CHRISTY (2025)

CHRISTY tells the true, but sordid, story of Christy Martin, the most prolific woman’s boxer of the 1990s. After stumbling into the sport early in her life, Christy is picked up by a promoter who sees greatness in her. After proving her worth, Christy’s connected with a trainer who soon becomes her coach. They get married even though the man is 25 years older and even though Christy had a lesbian girlfriend in high school. As the years roll by, Christy continues to notch wins and is eventually picked up by Mike Tyson’s promoter to become the face of women’s boxing. Behind the scenes, however, Christy’s life is not all sunshine and roses due to her abusive, controlling husband, and things only seem to be getting worse as time goes on.

Joining a tough-man boxing competition in 1989 just for fun, 21-year-old college basketball player Christy Salters finds herself with the winning check of $300 dollars. A small-time boxing promoter suggests she get into the sport. Though she’s hesitant, the $500 up for grabs if she wins another fight is too great of a draw, and Christy quickly disposes of her opponent. The people at the fight are extremely impressed, especially given her lack of training. Some suggest she take boxing seriously and connects her with a trainer who can make her the real deal.

When she arrives at the gym her promoter suggests, the 46-year-old trainer, Jim Martin, blows her off, but her mother forces her to go back and show him her skill. When she gets in the ring, she knocks out her sparring partner and is taken on for training.

As Christy enters the world of professional boxing, she beats opponent after opponent and proves she has what it takes to be the best. Sadly for Christy, women’s boxing is not much of an established sport, and there’s no pipeline to the top. In 1990, however, her future is fully put into Jim’s hands at 22 when he threatens to expose her lesbian proclivities unless she marries him, even though he’s 25 years older.

Three years later, Christy feels like she’s hit a plateau in her career as she continues to struggle to get consistent fights. In fact, she and Jim are barely surviving.

Their fortunes change, however, when Mike Tyson’s promoter, Don King, signs her for a six fight deal that has the potential to pay her $30,000. In 1996, Christy wins the first women’s fight airing on pay per view. Even against world-class opponents, Christy proves herself to be the best and finds herself a true celebrity as she makes a case for being the world’s best women’s boxer.

Sadly, this ride doesn’t last forever and seven years later, she’s forced into fights she shouldn’t be pursuing in order to pay the bills. Jim makes her fight Muhammed Ali’s daughter, Laila, despite Laila weighing thirty pounds more than Christy. The fight doesn’t go well for Christy, and she struggles to find bouts afterward.

Things get really desperate as Christy and Jim continue to struggle financially given Christy’s lack of fights. As the money gets tighter, Jim’s abuse of Christy ramps up, though it’s been going on the whole time. Then, when she says she’s going to leave him, he threatens to kill her. The final straw for Christy comes, however, when she learns that Jim has been skimming money off her earnings, while also sharing explicit photos of her with his friends.

Christy decides to fight for ownership over their house and the gym her prize money bought. Will Christy prove to be triumphant over the man who has been running her life for 20 years, or will Jim prove too powerful of an opponent for Christy to defeat?

CHRISTY is well made and acted, especially by Sydney Sweeney who disappears into the title role. The movie successfully generates lots of sympathy for the renowned female boxer, Christy Martin.

However, the movie has a strong, abhorrent Romantic, politically correct worldview that promotes homosexual immorality. Christy pushes back against her Catholic mother. The movie also often demonizes Christy’s mother. The mother even refuses to help Christy when Christy asks for help from her abusive husband.

CHRISTY also has lots of strong foul language, more than 30 strong obscenities and profanities. The movie also contains very strong boxing violence, scenes of domestic abuse, a bloody and vicious attack, lewd content, and brief cocaine use.