2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Boxing Female Brackets Preview

The 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Boxing is ready to get underway from Lafayette, La. next week, where talented boxers from around the country look to keep their Olympic dreams alive as they compete next week. 

The female side of the brackets includes six tough weight classes and boxers with their eyes on trying to move on with the Olympic process. 

We take a closer look at each female weight class and preview who is in contention for earning the title and championship belt on Saturday, Dec. 9.

50 kg 

The flyweight division is starred by Lexus Ramirez (Hanford, Ca.) Esmeralda Gonzalez (Dallas, Texas) and Sheelyn Patricio (Waianae, Hawaii), are the three top seeds for the 88-person bracket. Ramirez takes the top seed of the bracket after taking the gold at this year’s National Qualifier in March, while Gonzalez, a former junior and youth High-Performance team member, recently won the 2023 Summer Festival to secure her place as the two seed in Lafayette.

Following Gonzalez is Patricio, who had an impressive run in her first elite tournament to win the Last Chance Qualifier in Pueblo, Colo. this past September. Other notable boxers in this weight class are Pricila Medina (Fort Worth, Texas), a former junior and youth High Performance team member, and Noelle Harro (Fayetteville, N.C.), who has participated in many Team USA high performance camps as a training partner this year, as well as Zoe Hicks (Lansing, Mich.), who is the wife of 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials Champion Joseph Hicks, and will be looking to use his knowledge to have a successful run in her Trials.

Irene Diaz (Hawthorne, Calif.) and Mariana Tovar Lopez (Greeley, Colo.) complete out the bracket. 

Team USA High Performance member, Jennifer Lozano (Laredo, Texas), did secure Olympic qualification at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games. So, that alludes that these boxers are competing to be a replacement or an alternate for Lozano. 

54 kg

The weight class of 54 kg in the female division is one of the most anticipated classes in Lafayette. The class, with most on the line, includes boxers with impressive resumes including national and international successes. 

From top to bottom, everyone has a chance to be in the top two, as the two finalists will advance to attend the Jan. 2024 selection camp in Colorado Springs, with hopes of securing their position to compete at the World Qualifiers to punch their tickets to Paris next summer.

The top of this talented weight class is starred by Yoseline Perez (Houston, Texas), who is the 2022 Youth World Champion. Perez was the Team USA boxer at 54 kg in the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games and Team USA Elite High Performance Team during the second half of 2023. 

Following Perez includes Kayla Gomez (El Paso, Texas) and Jewry Rodriguez (Humble, Texas), who both were crowned champions at the 2021 Junior Pan American Games in the 52 kg and 57 kg weight classes, respectively, to close out their impressive youth careers before jumping to the elite division.

Rodriguez, the two-seed in Lafayette, finished second at last year’s National Championships in the 54 kg, while Gomez, next week’s three-seed, earned a bronze medal at the 2022 Elite AMBC Continental Championships at 52 kg and won the 2022 USA Boxing International Invitational at 54 kg.

Shera Mae Patricio (Waianae, Hawaii) rounds out the top four seeded boxers, as the reigning USA Boxing Elite National Champion, as well as brings international experience, winning international medals during her junior and youth career.

The second half of this weight class is just as strong and well-rounded as the top. Jasmine Hampton (Ann Arbor, Mich.) was a member of USA Boxing’s 2023 High Performance Squad and took top honors at the 2023 National Qualifier. Lupe Gutierrez (Fountain, Colo.) will be returning to the Olympic Trials as she was the 2020 Olympic Trials winner, as well as won gold at the 2015 Junior World Championships. 

The bracket will also have young and upcoming rising stars making their elite debuts, including Sa’Rai Brown-El (Marietta, Ga.) and Perla Bazaldua (Los Angeles, Calif.), both of whom had impressive youth careers. Brown-El was the 2022 Youth World Championship bronze medalist, as well as won gold at the Youth Brandenburg Cup, whereas Bazaldua was a gold medalist at the 2023 Youth Brandenburg Cup and a silver medalist at the 2022 USA Boxing Youth National Championships. 

Rounding out the bracket includes Chantel Navarro (Glendale, Calif.), 2023 Last Chance Qualifier Champion, Natalie Dove (Philadelphia, Pa.), Claire Prince, (New York, N.Y.), Trinity Prospers (Knoxville, Tenn.), Alyssa Vega (Odessa, Texas), Lia Lewandowski (Berlin, N.J.), and Summer Griffiths (Myrtle Beach, S.C.). 

57 kg 

The top of the 57 kg weight class is Deborah Grant (Spring Lake, N.C.) and Sierra Martinez (Colorado Springs, Colo.) as the one and two-seeded boxers. These two met earlier this year at the 2023 USA Boxing National Qualifier, with Grant coming out on top via a split decision to punch her ticket to Lafayette. Grant also picked up impressive wins this year over Martinez’s World Class Athlete Program (WCAP) teammate, Lupe Gutirrez, the 2015 Junior World Champion and 2020 Olympic Trials winner. 

Martinez punched her ticket to Lafayette after being victorious at the 2023 Summer Festival, as well as brings international experience and Team USA experience to the bracket, as she was part of USA Boxing’s junior and youth high performance teams and served as a training partner for USA Boxing’s elite team throughout this year.

