(AUG 10) Melissa Hernandez is into the fifth or sixth minute of her answer to my first question as we sit in an overheated Gleasons Gym, last week. She began her soliloquy by covering her scheduled fight with Ana Julaton, for the WIBA super featherweight crown, which had been pushed back to September 18, while noting that she was glad she had taken a fight in Panama with unbeaten Ambar Fajardo (a five round TKO win), two weeks prior to the original date for the Julaton bout, "otherwise, I might be broke." Hernandez then seamlessly segued into an opinion that far too many of today's boxing promoters fail to put good female fighters on their cards for fear of showing up male under-card fighters and, that point established, she quickly warms to the subject of her friendship with Melissa St. Vil and what she (Hernandez) would do if a certain Las Vegas trainer darkened the heavy metal doors of Gleasons.

Melissa Hernandez has no "off" button and it's one of the best parts of her persona. It's what makes her an exciting presence in the boxing ring; it's what makes her well worth listening to when she talks about a sport she admits she has devoted her very being to, Women's boxing; it's what makes her fearless when, as she has, often, throughout her four year, fourteen bout professional career, stared down those who told her, "don't even think about it" as she planned her next move forward. To call Melissa Hernandez outspoken, is to call Niagara Falls wet. You need not bring a long list of questions to an interview with Melissa Hernandez, you just need good note taking skills and maybe an editing machine.

"I'm doing exactly what was done for me," Hernandez says, turning back to the Julaton bout, "Kelsey (Jeffries) and Lisa (Brown) gave me a shot when they didn't have to and I'm doing that for Ana. There are other fights out there for me, a bunch of other fights but Ana is a good fighter, she's up and coming and now she's getting her shot with me. Like always, there's a lot of talk going on, I might even add some. myself, (theatrical glance) but it will all be settled in the ring on fight night, just like it always is. You never know about fights, but I like my chances. We've got a good promoter putting on the bout (Gary Shaw), a promoter who cares only about good fights and good fighters and not whether they're men or women. It'll be a great show."

Asked about the "other fights out there" and whether she's thinking beyond September 18 and Ana Julaton in the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, CA, Hernandez snaps a quick, "Always," and then follows up with a big right hand answer, "I'm thinking Holly Holm, I'm thinking Anne Sophie Mathis, Myriam Lamare and Ina Menzer." Reminded that Holm, Mathis and Lamare fight in the 140 pound range and bring some "big pop" into the ring, Hernandez flashes a "yeah, I got that" look and replies, "hey, I was 134 for "Chevie" (Chevelle Hallback) and I can still feel her hitting me in the first round and almost every round after that and I know, in fact I'm positive, that none of those three fighters are going to come into the ring with any more punch than I withstood that night (February 7, 2008, a ten round draw with Hallback). As far as Menzer, I want her as payback for my friend, Stacey Reile (Menzer stopped Reile in May 2008).

Realistically, Menzer/Hernandez would be a great featherweight bout and any promoter, worthy of the label, should see that and should start working on making it happen. As for Holm, Mathis and Lamare, the initial reaction is: "that's another world." There may be some 140 pound fighters Melissa Hernandez can handle, but that trio is among the top of the line in a very rich and deep division of female fighters and your first thought is "that's crazy." And then you rewind to June 2006, and recall first hearing that Melissa Hernandez, with all of three professional bouts to her credit, was heading to Oregon to fight Kelsey Jeffries, a veteran of 42 fights (33 wins) and you remember that the "c" word was used in great profusion by most "experts" in the boxing community (including one who is currently sitting, with Hernandez, in Gleasons Gym). And you remember talking to Melissa Hernadez in this same gym a few weeks before the Jeffries bout and the fighter saying, "what do I have to lose, this is what you do in boxing, step up or step off." Hernandez came back from Oregon with a draw that shocked every one of those "experts."

She feels the same way about stepping up and in with Holly Holm, Anne Sophie Mathis or Myriam Lamare. "If I lose, I know that it will have been a good bout and, really, what can happen, I'll have to start taking the subway to the gym and doing my own shopping at the supermarket, yeah, right. Understand, boxing is my life, it's what I do, it's probably what I'll always do in one way or another and if something is that big in your life, you want to go all in. Look at Manny (Pacquiao), he started at 112 and he'll be nearly 150 for Cotto. It can be done, it's just a matter of realizing that and going out and doing it. I have no problem, whatsoever, with that. I want to be known in this sport. Do you know when I went down to Panama (for the Fajardo bout) no one knew who I was and all the talk was about my unbeaten opponent. Well, five rounds later, they knew who I was and they knew what I could do in the ring and no more unbeaten opponent. And not only do I want to be known, I want to be known as one of the best and that's never going to happen if I don't take chances, big chances."

If September 18 goes the way Melissa Hernandez thinks it will, she'll be ready, probably the next day, to start thinking about those "fights out there" and she'll probably be talking with anyone who will listen. Hernandez/Menzer is a "no-brainer" even within the "think tank" that passes for leadership in the sport of Women's boxing. The other three match-ups may take some innovation, some out-of-the-envelope thinking, and that has never been a strong suit for that particular think tank mentality. But rest assured, Melissa Hernandez will keep campaigning, she'll keep talking, she'll keep stepping up in competition and she'll keep stepping on the toes of everybody in the sport. Melissa Hernandez's talent inside the ring is obvious to anyone with any knowledge of the sport. Outside the ropes, she's a bit more of an acquired taste. But inside or outside, Melissa Hernandez has no "off" button and if she ever gets one, she should toss it, right away, because Melissa Hernandez, exactly as she is, is very much of an "on" switch for the sport of Women's boxing.

Bernie McCoy