On Thursday, October 2, former world champion boxer Christy Salters Martin spoke in the main gym, not because she was giving a boxing lesson to this year’s fight night fighters but because she was giving to the Mount Carmel sophomores a talk about her experience with domestic violence.
A main part of the sophomore English curriculum is reading the novel Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn, which is narrated by a teenage boy who is both a victim and perpetrator of domestic violence. MC students learn about the signs of emotional, sexual, and verbal abuse that can occur in a relationship. Each year for the past five years, students not only study the novel but listen to an in-person talk from someone who has either experienced DV firsthand or who works in DV awareness.
“This age group, it’s going to be you guys who make the difference,” Salters Martin said. “You have to change the way that people see domestic violence, the way people talk about it, the way people deal with it.”
Salters Martin grew up in Itmann, West Virginia, a very small town in the Appalachian mountains. Her town is about 1 square mile and has about 700 residents. “When I tell you guys I’m from a small town, I’m from a small town,” she said with a smile.,
On top of having an episode about her on the Netflix documentary series Untold, she also has a feature film set to release in theaters on November 7, 2025, in which Sydney Sweeney portrays her in the story of her life and boxing career, including her experience with domestic violence at the hands of her former husband who at one point stabbed and shot Salters Martin and left her for dead.
“To have a movie about me, and not just a movie–a movie where Sydney Sweeney is playing me–it’s a lot,” Martin said.
Her story has gained attention not just because of her very successful boxing career, which includes being the first woman boxer on the cover of Sports Illustrated and being one of the first three women elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame, but also because she has the courage to speak about her domestic violence experience.
Mr. Tim Baffoe ’00, who teaches English 2 Excel and Honors at MC, explained how DV education is a major aspect of the sophomore first trimester curriculum.
“Domestic violence is unfortunately something that can affect anyone,” he said. “It’s not unique to race, class, or religion, and any of our students could experience violence in their homes or someone else’s home. Creating awareness is one of the big things.”
He mentioned how Breathing Underwater helps MC students to understand how DV often begins with emotional and psychological abuse before it becomes physical. The novel also offers two different vantage points of how DV can happen.
“The book is narrated by a teenage boy who is both an abuser and a victim. It gives us a look into how these patterns develop,” explained Mr. Baffoe.
Sophomore Sergio Valdez said that Salters Martin’s talk made a deep impression on him.
“Being able to hear a speaker’s real life experience in school is special,” Valdez said. “It helps you in the future to be a better person and not make those mistakes.”
Valdez added that Salters Martin’s speech was very inspirational to him. “She’s a great boxer, but she focused more on her experience with DV, and I believe that’s really important because she’s more proud of overcoming DV than her storied boxing career.”
Salters Martin actually came to speak to MC students three years ago, that time in front of the entire school community following the release of her memoir Fighting for Survival. She still remembers that talk she gave and has said that her time at MC was the most important public speaking that she has done. Since coming to MC in 2023, she has wanted to come back and give another talk.
“There’s not a school that I go to that’s like this,” Salters Martin said with a smile. “The questions that (students) ask are so thought-out. It’s not just off the cuff. They are meaningful questions.”
Salters Martin also enjoys MC so much because of the school’s intramural boxing program which culminates annually in Fight Night. She said that she is going to try to attend her first Fight Night this year.
But this time around her focus was not her experience in the ring. Instead, it was instilling awareness in young people about domestic violence and how they can be part of the change she hopes to see in society.
“If everyone forgets everything else that I said today, remember this,” she said as she closed her talk to the students this year. “There’s somebody out there who can help you. You just have to reach out. You can not go through this alone.”
