Fighting for Survival

Christy Martin

doi:10.5771/9781538153598

Fighting for Survival

My Journey through Boxing Fame, Abuse, Murder, and Resurrection

Published 2022

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doi.org/10.5771/9781538153598
ISBN print: 978-1-5381-5358-1
ISBN online: 978-1-5381-5359-8
Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham

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Zusammenfassung

If you were riveted by the Netflix documentary Untold: Deal with the Devil, find out Christy Martin’s whole story in this fascinating autobiography.

Boxing legend Christy Martin was a trailblazer in the ring and continues to be an inspiration to female fighters across the globe. She is without a doubt the most important woman in the history of female combat sports. But behind the scenes Martin was in a losing battle, unable to express her true sexual identity and struggling to survive sexual and domestic abuse at the hands of her husband.

In Fighting for Survival: My Journey through Boxing Fame, Abuse, Murder, and Resurrection, Christy Martin recounts her harrowing yet inspiring story. Growing up in a small town in West Virginia, Martin felt forced to keep her sexual orientation hidden to please her family and the sports world, eventually agreeing to a sham marriage with coach Jim Martin. While she rose to prominence in the world of boxing, Martin was secretly contending with substance abuse, domestic violence, and an attempted murder by her husband, who left her to die on their bedroom floor.

Fighting for Survival reveals how Martin battled back to life from her near-death experience, how she overcame abuse, violence, addiction, and 40 years of living in the closet, and how she turned her pain into victory and debasement into triumph. Her story is one of hope and self-belief, an inspiration for anyone struggling to break the chain of abuse or who fears to be open about their sexual orientation. It is more than the story of a boxing champion; it is the story of a survivor.

Schlagworte

Coming out Pink Promotions Boxing Mike Tyson Surviving domestic abuse Surviving sexual abuse Sexual abuse survivor abuse survivor Christy Martin Promotions Domestic Violence Awareness Month Domestic abuse survivor Coal Miners Daughter women and boxing surviving abuse LGBTQ books lesbian studies boxing memoir inspirational women's memoir

Keywords

abuse women's studies

Chapter Expand | CollapsePage
i–xii Preface i–xii
- Contents
- Foreword
1–14 1 Dead on the Floor 1–14
15–28 2 Coal Miner’s Daughter 15–28
29–38 3 The Thing We Carry, the Things We Hide 29–38
39–52 4 How’d I Get Myself into a Toughman Contest? 39–52
53–66 5 “Want to Box, Girl?” 53–66
67–80 6 Meeting My Mentor . . . and My Menace 67–80
81–92 7 What Kind of Proposal Was That? 81–92
93–104 8 Enter Don King 93–104
105–118 9 The Fight That Legitimized Me and Women’s Boxing 105–118
119–p 10 Bright Lights, Big City 119–p
133–144 11 Big Fights, Ear Bites 133–144
145–156 12 Chasing a Million Dollar Payday . . . and Not Getting It 145–156
157–168 13 On Boxing: It’s Not about Violence; It’s about Self-Control 157–168
169–184 14 All Done with Don King, But Not with Fighting, Inside and Outside the Ring 169–184
185–200 15 Down for the Count and Ashamed of How I Got There 185–200
201–214 16 No Place to Run, No Place to Hide 201–214
215–224 17 Sex, Drugs, and Videotapes 215–224
225–234 18 A Champion Again, But Not for Long 225–234
235–248 19 Comeback to Nowhere 235–248
249–260 20 One Life Ends and So Does Another 249–260
261–272 21 Necessary Endings, New Beginnings 261–272
273–286 Index 273–286
287–288 About the Authors 287–288

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