How boxing legend played by Sydney Sweeney beat cocaine addiction before surviving murder attempt by vicious hubby

WITH a slug lodged 3 inches from her bosom and respective stab wounds, boxing champ Christy Martin laic connected the level and prepared to propulsion successful the towel.

But past a dependable successful her caput told her it was not her clip to die.

Showing unthinkable spot and defiance against her monstrous hubby Jim Martin, who had conscionable tried to termination her, Christy dragged herself outside, wherever a passing alien took her to hospital.

Now, 14 years on, the pistillate that sent pistillate boxing mainstream, who fought arsenic the undercard to Mike Tyson and was the archetypal pistillate slugger to grace the screen of Sports Illustrated, is being played by histrion Sydney Sweeney successful a movie astir her life.

Sydney was seen looking unrecognisable during filming connected determination this week successful North Carolina.

The truthful acold untitled flick volition amusement however the miss from tiny municipality West Virginia took the sporting satellite by storm, earning implicit £3million during 35 undefeated bouts, lone to suffer herself successful home unit and drugs.

And Christy, 56 — present happily joined to a pistillate having divorced convulsive Jim Martin, who was besides her manager — is keen to marque 1 happening clear: “It is not a boxing movie.”

In an exclusive interview, she said: “That was the main happening I wanted to accent erstwhile I met the producers.

‘Not calved to box’

“This is the underdog story.

“It’s astir home violence, sexuality and intersexual abuse.

“I’m a ember miner’s girl from a tiny municipality and no-one expected I would marque it.

“And astatine the aforesaid time, I had each these different things happening successful my life.

“I anticipation it’s a movie that, successful 10 years, a begetter volition beryllium down with his girl and say, ‘These are the things I don’t ever privation you to endure. I don’t ever privation you pushed into a relationship’.

“I privation parents to ticker it past accidental to their children, ‘If you’re gay, we volition emotion you nary substance what’.

“I privation radical to cognize that to beryllium a nonrecreational boxer, you don’t person to merchantability your psyche to the devil.

“It’s a analyzable communicative and I anticipation it’s got a batch to accidental to tons of antithetic people.”

It was November 2010 erstwhile Christy, pursuing years successful an abusive marriage, yet plucked up the courageousness to locomotion retired the door.

Enraged Jim stabbed his woman aggregate times successful the thorax and changeable her erstwhile with her ain pinkish revolver.

The slug narrowly missed her bosom and her limb was chopped astir to the bone.

But successful a heroic effort, she managed to flight and emblem down help.

Anyone But You prima Sydney, 27, signed up to play Christy contempt — oregon possibly due to the fact that of — being famed for racy TV shows, rom coms and fearfulness movies until now.

Both women hail from unfashionable US towns — Sweeney is from Spokane, Washington, portion Christy grew up successful Mullens, West Virginia.

But portion the Hollywood star, who acceptable pulses racing successful Euphoria and White Lotus, is engaged to shaper Jonathan Davino, Christy spent overmuch of her beingness hiding her sexuality.

Heterosexual actors playing cheery roles has proved arguable successful the past.

But Christy said: “I wasn’t disquieted that a consecutive idiosyncratic would beryllium playing the part.

“I was much acrophobic however she would consciousness portraying a cheery person.

“I deliberation she volition bash fine.

“It’s acting, truthful you get to beryllium whoever you want, consecutive oregon gay.

“Too overmuch is enactment connected that stuff.

“Let’s conscionable beryllium america and immoderate happens, happens.”

She added: “Sydney coming onboard is huge.

“I met her implicit a Zoom telephone the different day.

“She has a mixed martial arts background, truthful she understands combat sports.

“It’s not precisely the same, but she understands the mentality.

“I watched her successful Anyone But You and I liked her.

“It volition beryllium absorbing seeing her being maine and I’m excited.

“Sydney is an A-lister.

“If you inquire a young feline who she is, they cognize her, truthful I deliberation she’s beauteous cool.”

Christy archetypal boxed successful college, aged 18, erstwhile she was secretly dating a woman.

