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Boxing for so many is one of the most apt metaphors for life that exists in sports. Get knocked down repeatedly. Get back up every time. It piques the human interest in the gladiatorial nature of the sport. Glendora, California, native Jajaira Gonzalez is a prime example of the indomitable human spirit that boxing requires of its participants. Her journey took some bumps, notably a three-year hiatus from the sport at the peak of her powers. Through it all she endured.Here’s more about Gonzalez and how boxing will be run at the Paris Olympics. How does boxing work at the Olympics? Boxing at the Olympics is a single-elimination tournament that narrows the field until two remain for a gold medal fight. Each bout is three rounds of three minutes for men and four rounds of two minutes for women. There’s a minute break in between each round. In the event of a knockout, the fight immediately ends. Should it go the distance five judges score each round and the fighter with more rounds won is named the winner. Considering the violent and extremely physical nature of boxing the combatants are separated by weight classes where fighters compete against other competitors of similar size. For Paris, there are 13 total weight classes – six for women and seven for men. Men’s boxing has been a part of the Games since 1904 while women weren’t boxing at the Olympics until the 2012 London Olympics.A look at Jajaira Gonzalez’s playing careerGonzalez has been a force in the ring since her formative years in the sport. Her father was her trainer growing up, pushing her harder than other non-related trainers might. In 2013 at age 16 Gonzalez was unleashed on the boxing circuit. That year she would win the World Junior Championships in the Featherweight Division. In 2014, she won her first World Youth Championship in the Lightweight Division and won Gold at the 2014 Youth Olympics. 2015 marked her second consecutive Youth Championship victory in the lightweight division and her third major win all while barely being old enough to vote. After falling just short at the 2016 Olympic trials, Gonzalez was projected to be a Team USA mainstay for years to come. Then her path took an unexpected detour. Gonzalez’s path to the OlympicsAfter a dominant start to her career and with seemingly limitless potential in her young career, Gonzalez would end up stepping away from boxing in 2018 to focus on bettering her mental health. She said she developed severe anxiety in 2017 that made her lose any motivation to train and forced her to step away a year later. She only planned to take a year off to recover mentally. COVID-19 extended her leave of absence.Gonzalez told usaboxing.org that it wasn’t until 2021 when she saw Instagram posts about medal-winning athletes from Spain that her fire was re-ignited. She said she felt as though she should be traveling the world doing what she loves. Gonzalez returned to the ring older, stronger, redetermined, and possessing more mental fortitude than before. A bronze medal at the 2023 Pan American Games earned her place on the 2024 USA Olympic Roster in the lightweight division. With her total international medal count currently sitting at 13 the fearsome California fighter will look to make it 14 with a shiny gold addition from this year’s Paris Olympics. As the Paris Olympics draw closer we’re profiling Olympians with Northern California ties. See more Olympics stories here | Download our app.
Boxing for so many is one of the most apt metaphors for life that exists in sports. Get knocked down repeatedly. Get back up every time. It piques the human interest in the gladiatorial nature of the sport.
Glendora, California, native Jajaira Gonzalez is a prime example of the indomitable human spirit that boxing requires of its participants. Her journey took some bumps, notably a three-year hiatus from the sport at the peak of her powers. Through it all she endured.
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Here’s more about Gonzalez and how boxing will be run at the Paris Olympics.
How does boxing work at the Olympics?
Boxing at the Olympics is a single-elimination tournament that narrows the field until two remain for a gold medal fight. Each bout is three rounds of three minutes for men and four rounds of two minutes for women. There’s a minute break in between each round. In the event of a knockout, the fight immediately ends. Should it go the distance five judges score each round and the fighter with more rounds won is named the winner.
Considering the violent and extremely physical nature of boxing the combatants are separated by weight classes where fighters compete against other competitors of similar size. For Paris, there are 13 total weight classes – six for women and seven for men. Men’s boxing has been a part of the Games since 1904 while women weren’t boxing at the Olympics until the 2012 London Olympics.
A look at Jajaira Gonzalez’s playing career
Gonzalez has been a force in the ring since her formative years in the sport. Her father was her trainer growing up, pushing her harder than other non-related trainers might. In 2013 at age 16 Gonzalez was unleashed on the boxing circuit. That year she would win the World Junior Championships in the Featherweight Division.
In 2014, she won her first World Youth Championship in the Lightweight Division and won Gold at the 2014 Youth Olympics. 2015 marked her second consecutive Youth Championship victory in the lightweight division and her third major win all while barely being old enough to vote. After falling just short at the 2016 Olympic trials, Gonzalez was projected to be a Team USA mainstay for years to come. Then her path took an unexpected detour.
Gonzalez’s path to the Olympics
After a dominant start to her career and with seemingly limitless potential in her young career, Gonzalez would end up stepping away from boxing in 2018 to focus on bettering her mental health. She said she developed severe anxiety in 2017 that made her lose any motivation to train and forced her to step away a year later. She only planned to take a year off to recover mentally. COVID-19 extended her leave of absence.
Gonzalez told usaboxing.org that it wasn’t until 2021 when she saw Instagram posts about medal-winning athletes from Spain that her fire was re-ignited. She said she felt as though she should be traveling the world doing what she loves. Gonzalez returned to the ring older, stronger, redetermined, and possessing more mental fortitude than before. A bronze medal at the 2023 Pan American Games earned her place on the 2024 USA Olympic Roster in the lightweight division. With her total international medal count currently sitting at 13 the fearsome California fighter will look to make it 14 with a shiny gold addition from this year’s Paris Olympics.
As the Paris Olympics draw closer we’re profiling Olympians with Northern California ties. See more Olympics stories here | Download our app.