WITH her finely honed six-pack and large chiselled biceps, Denise Mellor certainly looks like a world class fighter. And according to her coach, she can punch and kick harder than any man in Dorset, too.

Yikes. I’m about to step into the ring with the UK’s most successful female Thai boxer and I can barely do a full press-up – this does not bode well.

I watch with growing trepidation as Denise demonstrates some moves with her trainer Lorne Castle, who is also her partner and father of their three-year-old daughter Leah.

The pair knock seven bells out of each other for a while – I guess it’s one way to keep a relationship fresh!

At least she might be tired by the time she gets round to pummelling me.

In the flesh, Denise is smaller than I’d imagined. She’s 5ft 3 and weighs 103 pounds. After looking at her profile pictures on the web, I was expecting the female equivalent of Rambo.

But then Lorne informs me that Denise punches far harder than her body weight.

“With Muay Thai it’s all about technique. You don’t have to be big to be powerful. In fact the more bony you are the more dangerous you are because you are allowed to use your elbows, knees and shin bones.”

Before I become a human punch bag, Lorne suggests that I warm-up first, which includes some frenetic skipping, press-ups where you punch out with one arm and sit-ups. Then the gloves are on and it’s time for our sparring match. We take it in turns to jab at each other and although I know Denise is being kind to me, I actually start to enjoy myself.

For Denise is a genuinely lovely person who doesn’t appear to have a mean bone in her body (she even confessed to be scared of thunder storms!) “I never look at my opponent with malice,” she says. “I just want to win. Before we touch gloves I squeeze my fists as hard as I can and I’m thinking that’s how hard I’ve got to punch her, but you have to respect your opponent.”

At the age of 38 Denise is preparing for the biggest fight of her life – the first female world title to be sanctioned by the World Boxing Council, which is being held in Bournemouth at the end of this month.

She trains twice a day, usually at their gym, the Sukhothai fitness centre in Charminster, which she fits in around family life – she also has a 12-year-old daughter. She fought the Las Vegas champion eight weeks after giving birth to Leah.

“Thai Boxing is such a good way of working out – it’s good for your fitness, you learn some good self defence techniques and it helps to keep you mentally focused and disciplined.”

Although Denise has always enjoyed sport – she used to be a marathon runner – she only started boxing ten years ago when she met Lorne.

“I used to sit behind a desk at a Bournemouth bank looking at my nails and going for a run in my lunch hour. I didn’t even know what Thai boxing was then.”

Today Denise is one of growing number of ladies who punch. She currently has a record of seven wins and five losses and is now determined to add the world title to her list of achievements.

“If you see me squeezing my fists before I step into the ring then you’ll know I mean business!”

l The World Title Muay Thai fight will be held on July 25 at the Carrington House Hotel from 5pm.