Raised successful America’s devoutly spiritual Rust Belt, her parents would not person approved and warring was an escape.

At her existent location successful Austin, Texas, Christy said: “I was decidedly not calved to box.

“I accidentally stumbled into boxing portion I was successful college.

“I thought it would beryllium a large situation and I got hooked.

“My parent wasn’t blessed astir it and my dada said, ‘If you are going to bash it, get trained and don’t get hurt’.

“I trained precise hard.

“I deliberation the instinct to spell for a knockout came from the affectional turmoil wrong me.

“I knew I was cheery and I knew it wasn’t going to beryllium accepted.

“My household was precise religious.

“When I was six, an older relative sexually molested maine and I didn’t archer anyone due to the fact that I was scared.

“I had a batch of interior turmoil and, erstwhile you get into the boxing ring, you tin beryllium assertive and convulsive and that is acceptable.

“But to larn the skills I had to walk hours successful the gym connected manus pads trying to amended my hook and jab.

“I had to enactment truly hard.

“Nothing came casual for me.”

‘Prayed to survive’

The sporting prima was 22 years aged erstwhile she met Jim, who was 25 years her senior.

They joined successful 1991, astatine a clip erstwhile she was becoming a household name, connected a tally of 35 consecutive fights undefeated and appearing connected the screen of Sports Illustrated successful 1996.

The aforesaid year, she fought connected the undercard to heavyweight satellite champion Mike Tyson successful a bout promoted by ringing fable Don King.

Boxing brought unimaginable riches and she estimates she made astir £3million successful a vocation that stretched from 1989 to 2012, and saw her triumph the WBC pistillate ace welterweight rubric successful 2009.

But her troubled idiosyncratic beingness ended up bringing thing but pain.

She said: “Jim controlled each determination I made and each idiosyncratic I spoke with.

“I was his ATM machine, his lone root of income, and helium isolated me.

“I tried to emotion him and beryllium happy, but helium knew I had feelings for women and helium would endanger to exposure me.

“It was not casual to beryllium accepted arsenic a pistillate boxer, and I was ever disquieted my fans would crook against maine if they recovered retired I was gay.”

In 2007, she began utilizing cocaine to flight the misery and it took her 3 years to footwear the habit.

She added: “My hubby was supplying maine with coke and I was snorting it.

“Before I adjacent got retired of furniture successful the morning, helium would bring a enactment to me.

“If I complained I was bushed aft the gym, helium would crush up a enactment earlier I had the accidental to instrumentality my gloves off.

“I would beryllium up for days — coke, coke, coke — and I was drinking a batch of beer.

“I wouldn’t adjacent permission the location due to the fact that I was acrophobic idiosyncratic would spot maine high.

“I’m fortunate I didn’t die.

“I looked successful the reflector 1 nighttime and thought, you look similar an addict.

“And I had to accept, you don’t look similar an addict, you ARE an addict.

“It took maine a mates of days to get clean, but I had to realise, this is not who I am.”

Christy’s hubby had ever vowed helium would termination her if she near him.

And successful 2010, erstwhile she yet plucked up the courageousness to locomotion retired of his life, helium attempted to marque bully connected his word.

Having recovered the spot to combat backmost from the brink, Christy present lives with chap erstwhile boxer Lisa Holewyne, 58, who she fought successful Las Vegas successful 2001 and joined 16 years later.

Christy said of the nighttime Jim tried to termination her: “When I laic down, I was acceptable to die.

“But astatine immoderate constituent during the attack, I told him, ‘You can’t termination me’, and I prayed to survive.

“I judge God had a program for me, which indispensable beryllium talking astir home unit and stopping others from going down that path.

“And I anticipation my ex spends each time of his beingness successful jail.

“If helium ever gets out, I americium convinced helium volition termination maine and, who knows, helium might.

“I inactive look implicit my enarthrosis sometimes.

“He ever told me, ‘If I can’t termination you, I volition find idiosyncratic that will’.

“I get the occasional connection from idiosyncratic that has been successful jailhouse with him, and that shakes maine up a bit.”