A twenty-year-old American woman will be realizing her Olympic dream. Take note of the name: Alyssa Mendoza. Training at the United States Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, she will be heading to the Paris Olympics, which is scheduled to start on July 26, 2024. Fighting in the featherweight division, she will be carrying the hopes and aspirations of Idaho on her shoulders. Such is her dedication to win a medal for Team USA at this year’s Olympics, that she’s willing to put her lucrative pro career on hold. “I may stay longer, depending on what happens in Paris. I want to have a good foundation before I go pro,” she had stated in an interview.

According to Boxing Scene, she is an adaptive boxer-puncher, who makes adjustments in her game depending on the opponent’s boxing style. A grounded individual, she is prepared to do the hard work before she makes her leap into the professional circuit. Can the young Olympic prospect from Idaho be the first person from her state to win a gold medal in boxing?

Alyssa Mendoza’s parents and early life: Did her father train her?

Mendoza had secured her berth in the Olympics by winning against Netherlands’s Maud Van Der Toorn at the second 2024 Olympic Games World Qualifying Tournament in Bangkok, Thailand. “It was a long journey but I did it. We got the ticket and on to Paris next,” she said enthusiastically, after her important win. Of course, a lot of hard work was involved, but credit must also be directed to her support system. Nurtured in a family where her older brother and sister were boxers, it was inevitable that the boxing bug would catch her sooner or later. While Mendoza’s siblings started early, she wasn’t interested in the sport until she was twelve.

Alyssa’s father and trainer Refugio “JR” Mendoza started holding the mitts when her child showed interest, and he was shocked. She kept on training and a month later fought her first fight and won. After that, there was no looking back, as she went on to capture the gold medal at the 2022 USA Boxing Elite National Championships. To add to her long list of achievements are gold medals in the Youth National Championships, National PAL, Eastern Regional, and Western Regional Championships.

In the international tournaments, she came third in the 2023 Gee Bee International Tournament, second in the Czech Republic Grand Prix, and third place in the Strandja International Tournament.

“My dad is my biggest inspiration and my main motivation. My dad boxed and learned from his father and then he taught my siblings and myself. He told me I was a natural and all I tried to do was to make him proud and give him all my attention,” an official release from USA Boxing quoting Alyssa read.

Meanwhile, Alyssa Mendoza’s mother Wendy Mendoza helps run their family gym “MK Boxing” along with her husband where students who want to learn the craft of ‘sweet science’ are charged a nominal fee for their boxing education. Reportedly, some students are also taught for free.

Alyssa’s father knew that the Olympic dream was well within her reach and now it is set to become a reality. “I just want her to become what she’s supposed to be, and I know for sure she will be an Olympian,” her father stated in an interview. But there was a deeper underlying purpose for Alyssa Mendoza to realize her dream of competing in the Olympics.

What is Alyssa Mendoza’s ethnicity and nationality?

Mendoza hails from the city of Caldwell in Idaho. Her father, JR Mendoza, is a Mexican born in Guanajuato. Not much is known about Alyssa’s mother’s ethnicity. The 20-year-old fighter with Mexican origins wants to make Idaho proud. As the first boxing Olympian to ever come out of Idaho, she wants to be a good “role model” for the girls who had the same humble beginnings as her.

“It was a big motivation for me, huge. I was like…I used that for motivation when I was fighting. When I got tired, I had that in the back of my head. I’m like, I gotta do this, I gotta do this, you know,” Alyssa had stated in an interview with a local news channel.

Alyssa Mendoza’s faith in God also had an important role to play in her developmental years. She joined a non-denominational Christian church when she was 10, and her faith in the divine spirit remains steadfast as she will be aiming for gold in the Olympics.

All the hardships and trials she faced in her amateur career will come in handy as she makes her way to Paris. A huge responsibility now lies on her shoulders as the entire nation will be witnessing her journey culminate at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Or rather, see it start. How do think Team USA will fare in boxing during the Olympics? Let us know in the comment section below.