Not seeded, but worth noting, is Alexandra Fernandez (Splendora, Texas), as she brings years of experience being part of USA Boxing’s junior and youth High Performance teams, as well as international experience and returning to competition for the first time since giving birth to her daughter earlier this year. The rest of the bracket will include Atiana Edwards (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Elise Soto (Randolph, N.J.), Valencia Kelly (Atlanta, Ga.), Lizbeth Oceguera (Calexico, Calif.), and lastly Bianca Ortega (San Antonio, Texas). 

This weight class does not have a qualified boxer for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which means the winner in Lafayette will go head-to-head with Alyssa Mendoza (Caldwell, Idaho) in the selection camp in January 2024 with hopes of moving on to the World Qualifiers in March and May.

60 kg 

The top of the 60 kg weight class is Rashida Ellis (Lynn, Mass.), the 2020 Olympian and 2022 World Champion, who is one of the biggest names anticipated to compete in Lafayette.

Following Ellis is Faith Mendez (Ocala, Fla.), 2022 USA Boxing Elite National Championship champion, who also won silver at the 2021 Junior Pan American Games. Rounding out the seeds for this weight class are Ja’leecia Dominguez (Crown Point, In.), 2023 USA Boxing Elite National Qualifier Champion; and Neida Ibarra (Tulsa, OK), 2023 National Golden Gloves Champion. 

Other boxers in the bracket include Lisa Greer (Colorado Springs, Colo.), 2023 USA Boxing Women’s Championships Champion, Jessica Capurso (Sayville, N.Y.), Paige Gilbert (Casper, Wyo.), Karla Hall (Henderson, Nev.), Jessica Lampron (Boston, Mass.), Alexandra Plichta (Austin, Texas), Angielkia Miles (Rochester, N.Y.) and Kenisha Johnson (Nashville, Tenn.). 

Team USA’s Jajaira Gonzalez (Glendora, Calif.) did secure an Olympic quota spot at the 2023 Santiago Pan American Games, resulting in the winner of this bracket looking to become the possible alternate for Gonzalez. 

66 kg 

An anticipated rematch could be seen at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Boxing, as the bracket is deep and full of talent from top to bottom.

The top of the list includes Stephanie Simon (Miami, Fla.), a 2023 High Performance Squad member, and Stacia Suttles (Philadelphia, Pa.), an international medalist who competed at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials. The two met at last year’s National Championships finals, which was Suttles’s first tournament since the Olympic Trials in December 2019, where Simon took the split decision victory.

With both hoping to be in the finals again, the bracket has numerous boxers looking to break up that potential rematch, including Brooke Mullen (Boyertown, Pa.) and Algeria Johnson (Rochester, N.Y.), the third and four seeds in the bracket. Mullen took top honors at the 2023 USA Boxing Elite National Qualifier, while Johnson was crowned champion at the 2023 National Golden Gloves. 

Another name hoping to be victorious in Lafayette is WCAP’s Ariana Carrasco (Colorado Springs, Colo.), who recently defeated Simon in a club show and hopes to do so again next week, has also been a training partner alongside Team USA’s elite high performance this year. 

Other names worth noting as well are Whitney Gomez (Bend, Ore.), who competed at the 2020 Olympic Trials and returned at the 2023 Last Chance Qualifier, as well as Briana Carrera, a former national champion at 63 kg and Carson Crawford (Culver City, Calif.). 

Team USA’s Morelle McCane (Cleveland, Ohio) secured her Olympic qualification at the 2023 Santiago Pan American Games, therefore, the winner of this bracket will come into camp as the potential alternate to McCane. 

75 kg

The winner of the middleweight weight class will look to come to the 2024 High Performance Selection Camp to overtake the top spot from current Team USA High Performance member, Naomi Graham (Fayetteville, N.C.). 

2022 USA Boxing Elite National Champion Kendra Samargis (Twin Falls, Idaho) is the bracket top seed and favorite to take the title, however, will face tough competition in a potential rematch with Jilian Petroglia (Lindenhurst, N.Y.), who finished second to Samargis at last year’s National Championships. 

Trinity Burke (Shippenville, Pa.), 2023 USA Boxing Elite National Qualifier Champion, will look to break up the potential 2022 National Championships rematch, while Cristine Forkins (Nashville, Tenn.), who qualified into two weight classes at these Trials, will hope to add to her resume after taking top honors at the 2023 USA Boxing Summer Festival. 

A potential spoiler is Talia Halvorsen (Harwood Heights, Ill.), the youngest boxer in the women’s field, is the 2022 Youth National Champion and represented Team USA at the 2022 Youth World Championships, hoping to be successful in her elite debut.

Other boxers competing in this weight class include Seraphina Brown (Belmont, Mass.), Chelsi Davis (Vineyard, Utah), Nadira Mohamed (Columbus, Ohio), Kamyra Ndango (Houston, Texas), and Felicia Thomas (Lewisville, Texas). 

All boxing from the CAJUNDOME begins Monday, Dec. 4. The week-long event will serve as the 2023 USA Boxing National Championships and 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, with sessions taking place at noon and 6:00 p.m., Monday – Thursday, before having one session on Friday and Saturday at noon. Friday will be the finals for the National Championships, while Saturday will be the championship bouts for the Olympic Trials. Tickets can be purchased daily for $10 or a week pass for $50 at will call. Saturday’s finale tickets can be purchased for $25.

More information for the event can be found here.

Click here to access the official 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Boxing Media Guide.