Queen Underwood: Queen of the Ring

Born Quanitta Underwood, Queen earned her nickname all the way back in fourth grade. Her classmates were giving each other nicknames and since she has always had a competitive spirit - and her real name starts with a Q - Queen just seemed to fit. Does Queen have a King? Yes … her two-year-old bull mastiff is named King.

As a young girl, Queen and her older sister were repeatedly molested by their father. Queen's father pleaded guilty to criminal sexual conduct with a minor and was sentenced to seven years in prison and five years of probation. Queen flirted with drugs and suicide and passed up an opportunity to go to college on a track scholarship. At 19, Queen walked into Cappy's Boxing Gym in Seattle, Washington and discovered she had a passion, as well as a natural talent, for the sweet science.

Queen lost her first bout and - despite her physical gifts - took a while to learn that there's more to boxing than natural ability. Hard work and determination allowed Queen to overcome those early losses and become the Olympic hopeful she is today. How disciplined in Queen in her quest for Olympic Gold? When asked her favorite television show, she replied that she doesn't watch TV.

Underwood is a five-time national champion, winning three times at light welterweight and twice at welterweight, and took a bronze medal at the 2010 world boxing championships. She won her weight class at the first U.S. Olympic boxing team trials in February but fell short of automatically qualifying for the U.S team when she dropped a 26-25 decision to Norway's Ingrid Egner in the quarterfinals of the Women's World Championships in China. Fortunately for Queen, the AIBA, the international governing body of amateur boxing, awarded her an at-large berth as the final American in her weight class at the first Olympic women's boxing tournament.

• Everything You Want to Know About Olympic Boxing
• 2012 U.S. Olympic Boxing Team
• Past Olympic Boxing Gold Medal Winners
• 2012 Olympic Boxing Schedule