How “48 Hours” helped Sydney Sweeney prep for brand new function as champion boxer Christy Martin

Folks usually talk about which Hollywood star may play them in a film about their life. For legendary boxer Christy Martin, the actor turned out to be Sydney Sweeney. Sweeney reworked into “Christy,” which hits theaters on Nov. 7. 

Earlier than Martin’s story was instructed on the massive display screen, she sat down with “48 Hours” in 2020 to share her story. An encore of “Christy Martin – the Fight of her Life” airs Saturday, Nov. 8, at 9/8c on CBS and streams on Paramount+.

Raised as a coal miner’s daughter in a small city in West Virginia, to changing into a world championship boxer, Martin made headlines as a pioneer in ladies’s boxing. However few knew of the private battles she was dealing with exterior the ring.

Christy Martin, left, and Sydney Sweeney on the AFI Fest 2025 premiere of “Christy” on Oct. 25, 2025 in Los Angeles. Sweeney stars within the film based mostly on the lifetime of Martin, a former skilled boxer.

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Within the episode, “48 Hours” particulars the story of Martin’s struggles with id, acceptance, drug dependancy, and home violence by the hands of her former husband and coach, Jim Martin. “The same story that you guys got, Sydney puts out there for the people to see and to gain inspiration from,” Martin lately instructed “48 Hours.”   

Sweeney spent months making ready for the function, together with intense boxing coaching to recreate Martin’s precise fights. Along with bodily preparations, Sweeney instructed “48 Hours” in regards to the analysis she did to play Christy. “I mean, I had a lot to be able to pull from and go off of. She had her book, there was the ’48 Hours’ special … There were interviews and fight footage. So there was a lot I could prepare with before I met Christy, and then I had Christy in my corner, so I was able to ask her questions and have her by my side and be able to watch her.”

The life and close to dying of prizefighter Christy Salters-Martin

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Martin requested the writers to not “Hollywoodize” her life as they scripted her story. Martin mentioned author Mirrah Foulkes responded, “There’s enough crazy s*** that’s happened in your life, we don’t have to.”

As her survival story continues to achieve extra individuals, Martin hopes it may well assist encourage others. “We’re showing a pathway to get out of a domestic violence situation. We’re showing how important it is for parents, relatives, friends to be accepting of someone who’s a little different … But I’m the ultimate underdog … If you can believe it, you can achieve it. Dream big. My Dad used to tell me to dream big, and I think I did.” 

In the event you or somebody you realize wants assist, contact the Nationwide Home Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 [SAFE].