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Jennifer Han.

Jennifer Han travels the way of the gentle warrior -- loving daughter and sister, mother hen to everyone she meets, a magnetic, pied-piper-of-a smiling personality.

But her passion bubbles constantly to the surface. Han, a six-time national amateur champion, is now 8-1-1 as a professional boxer. She loves the sport. She lives the sport.

Her smile, her infectious enthusiasm pulls you in ... whether she is talking about her recent trip to Russia as an assistant coach for the U.S. Junior Olympic boys team or her last fight, the one in Fort Worth where she had to gain 10 pounds in four days just so she could have a fight.

"I was so honored to be chosen as a coach for the boys team," said the 29-year-old Han, a graduate of

Han helped coach the 15-16 year-old boys through two-and-a-half weeks in Russia, fighting two teams from Russia, one from Germany and one from Ireland.

"It was a great experience," Han said. "Of course, I've already been through the whole, 'Why is a girl coaching boys' thing.' I've done that most of my life (at her father's martial arts studio). I've been through all that. And the boys were great."

One older assistant coach had a problem with a young woman coaching boys

Chuckling, Han said, "I think about half the boys had a crush on me. But they were nice and polite and they really responded to me as a coach."

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El Pasoan Jennifer Han's passion for boxing leads to wins, coaching