Journalist and amateur boxer Mischa Merz fulfills a long-held ambition to travel across the United States and compete in a series of amateur boxing tournaments. On this wild and fascinating journey she meets her idols, including Lucia Rijker of Million Dollar Baby fame, and some other truly extraordinary characters. Merz discovers the horrors and delights of the world of women's boxing and gains insights into this eccentric subculture's place in American life. She also meets some of the pioneers and trailblazers of the contemporary rise in women's boxing as well as some of the younger stars now hoping to make it onto the first women’s boxing team in the 2012 Olympic Games. Written in a compelling and highly entertaining narrative style, Mischa Merz takes us right into the ring and reports, with a rare insider’s view, on a sport that has for centuries defined our ideas about masculinity.