Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

No size, but a big payday

She will be giving away 20, maybe even 25 pounds for the fight.

But it's a chance to make $250,000 and Christy Martin is going to take it.

Long acknowledged as the biggest star in female boxing, Martin puts her reputation on the line Aug. 23 in a pay-per-view bout with Laila Ali in Biloxi, Miss. They're scheduled for 10 rounds at a contract weight limit of 162 pounds.

It's $30 for those inclined to see it at home.

"Laila is a spoiled, stuck-up brat who thinks and acts like she's better than everyone else," Martin said of her budding rival. "She's been given everything in life, including cakewalk victories over a bunch of nobodies.

"She hasn't earned or proved anything except that she wears a tiara, not a title belt."

Martin, 35, is 45-2-2 with 30 knockouts in a career that dates from 1989.

Ali, 25, is 15-0 with 12 KOs and is a daughter of Muhammad Ali.

Martin feels Ali has led a privileged life.

"It kind of ticks me off that someone like Laila has ridden her father's coattails to get a fight with me," she said. "Look at her record. Her opponents are all softies and cupcakes to build her up.

"She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and it's time someone like me knocked it clean out."

Martin tried to do just that in a preliminary tussle during the press conference announcing the fight in Biloxi. After Ali insulted Martin, Martin rose from her seat and exchanged punches with her younger, bigger and more glamorous opponent.

"I always took pride in being the peoples' champion and I never forgot where I came from," Martin said. "I think the fans can relate to me because I'm one of them.

"I've always tried to represent the working man, the blue-collar guy. I worked hard to become the No. 1 female fighter in the world and fought the best competition out there to remain on top."

Martin, who has fought mostly at or around 138 pounds in her career, has been featured in Sports Illustrated and capitalized on her reputation not only as the "Coal Miner's Daughter" but as a scrappy, willing competitor in the ring. In fact, if anything, she gained a reputation as a "bleeder" for her tendency to cut during fights.

"I'm very careless in there," she told the Sun a couple of years ago. "I think I get hit a lot. I take chances, but that's my character and style. I think that's what the crowd likes."

The two losses on her record are both to forgotten fighters, Andrea DeShong and Sumya Anani. Martin avenged the loss to DeShong in a follow-up fight but was never rematched with Anani, who won a split decision against Martin in a 1998 fight in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

"When (promoter) Don King first started promoting me, he marveled at my work ethic and how I literally fought my way to the top," Martin said. "I earned my (reputation)."

King promoted Martin for several years, once signing her to a three-year contract worth $1.5 million and routinely paying her $150,000 for fights on major undercards. While Martin and King no longer have contractual ties, it is known that they have had discussions toward renewing their association.

But first Martin has to get past Ali in a fight that is the female equivalent of the Roy Jones Jr. vs. John Ruiz fight earlier this year in Las Vegas. Jones, a light heavyweight, defeated Ruiz, a reigning heavyweight champion, by decision in that one.

"She's gone back to the hard type of training she did early in her career," Martin's husband and trainer, Jim, said of camp. "I've never seen her this determined and this hungry."

None of which impresses Ali.

"I'm not concerned about losing, because that's just not going to happen," she said. "I'm a more skilled fighter than she is and I have more in my arsenal."

Ali, who will also earn $250,000 (plus a potential bonus) for this fight, said one of the reasons she took the bout was to prove herself to the masses.

"I think if you're going to be an athlete and be serious about what you're doing, then you've got to fight the best people out there," she said. "I don't see it as that big of a deal."

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