Rio Olympics 2016 – The First Name for U.S Olympic Boxing Team Announced

On Monday, the first participant of the U.S Olympic boxing team for the upcoming Rio Olympics 2016 was announced. The lightweight contender Carlos Balderas is the lucky fighter who has been awarded his spot in the team.

The 19 year old pugilist said that he feels wonderful after getting his name in the team. He said, “We’ve been climbing up the ranks, and it’s a wonderful feeling because I remember when I told my dad [that I am going to the Olympics], and my dad got emotional. My dad teared up. As a kid you are set to so many standards and you’re told that you’re not good enough for this. You’re only capable of a certain amount of things and I’ve proved to a lot of people that with God, anything is possible.”

Balderas also said that he went to boxing gym for the first time when he was a kid and it was supposedly a punishment for him. But it turned out that Balderas was a natural boxer. He said, “I was getting into the fights and getting into trouble and so, they took me to the boxing gym so another kid could whoop on me and straighten me out. The other kid actually had some experience and it was my first time in a boxing gym but it actually went the other way around. They asked if I had boxed before and I told them that I hadn’t and we realized that I just a natural-born fighter.”

The U.S Olympic trials for Rio Olympics are going to start from December 7 and end on December 12. Those who qualify will get their spots on the U.S Olympic teams. Rio Olympics will be held next year in August. The women boxing trials were held lately in October and three boxing stars have been selected to represent the U.S women boxing team. Ginny Fuchs, Mikaela Mayer and Claressa Shields are the three American pugilists who will be going to the Rio Olympics to represent their country.