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CHRISTY MARTIN HAS ADVICE FOR CLARESSA SHIELDS; DISCUSSES HER NEXT SHOW

By Percy Crawford | April 29, 2017
CHRISTY MARTIN HAS ADVICE FOR CLARESSA SHIELDS; DISCUSSES HER NEXT SHOW

"It's just different now. Everybody is afraid to let their 0 go...getting quality fights made is the number one issue on the list because for me, that's what I want to provide. I want quality fights...In my opinion, she can't put women's boxing on her shoulders and say she's going to take it to the forefront. Just go out there and be a good fighter and people will notice. It'll bring attention to her career as well as open up doors for other women and create opportunities," stated female boxing icon Christy Martin, who had some advice for Claressa Shields and talked about her next show. Check it out!

PC: The last time we spoke, you were on the verge of promoting your first event, and now you're working on show number two. How does it feel to be a promoter?

CM: It is a different challenge than being inside the ring. So far, I enjoyed my time inside of the ring more than I am enjoying my time outside of the ring. It's a difficult business. Fighters call you and they want to fight and then you offer them a fight and they don't want that fight. It's aggravating, but I think we have put together a really good show and it's going to be exciting. We will put on quality fights for sure.

PC: Do you think the amount of fighters turning down fights are just more abundant now or do you think it was always like this, even when you were fighting and you were just in the dark, but now being on the other side of the coin, you're more privy to seeing it?

CM: That's a really, really good questions because I would like to think in my time and before, big fights got made and fighters lost and the best was fighting the best. Nowadays, it's like pulling teeth to get two club fighters that are undefeated to fight each other and its like, "Really?" It's like you get one loss these days and your career is over, whereas before, you had the best fight the best. It was a round robin. All the heavyweights fought each other; you had the Hagler, Leonard, Hearns and Duran era. It's just different now. Everybody is afraid to let their 0 go.

PC: I have talked to fighters before about this and I think a lot of fans and media have created this monster that one loss and your career is on thin ice. And now the fighters have somewhat bought into that theory.

CM: I agree with you. I personally think it's more of the media because the fans listen to Lampley and Showtime with Al Bernstein and those guys and they listen to their spew and the way they see a fight or the fighters and then they form their opinion. Sometimes we just have to turn the volume off on the TV and watch the fights and make our own opinion.

PC: Has matchmaking been the biggest issue with you with Pink Promotions or have there been more hurdles to overcome?

CM: I think getting quality fights made is the number one issue on the list because for me, that's what I want to provide. I want quality fights. If I'm going to put my name to it, it's going to be real. I'm not going to put my name to one-hitter-quitters. To me, that's the most important thing, but as a promoter and the business side of it, of course getting sponsors and things like that. Boxing is a hard sell. And in Charlotte, North Carolina, it's a very hard sell because boxing is not that big here. They have the Panthers and the Hornets, so they are not even concerned about helping a boxing event.

PC: Do you think it's a situation where you will eventually have to go outside of the Charlotte area and hit up Vegas and venture out to the east coast or are you set on making Pink Promotions emerge in the Charlotte area?

CM: I want to make my mistakes and learn here in the Charlotte area. That's where I am now, that's my home. Maybe I will venture to North Carolina, South Carolina, and maybe back up to West Virginia. Just in those states to kind of just learn and get a feel for my plan. And in a couple of years, hopefully I'll be able to move north or go back to Florida. I don't know, Vegas is pretty expensive and that's definitely the big time. I don't know if Pink Promotions will make it to that level, but we just have to start out as a 4-round fighter, just like I did in my career, and hopefully we will turn into a main event.

PC: If it's anything like your career, we will definitely be seeing you in Vegas in the future.

CM: (Laughing) That would be awesome. I set small goals first and once we cross that bridge. we will go towards bigger hurdles.

PC: When you see Claressa Shields and Heather Hardy, who is another American female fighter getting a lot of much deserved attention, what would be the best advice you would give them?

CM: Honestly. Claressa Shields is a very good fighter. She's very talented. She's a two-time Gold Medal winner and that's awesome. We haven't even had a man do that. She is young. She is young as a fighter and she's a young person and that's where it's going to take time for her to grow and start to understand media, number one, and how to deal with the media. You don't always have to tell the media the truth on certain things and she hadn't gotten that yet. She'll get it, she'll get the media stuff figured out. I think they are probably going to keep her in the Detroit area and let her build her career there and then maybe they'll move her to Vegas or New York and some bigger places and she'll just have to learn to settle down a little more in front of the home crowd. In my opinion, she can't put women's boxing on her shoulders and say she's going to take it to the forefront. Just go out there and be a good fighter and people will notice. It'll bring attention to her career as well as open up doors for other women and create opportunities for the Heather Hardy's. Oscar just signed a girl [Marlen Esparza] Layla McCarter just signed with Floyd, so it's going to open up more opportunities. And no one needs to talk about, this is for women's boxing, she needs to go out there and put on a good show for boxing.

PC: Did you ever feel that pressure of having women's boxing on your back or you never viewed it as pressure?

CM: You know what? From the very very beginning, I never wanted it to be about women's boxing, I wanted it to be about boxing. I wanted to fit into the world of boxing and that's what I tried to do. When people left the event, I didn't want them to say, "Christy was a good woman fighter." I wanted them to say, "Christy was a good fighter," or "That was a good fight to be women." That's kind of a backhanded compliment. It's kind of slapping you a little bit. "You're pretty good for a woman." Come on, man, I'm pretty good period. Once she settles down into her career and understands who she is as a person, as every fighter, she'll get into the flow of it and she'll realize, it's business; it's business, baby! She has to go out there and #1 sell herself and the rest will fall into place.

PC: Before I let you go, I'll let you talk about you next event with Pink Promotions on April 29th; tell us about it!

CM: We have a slam-jam-packed card on April 29th in Charlotte at CenterStage. Roc Nation is going to add 3 of their Chinese fighters on the card. We're going to have the Olympian; the heavyweight. I can't pronounce any of their names, I apologize for that, we have Lamar Russ, who is Lou DiBella's fighter headlining the show. It's probably going to be his last fight in North Carolina. He's from over in Fayetteville and he's a good strong middleweight contender. And the rest of the card is just packed with young, local talent; Stevie Massey and LaVonte Earley. We have this 18-year-old kid, Cole Crumpler, who is trying to make a statement in the lightweight division. It's a jam packed card. I'm really proud of the fights that we put together. We are like a few tickets from being sold out and we still have a few weeks to go.

PC: I wish you the best of luck in everything that you do and keep doing your thing with Pink Promotions.

CM: I just want to shout out to the fans and tell them thank you for all of the support that they give me throughout my career and the turmoil in my life and they are still standing with me and beside me. That makes me feel great that the boxing world has not turned their backs on me. They show their support and love and I really appreciate it and I look forward to what the future holds for Pink Promotions.



[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]

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