Christy Salters, Sydney Sweeney, a college basketball player from Itmann, West Virginia, enters a local female boxing competition in 1989 and wins despite having little training. Her raw talent catches the eye of Jim Martin, Ben Foster, a dedicated boxing coach who sees potential in her and brings promoter Larry Carrier, Bill Kelly, into the picture to help organize training opportunities. Christy wavers about pursuing boxing at first, but her quick success and growing skill push her to commit to the sport. Meanwhile, her secret relationship with her high-school girlfriend, Rosie, Jess Gabor, faces strain as rumors swirl and her homophobic mother Joyce Salters, Merritt Wever, wrestles with the implications for the family.
By 1993, Christy has moved to Apopka, Florida, with Jim Martin and opened a gym. Martin’s controlling tendencies begin to surface, though their relationship grows intimate and deepens over time. The couple marries, a development that brings relief to Christy’s family, especially Joyce Merritt Wever, who is pleased by the union. As Christy’s profile rises, she lands a meeting with promoter Don King, Chad L. Coleman, and signs a contract that sets the stage for a string of major wins. Among these, she defeats Lisa Holewyne and gains momentum that leads to a historic pay-per-view Las Vegas bout against Deirdre Gogarty at the MGM Grand, a milestone moment that helps catapult boxing to a wider audience. Her rising fame also sees her become the first female boxer on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Don King cautions Christy about her bravado and condescending attitude toward rivals, suggesting these traits could threaten her long-term career.
In 2003, at Jim’s suggestion, Christy is positioned to fight Laila Ali, a bout made possible when Lisa helps shape the training, though she loses to Ali. Around this period, Jim’s controlling dynamic intensifies into physical abuse, and the couple spirals into a cocaine habit. Christy confides in her mother about the abuse and the sex tapes Jim has produced, but Joyce dismisses the reports as drug-induced paranoia.
By 2010, the strain in the relationship reaches a breaking point when Jeff informs Christy that Jim has been siphoning money for years. Desperate to leave, Christy reconnects with Rosie, only to be stalked by Jim. He sends clips from the sex tapes to her peers and family, then publicly outs her. Christy returns to the house to confront him, where he stabs her multiple times and flays her calf before shooting her in the chest. A passerby rescues her and rushes her to a hospital. At the hospital, Joyce blames Rosie for the attack, while Christy begins to heal with support from Lisa and the gym staff. She resumes boxing without Jim, who is later sentenced to 25 years in prison for attempted second-degree murder. Intertitles reveal that Christy and Lisa married in 2017, and that Christy has since become an advocate for victims of domestic violence.
