. The gun has blood marks.
Christy was hospitalized for the serious injuries she suffered when Martin nearly killed her.
Jim Martin, who fled the scene and was on the run, was eventually found days later and taken into custody.
The case went to trial in April 2012 and Martin was convicted of attempted second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years. Now 78, he is serving time at Graceville Correctional Facility in Jackson County, Florida, according to Essentially sports.
Today, Christy is the CEO of her own boxing promotion company. She also runs Christy’s Champs, a program to help victims of domestic violence.
Her relationship with Lusk didn’t last, but she is now happily married to her former rival Lisa Holewyne.
Christy, now 56, has not spoken directly to Sweeney about the film. But she said she is delighted to be played by the young star and has even offered to train her.
