“My Dad Forced Me”: Unfazed by Women’s Boxing Critics, Team USA Boxer Jajaira Gonzalez Narrates How “Downhill” Relationship With Brother Almost Made Her Quit

It was in 2004 that a man from the United States won a boxing gold at an Olympics. For women, the record thankfully stands on better footing. Claressa Shields brought honors to her country in the 2016 Rio Summer Games. At the Tokyo Olympics, though USA Boxing won four medals—3 silver and 1 bronze—they were devoid of gold. The 33rd edition of the global sporting event is just around the corner. The boxing team from the country would once be pinning its hope on a roaster of top-notch prospects. The Manchester-born coach of Irish origin, Billy Walsh, officiates as the head coach. To mentor the aspiring boxers, the US team has roped in Jake Paul and Gervonta Davis as well.

Jake Paul went to Team USA’s training camp at Colorado’s Colorado Springs to spend time with the team members. On his YouTube channel, he shared a video featuring interviews with the chief trainer and the boxers who have come together from different parts of the country. His own thoughts and views interspersed in between. One of the boxers interviewed was Jajaira Gonzalez, reportedly the first boxer from the US to qualify for the Paris Olympics.

Jajaira Gonzalez: Through external doubts and internal conflicts

After a few introductory words, the footage begins with Jake Paul sharing his current role. “I am an honorary coach teaching these fighters meditation work [on] how to stay poised in these big moments, and I want one of these fighters to bring back gold,” he said. Next, it was Billy Walsh’s turn. Expressing great hopes for the prospects, he called out how some of the greatest stories in boxing made their way through the Olympic gold.

Then, one by one, Jake Paul introduces some of the boxers to the fans. After the Texan. Joshua Edwards, it was Jajaira Gonzalez’s turn. From Glendora, California, the sister of two-time featherweight challenger Joet Gonzalez said, “I started boxing when I was 8 years old; my dad forced me to box really at 8 years old.” Gonzalez mentioned how she forged ahead with her journey despite women’s boxing-facing issues and an apparent lack of support. She worked hard and continued to win medals without paying much attention to any of the negative opinions.

Later, she also revealed how personal setbacks riddled the path to the Olympics. One of them was the breakdown of her relationship with her brother. She said, “In 2016, my oldest brother and my relationship just went downhill, like we don’t speak, and I think that really like affected me mentally too, where I just I didn’t want to box cuz you know, we all boxed together growing up.”

For nearly four years, from 2018 to 2022, California was absent from the ring. In 2014, at the Nanjing, China-held Youth Olympics Games, she dazzled by winning the lightweight gold. The feat added to an extensive list of accomplishments at world titles around the time.

But soon issues both within and without the ring afflicted her life.

Rising above adversity

In the ring, Jajaira Gonzalez suffered a few key losses, such as the back-to-back defeats to Mikaela Mayer. But perhaps more significantly, it was things back home that seemingly troubled her more. Reportedly, her physical and mental well-being took a hit. It led to her taking a four-year hiatus from the sport. Speaking with ‘Olympics.com’, she said, “I only trained for two weeks instead of two months for an important tournament like nationals, so I gained 35 pounds and was depressed.”

Perhaps she could have expedited the return, but COVID-19 further extended the break. Finally, she made it back last year. She defeated Camila Pineiro 5-0 at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile. The win won her a spot in the Olympics by defeating. Talking about her dream, she said, “Converting my Youth Olympic Games gold medal into an Olympic gold medal would be a dream come true, and it’s the only thing that’s on my mind. I won’t stop until I get it.”

Fans better watch out for the 27-year-old boxer from California.

Do you feel that Team USA would finally break off the gold medal jinx that inflicted the boxing team for so many years?