Boxing is one of the oldest sports that are played throughout the world. It is at the very roots of the American civilization. Men used to fight each other with bare knuckles in bars since the first immigrants came over from Europe. Later these boxing matches were cleaned up a little bit and boxing gloves were introduced. For many years, boxing matches were only performed by men. However about ten years ago women’s boxing started to appear in the mainstream. One of the most famous women’s boxers that blazed a trail for the women of today was Christy Martin.
Christy Martin helped to bring media attention to a sport that was not getting very much coverage until she broke into the ring. She was signed by infamous boxing promoter Don King in the early 1990s, and she made the most of the opportunities he gave her. She mainly fought as an undercard on the Mike Tyson matches, but she often stole the show. She brought much media attention to women’s boxing when she fought Deirdre Gogarty on Showtime in 1996. During this fight she had her nose broken in the early rounds by Gogarty. However she continued to fight hard and won the fight. I remember this fight very well and I gained much respect for Martin during this fight, because even though she took a beating early, she never gave in and ended up winning the fight by a unanimous decision.
This match was a major turning point in women’s boxing, because the entire mainstream sports media now starting covering her fights. Christy continued to fight and win for about ten more years, until she was confronted with a bout with Laila Ali. Laila Ali is famed boxing legend, Muhammad Ali’s daughter. Ali overmatched Martin and knocked her out in the fourth round. After this match the torch was past from Martin to Ali as the woman to lead women’s boxing into the next generation. However we can never forget about Christy Martin’s tremendous contributions that she gave to women’s boxing.
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