Mother Courage

Why does Mia St. John want to fight?

Simple.

“I love boxing,” St. John said. “I’ve just loved the game, ever since I was a little kid. I love what I’m doing. Looks don’t matter to me. I’ve never really cared about how I look.”

All of which prompted St. John, 30, a former actress and swimsuit model who lives in Woodland Hills, to shun show business in favor of prizefighting.

So far, she has suffered black eyes and a broken nose while sparring.

She’s hoping to cash in on the increasing popularity of women’s boxing. St. John, 5-foot-6 and 127 pounds, has signed a lucrative three-year contract with famed promoter Don King. She is undefeated in five professional bouts, including four knockouts.

“The Knockout,” incidentally, is St. John’s moniker in the ring. It wasn’t her idea.

“I’d rather be taken more seriously and not have everybody focusing on my looks,” said St. John, who holds a black belt in the Korean martial art of taekwondo. “But that’s what my promoter and manager want to do. This is a business.”

St. John has plenty of other matters to worry about. A divorced mother of two young children, she struggles to make time for parenting and pugilism, scurrying between elementary school and the gym.

Her ex-husband, Kristoff St. John, star of the daytime drama “The Young and the Restless,” is her co-manager.

St. John said her career move has drawn skepticism from friends, many of whom question her decision to give up show business.

“I felt like I never wanted to act to begin with,” St. John said. “I was an amateur fighter who was getting thrown into acting and a lot of swimsuit stuff.”

St. John’s next fight is Feb. 25 in Miami against Jimi Chartrand.