Boxer Martin bears down on milestone

Sitting on a hilltop between Newman and Hauser lakes, Christy Martin talked about bears and boxing, in that order.

The most accomplished woman in professional boxing, Martin had just finished a workout at Clint Anderson’s out-of-the-way gym and talk of a bear in the vicinity was something new for a woman who lives in Orlando, Fla.

“This reminds me a lot of West Virginia, where I was born,” she said, scanning the horizon.

A trailblazer for women in professional boxing, Martin highlights Friday’s card at the Coeur d’Alene Casino’s House of Fury. Martin takes on Angelica Martinez in one of two main events. Sandpoint’s Favio Medina takes on Rudy Lovato on the co-main event. The undercard is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

Martin will do double duty at Worley. She also manages heavyweight Derrick Brown, who fights Gary Gomez on the undercard.

“I have two fighters that I’m managing: Derrick Brown and Rowland Bryant, a middleweight,” she said. “I’m managing them and Jim (her husband and trainer) is training them both.

“I’m enjoying managing and we’re looking for a couple more fighters to bring in. I’m still going to fight – I still want to get to 50 wins.”

Martin, 38, is a veteran of 52 professional fights with a record of 46 wins (31 by knockout), four losses and two draws.

Martin’s fourth loss came in her most recent fight, a 10-round unanimous decision to unheralded Holly Holm in Albuquerque, N.M., in September 2005.

Martin spent the fight chasing Holm around the ring, yet the home-town fighter kept winning on judge’s scorecard.

“There was one round where she threw exactly seven punches and missed me with every single one,” Martin said, laughing. “First of all, it’s incredible that I managed to slip seven punches. But she still won that round on all three scorecards.”

As disappointing as that loss was, what still makes Martin’s eyes flash is the one that got away more than a year ago.

Martin, who made her name fighting – and knocking out opponents – on the undercard of Don King’s big pay-per-view events with Mike Tyson, was hounded for more than three years by Lucia Rijker, a former martial arts fighter turned boxer.

“Unless you are a fight fan, you don’t know who Lucia Rijker is,” Martin said. “She doesn’t have a name. Unless you go off the movie.”

The movie is “Million Dollar Baby.”

Rijker trained Hilary Swank for her Oscar-winning turn as boxer Maggie Fitzgerald and doubled as the film’s villain: dirty boxer Billie “The Blue Bear.”

Promoter Bob Arum set up a big-money fight to coincide with the release of the movie “Million Dollar Baby” on DVD. The fight, scheduled for July 2005, was dubbed “Million Dollar Lady,” with a seven-figure payday for the victor.

“The fight was a natural,” Martin said. “There was all that attention from the movie and it just made sense to tie the fight into all that.”

But at the last minute, Rijker, who stalked fights and interrupted press conferences to challenge Martin, pulled out.

“Nine days,” Martin said, her teeth clenching in anger. “Nine days before the fight, it was all canceled.

“She claims she ruptured her Achilles tendon. But people who were there told me she walked out of the gym. If you rupture your Achilles tendon, you don’t walk anywhere. You go down in pain and are screaming in pain.

“I guess I’ll never know the truth.”

Martin still has not seen the movie.

“If you’re a boxer, that’s not the kind of movie you’re going to want to see,” she said. “Besides, if I was going to fight Lucia Rijker for real, I didn’t the images from the movie in my head to distract me. She’s a dirty fighter for real, but watching her be a dirty fighter in the movie was too much.

“I do know how it ends. I’ve seen bits and pieces of it while flipping channels.”