The next time a boofy bloke sprouts the politically-incorrect insult "you punch like a girl", I'm going to suggest to him to jump in the boxing ring with Louisa "Bang bang LuLu" Hawton.
Hawton is barely five foot tall and tips the scales a tick over 46 kilograms. But this pint-sized pugilist packs a punch.
How do I know? I know because I barely lasted two minutes in the ring with her at Competitive Boxing in Malaga as she rained blow upon blow down on me from every angle.
I am no paragon of masculinity but I am 40 kilograms heavier and at least a foot taller than Hawton, but I only landed one feeble jab. And in return, she rocked back my head with a whack to the nose that I didn't see until it landed on my face. The worst part is Hawton, "pulled the punch", otherwise I would still be in hospital getting my honker straightened.
There was no choreography or skill in the way I retreated away from her flying fists. I was told to cover my head with my gloves and I did in a cowardly display of a man who knew he was whipped.
But once I had a glance at Hawton's fighting record, my Celtic pride wasn't so bruised.
The 30-year-old has had seven professional fights for a record of seven wins, with two by knockout.
Hawton said she only started boxing after a friend dragged her down to the gym two years ago.
"I just really started for fitness but I just fell in love with it and I got that little bug in me and the fire started coming out and I couldn't stop," she said.
"I get nervous in most fights, like most people do, but I just turn it into energy and I have fun with. I'm always have fun with it, which is the main thing."
The mother-of-two said it was still hard-pressed to be taken seriously in the testosterone-fueled, male dominated sport.
"I think women work really hard just to put their name out there," she said.
"It's a tough gig in a male dominated sport – for any sport really and I don't think we get what we deserve to be honest, but that's just part of being a female in a male-dominated sport.
"I hope one day it will change and we start getting seen like everybody else, because we work just as hard."
A slightly weary looking Brendan Foster and a fresh-as-a-daisy Bangbang Lulu.
Hawton hops into the ring on Friday night for a title fight in the women's WBO Asia Pacific Championship in the minimum weight division at the Empire Function Centre in North Perth.
And she doesn't pull any punches about her chances.
"I think it will go good," she laughed.
"I'm pretty excited and I'm feeling good and had a really good camp."
Hawton says if she wins the bout on Friday night, it will put her in a strong position to fight for a world title.
"Yep, that's what I'm hoping for," she said.
"I don't think it's too far away. I've been working hard and the team has been working hard, so it's all going the right way."
