Women's boxing is not an Olympic sport. In order to become one, it would first need to be an exhibition sport in 2000.

If that happens, Parker says she might try for a spot in the Sydney Games. Otherwise, the Golden Gloves title will be her top goal.

She doesn't want to turn pro.

"For me, it's less fulfilling if you're getting paid. Also, it gets much more dangerous and I'm not willing to take that risk," she says.

While amateurs box three rounds of two minutes each, pros are in the ring for much longer. Amateurs also rarely knock people out, since no more points are gained.

Women on the Ropes

Parker is still battling the gender issue, both inside the gym and out.

While she says Harvard Boxing Club coach Tommy Rossin was "incredibly welcoming," the 87-year-old was also set in his ways.

"He was reluctant to see me spar," Parker says, adding that such reluctance, as well as time pressures, make it difficult to train someone for competition.

As a result, Parker needed a new coach. A month after putting out a query over the Internet, she got a single response and began training at another gym.

It closed soon afterwards, so the Lowell House senior packed her gloves and headed to the Somerville Boxing Club, where her hard work impressed a new coach, who had never before trained a woman.

"I think he was pleased to see I'd had a good background in training," she says of her coach, "Stoney." "I don't think he's entirely comfortable yet. He has to find a different way to relate to me as a fighter."

"I know I'm a representative of what they're going to think of the next woman in the ring. I've got to be strong in there," she says.

At the same time, "I have an advantage because when I started, no one else was starting, so I know more of the basics than...the girls I fight."

Boxing Stereotypes