“Christy Martin – The Fight of Her Life,” reported by Begnaud for “48 Hours,” is streaming on Paramount +.
Christy Martin was a worldwide sensation within the boxing ring and was even on the quilt of Sports activities Illustrated
Getty Pictures
Christy Salters-Martin says she is an advocate for ladies in abusive relationships due to what she survived. On Nov. 23, 2010, after 19 years of marriage, Christy says she was sitting on her mattress placing on her trainers when her husband, Jim Martin, entered the bed room armed with a knife and gun.
About an hour later, Christy managed to flag down a stranger on her avenue in Apopka, Florida, who rushed her to a close-by emergency room. Christy had been stabbed 4 occasions within the chest, her left lung was punctured, her left leg was reduce to the bone, and there was a bullet lodged three inches from her coronary heart.
She says she was capable of stand up off the ground and escape when Jim determined to take a bathe. “I would love to see the look on his face when he got out of the shower, came back to the room and I was gone.”
Whereas medical doctors labored to save lots of Christy’s life, Jim Martin disappeared. Police discovered him seven days later not removed from the crime scene. Martin, who nonetheless had the knife used to stab Christy, declared himself harmless. He mentioned he was the sufferer of a vicious assault by his spouse and ran in concern to a neighbor’s shed, the place he says he slipped out and in of consciousness till simply earlier than police canine discovered him.
The life and close to loss of life of prizefighter Christy Salters-Martin
30 images
Martin’s protection lawyer Invoice Hancock tells Begnaud that his shopper was a loving and devoted husband who would by no means have attacked his spouse. “There is not convincing evidence in this case, beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Martin intended to kill Christy,” he says.
Orange County prosecutors Ryan Vescio and Deborah Barra disagree. They consider Jim was the heavyweight within the marriage and that he turned a champion boxer into an abused spouse. Vescio describes Martin as manipulative, merciless and controlling: “Jim’s control and abuse led to psychological abuse, physical abuse. … He started to provide her with controlled substances and … put Christy in a very compromised position to where she had to rely on Jim or else her career would be over.”
Christy Salters met Jim Martin when she was simply 22 and he was 47. She was a rarity — a promising feminine boxer. He was a well-regarded coach and, whereas Martin didn’t consider that girls belonged within the boxing ring, he agreed to coach the younger phenom. Christy says Jim noticed greenback indicators. “He thought … ‘It’ll be a sideshow, but I think I can get her in a position where we can make some money,’” she tells Begnaud.
As the 2 grew nearer, the connection turned romantic. A yr later, they have been married, however in keeping with Christy, it was extra enterprise partnership than love story. She additionally says it was a strategy to lastly please her dad and mom, who had spent years making an attempt to show her into somebody she isn’t.
Christy was within the fifth or sixth grade when she says she realized she was a lesbian. “Did you confide in anyone?” asks Begnaud. “No,” says Christy, not till she met highschool sweetheart Sherry Lusk. Christy tried to maintain her courting life a secret, however her dad and mom ultimately discovered and their disapproval pushed her from the household dwelling. Jim Martin knew all of that and extra, and Christy says he used it to manage her. “He would always say, ‘I’m gonna tell the world you’re a lesbian.’ And for whatever reason, you know, I just wasn’t strong enough in me to say, ‘Go ahead.’ I know that people think that I should be strong and tough and all those things. But … I didn’t have that same type of mental strength to overtake him.” Christy says she lived in concern of her husband’s threats to reveal or kill her if she ever left him, so she stayed. Simply days earlier than the assault, understanding it might trigger a life-or-death battle, Christy says she lastly advised Jim Martin she was leaving him for her highschool sweetheart, Sherry.
“I think it’s a remarkable story because you have a world-famous champion boxer and she could still be in a domestic violence relationship,” says prosecutor Deborah Barra. “Because that isn’t about physical strength. It’s about mental abuse.”
Barra and Vescio say they totally anticipated Jim Martin to plead not responsible by purpose of self-defense. On the time of the assault, Jim Martin was 66 years previous and had not too long ago had coronary heart surgical procedure. Christy was 42 and coaching for an enormous comeback struggle. Pleading self-defense towards knowledgeable boxer was Martin’s finest shot at successful, says Vescio. A jury may consider that Christy was the larger menace — one which had required extreme power.
In his interview with Ryan Vescio, Begnaud set the stage for the trial that the prosecutor calls probably the most memorable of his profession: “Christy was the boxer. Jim was the opponent. The jury was the audience. And the judge was the referee.” Vescio responded: “And what was the most interesting thing was, Christy had always talked about she wanted to win 50 fights in her life. Well, Christy won 49 professional boxing matches in her career. That courtroom was the 50th fight.”
Christy sees it in a different way, “Finally, I have been able to come to terms with, I got the 50th win, when I got up off the floor November 23, 2010, and got out of my house. That was my 50th win.”
In 2012, Jim Martin was discovered responsible of tried homicide, however not pre-meditated, and sentenced to 25 years.
On Nov. 26, 2024, Jim Martin died in custody. He was 80 years previous.
If you happen to or somebody wants assist, name the Nationwide Home Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 [SAFE].
