Women ready for the ring in London

LONDON, England (AP) - The door to the last remaining boys club in the Summer Olympics finally opens in London. Three dozen women are about to punch it into smithereens.

Women's boxing is an Olympic sport for the first time, with 36 fighters in three weight classes competing to make history with its first medals. A sport long derided as a sideshow by elitists has been hotly competitive for several years, and the debut Olympic tournament is expected to bring worldwide attention and cachet to boxing, which has slipped into secondary status after decades as a main Olympic event.

Boxing joined the Olympic program in St. Louis in 1904, but was the only Summer Games sport without a female analogue until 2009, when the IOC added a women's competition to the London program. Supporters had argued for the addition for several years.

New worlds suddenly opened for athletes like Katie Taylor, the lightweight world champion who also plays on Ireland's national soccer team, and Queen Underwood, the five-time American champion who took up boxing nearly a decade ago with no illusions of Olympic glory or financial rewards.

Underwood and Taylor simply boxed for the love of their sport -- but now they're Olympians.

"This whole process has been a dream come true," said Underwood, who didn't secure an Olympic berth until five weeks before the start of the London Games. "So many women have worked so hard to get us here, and now we just want to go out and put on a great show for everybody, and show we deserve to be right next to the men at the Olympics."

With a relatively small field compared to the 250 fighters in 10 weight classes in the sprawling men's competition, the women's tournament doesn't begin until the Games' second Sunday and lasts only five days.