Women's boxing has in the past been treated by many sports fans as a taboo subject.

But over the past two years, the sport has been catapulted into the media spotlight by the likes of Laila Ali and Jaqueline Frazier-Lyde - daughters of boxing legends and old rivals Muhammed Ali and Joe Frazier - and by Britain's own Jane Couch.

The US National Championships 2000 in Texas is the focus of a BBC Choice programme entitled Ladies Who Punch.

Julia Day, who takes part in the 119-pound division, talks about the fact that she had a defeatist attitude in life before she took up boxing.

"My family don't know I'm here, just the people from my gym," reveals Day on the eve of her big bout against Pepper Strode. "I used to be a nobody."

Determined

On winning the title in Texas, Day is awash with emotion describing to coach Gerald Reed about her relief.

"I want to go back home and tell them what I did.

"I did something on my own, something I believed in. This was my career.

"It's something my family didn't believe in, but it pays off. They thought it was a joke."

For others like Day, it is far from a joke. Amber Gideon, who is a kindergarten teacher, talks about the fact that she can both be a mother and a boxer.

"I wonder why I can't be a mother and a boxer and go against the norm - I can be a lover and a fighter," said Gideon.

And she is determined that nobody will get in the way of a sport she loves.

"My boys can take the sport up if they want," she said. "But if my kids told me to stop I would help them understand that i would not be prepared to quit."