A woman who was apparently angry at the world in general and at the staff at Sissy K's in particular early one January morning opened up the bar manager's forehead with a single punch due to the large ring she was wearing, police and the manager told the Boston Licensing Board at a hearing this morning.

According to police and the manager, the woman had been escorted out of the downtown bar around 12:45 a.m. on Jan. 6 for slamming a door repeatedly and for taking swings at people on the dancer floor - swings that didn't connect, thanks to an alert bouncer who caught her fist of fury.

The woman, whom the manager described as "a 90-lb. white girl with a pony tail" and maybe 5'2" tall, stood across the street for awhile, but then came back to the door and demanded to be let back in so she could look for her wallet upstairs. He demurred, but agreed to let one of her friends inside to look for the wallet - and the woman's jacket.

He said that the woman continued to demand to be let back in, then suddenly made a fist and punched him in the forehead, just above his nose, opening up a gash with the "good-sized ring" she had on, he said. He said the punch caught him completely by surprise; he said he was not in a defensive posture - he had his hand in his coat. He added the woman did not appear to be drunk, just angry.

The manager declined medical attention. Police found and detained the woman and summonsed her into court on a charge of assault and battery, Lt. Det. Stephen Meade said.

The board decides Thursday if the bar could have done anything to prevent the attack.