Martin promises Holm a world of hurt

Text and photos by Chris Cozzone

Crowds can be a funny thing.

Before women’s fight legend Christy Martin showed up to train, the intimate crowd that convened Tuesday night at Stephanie Jaramillo’s gym in the South Valley whiled away the time discussing all the possible outcomes of Friday night’s fight.

I heard:

Holm has the style to beat her . . .

. . . Martin's too experienced . . .

I don’t know, Holly can hit and move.

Martin’s too strong.

. . . but Holly’s young and fast. Martin’s getting old.

I’ll take Martin by knockout.

No way--Holm by decision . . . .

By the end of the evening, however, after everyone had watched Martin work out, there was a change in the weather. Now, there was:

She’s too strong . . .

. . . hits like a guy . . .

Holly’s in trouble . . . .

I hope Holly can run.

In boxing, it’s all about timing. One champion wanes, a young and hungry contender takes over. De La Hoya beat an old legend in Chavez. Johnson and Tarver knocked out a Jones past his prime. Same ol’ story.

Women’s boxing hasn’t been around long enough to see too much of that, but, Friday night, the classic elements are in place.

Holm, 23, is young. Martin, 37, is not.

Holm is on the rise, while Martin, inactive and less-than-brilliant in her last two key fights, may be seen by some as starting to slip.

Then again, maybe not.

“I’m in the best shape of my life,” says an adamant Martin, who has been walking around at the contracted weight of 144-145 for the past two weeks.

“Is Father time catching up with me? I hope they think that. I hope her camp thinks so because they’re gonna be surprised on Friday night. I’m better than I’ve ever been. I feel 25, not 37.”

Martin says she feels so invigorated, of late, that, after beating Holm, she is going to target 135—a weight she hasn’t been at for nine years.

Part of her renewed vigor has to do with Lucia Rijker and the million dollar payday that was slated for July—a big showdown that was nixed when Rijker pulled out with an injury.

The other half of her motivation has to do with a comment that was made in August when the Holm fight was originally announced.

“It was something her trainer said—I don’t even know his name—but it really lit a fire under me.”

In referencing the big step-up in competition, Holm’s trainer, Mike Winkeljohn, told the press that Holly would not only step up, but would “leap right over Christy Martin” by winning.

“I don’t think anybody can ‘leap’ over me. Even Laila can tell you that I gave a pretty good battle for four rounds. But someone my size? Definitely not. He made a mistake, but he’s young and inexperienced.

“For Lucia, I just wanted to knock her out and win. But with this comment, it brought back this viciousness I haven’t had for a long, long time. Now, when I hit her I don’t want to just knock her out, I want to hurt her. I want her to feel it. I want her to think about it, every time I hit her. I haven’t felt like that in a long time.

“I’m back to the old Christy Martin—and I have to thank him for that . . . but I don’t know if she is gonna thank him for that on Friday night.”

Up to this point, including her training for Rijker, Martin has clocked 200 rounds of sparring.

“There’s been a lot of variation—guys, girls, lefties, right-handers, boxers, brawlers . . . I’m ready for anything.

“For Holly, I hear she moves a lot. I’ve never seen her fight, but I expect she’s going to feel bigger than me because of her height. She’s a pretty broad girl, too, so I’m expecting her to come and jump at me. I just have to get inside—that’s where her advantages go out the window.”

Holm will not only have the height advantage but the weight. Martin has been walking around at 145—the contract weight is 144—while Holm will probably be well over 150 the night of the fight.

Holm is also a southpaw.

“It’s always more difficult for right-handers to fight a southpaw because we don’t see them as often as they see us. But I doubt she’s as good as Laura Serrano, the only other southpaw I fought.”

In 1994, Martin fought a six-round draw with Serrano.

Martin says she’s also not concerned with fighting in Holm’s hometown.

Judges for the non-televised ten-rounder will be evenly split: one from Florida—Martin’s home state, one from New Mexico, and the third from Nevada.

“The major difference between us is experience,” she says.

Martin is 46-3-2, 31 KOs, while Holm is 10-1-2, 3 KOs.

“That’s what I have that nobody else does, all that fight experience, all those rounds.”

After this fight, Martin is looking at few more big fights before even thinking about hanging up the gloves.

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