Christy Martin Recalls Becoming an Overnight Star After Winning on Mike Tyson vs. Frank Bruno Undercard

Christy Martin was one of the biggest female boxers of the retro era. Over the course of her extensive run, Martin fought in multiple weight classes and made her mark. Out of her many bouts, one fight that took her to super-stardom was her war with Deirdre Gogarty in 1996.

The ‘Coalminer’s Daughter’ won this fight with a unanimous decision, but it didn’t come so easy to her.

In a chat with Brian Custer, Martin recalled that special moment of her career and gave her take on the same.

She said, “The funny story about that fight was Tyson (vs) Bruno was the main event. I fought Deirdre Gogarty and after the fight, I went up to my room and my voicemail at my hotel was full.” 

Though she won the fight, Martin never expected the response to be this massive. She was overwhelmed, but she felt the media personalities and others were joking around and hurting her. The 52-year-old even called a media person and asked him why everyone was making fun of her.

The media guy then responded, “You’re not down here like everybody’s talking about your fight, they’re not talking about Tyson. They’re talking about your fight down here in a casino.”

Although Mike Tyson vs Frank Bruno fight was the center of attraction that night, Christy Martin abruptly turned into an overnight star with her performance against Gogarty. The two women left each other bloodied, thus entertaining the audience that night.

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Christy Martin – the most captivating female pugilist

Ever since that win, there was no turning back for the ‘Coalminer’s Daughter’. In fact, she became the first female fighter to appear on the ‘Sports Illustrated’ magazine cover, with a tagline of ‘Boxing’s New Sensation’.

Martin fought pro-actively after that win on the Tyson undercard. Even though she suffered a few losses in her illustrious career, she didn’t stop and only solidified her resume. In 2012, she retired with a record to look up to, which was 49 wins and 7 losses.

Martin fought several resilient opponents, but a fight with Gogarty etched itself in the history books.

On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate Christy Martin’s performance against Gogarty?