Body: Monica Rumler, 24, 5-feet-7, 125 pounds, recent Barry University graduate who lives in North Bay Village.

Her passion: Boxing. After starting to train earlier this year, she won the featherweight division in an amateur National Golden Glove competition in Hollywood in July.

How she started: 'I joined a gym (Ultimate Boxing and Fitness in North Miami Beach) near my house 11 months ago. I moved here from Illinois to go to school and I had always worked out before or been involved in a sport like volleyball and softball. I had to do something. I thought, `I'll try boxing, I guess.' I started with a one-hour class. I did the punching bags. I tried kickboxing. I would go to class three times a week. One day, one of my instructors approached me and asked if I'd be interested in training with an amateur team there.''

Hooked: ``I'm really surprised at how much I like it. I'm not really a mean person. I'm not a fighter. I was never in a fight growing up ever. But I surprise myself. I look at it more as a sport with technique behind it. It's not just going in there and brawling.''

Building endurance: ``Amateur has three two-minute rounds at the novice level and four two-minute rounds at the open level. It used to be exhausting. That's why conditioning is so important. You have to have stamina to keep going.''

Workouts: ``I'm there almost every day for two hours. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I do strength and conditioning. We work on speed and quickness and foot drills. We rarely pick up weights. If I do, it's no more than eight pounds. I'm just trying to tone up and get strong. After that, we'll spar or I'll run. I don't look at distance, but I go for time -- between 30 and 45 minutes. On Tuesday and Thursday, we're boxing and sparring. On Saturdays, I come in for a light workout. Sunday is my day off, thank God.''

Body changes: ``I'm getting more definition. I'm seeing muscles I knew I had but never thought I could show -- definitely my abs and arms. We do a lot of core training with rubber bands. We don't just sit down and do sit-ups. It all works together. That's why I love it.''

Training partner: ``The gym paired me and another girl up so we could train together instead of always training with guys, but we do spar with guys.''

Diet: ``I've always eaten healthy, but I find myself doing more organic and vegetarian right now. I see a difference in my results and the way I feel.''

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