American actress Sydney Sweeney hit the stream with behind-the-scenes photos from her upcoming film on boxing legend Christy Martin. The Mullens, West Virginia native became the first female boxer to be inducted into the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame class of 2016 and International Boxing Hall of Fame class of 2020.
In May, Sweeney (Anyone but You, Euphoria) told Deadline she was “itching to get back into the ring, train, and transform my body”. Five months later, the 27-year-old native of Spokane, WA shared a first look with dark hair and muscles.
“Well the cats out of the bag thanks to some paps in bushes,” Sweeney captioned the photos posted on social media on Wednesday. “So here’s a little BTS from my film I’m working on right now.”
“Over the past few months, I’ve been immersed in training to bring to life the story of an incredible woman – a true champion who fought battles both inside and outside the ring.”
Christy Martin (29-7-3, 32 KOs) is a former WBC super welterweight champion, who landed the vacant belt by majority decision against Dakota Stone in September 2009. In June 2011, the latter took revenge via sixth-round TKO in a non-title bout. Martin made her attempt to regain the title in what turned out to be her last fight in August 2012, but dropped a unanimous decision against old rival Mia St John.
Directed by David Michod (Animal Kingdom, The King), the Christy Martin biopic tells the story of the most successful female boxer of the 90s, as per IMDb. The future hall of famer, who made her Las Vegas debut in early 1994 on the Hector Camacho vs Felix Trinidad undercard, reportedly was Don King’s biggest draw next to Mike Tyson.
In March 1996, Martin faced Deirdre Gogarty of Ireland in a bout that is often referenced as the fight that “put women’s boxing on the map”. The contest was featured on the Mike Tyson vs Frank Bruno PPV undercard with a reported 1.1 million buys. Martin, who was bleeding from her nose, won the fight by unanimous decision with the scores 59-54, 60-53 and 60-53, as announced by Jimmy Lennon Jr.
The same year, Christy Martin landed a Sports Illustrated cover. Ten years later, in 2016, SI published a story about the former world champion, whose life was almost taken.
“Her journey is a testament to resilience, strength, and hope, and I’m honored to step into her shoes to share her powerful story with you all. More to come soon,” Sweeney concluded and signed the post “Christy Martin”.
The Christy Martin biopic writers are Mirrah Foulkes and David Michod. In addition to her lead role, Sydney Sweeney is also one of the producers. The cast also includes Katy O’Brian (Twisters), Ben Foster (The Punisher, X-Men) amongst others. The release date is yet to be confirmed.