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Jocelyn Camarillo’s proficiency in boxing has made her win the 2021 USA Boxing National Championship in the 48kg (105 pounds) weight class. The 17-year-old Latina champ from Indio, California, is excelling in the male-dominated sport with just three years of training experience.
In a recent interview for NBC Palm Springs, Camarillo, a senior at Shadow Hills High School, said, “Girls can do it.” According to the publication, the teenager is content with her accomplishments. “I’m just really glad that I was able to come out and win and represent the Coachella Valley well,” she said.
Camarillo’s goals include a successful boxing career and attending college, in addition to inspiring young women and girls who also love boxing. “I love sparring boys actually because I like getting the reaction like, ‘Oh my gosh, she’s kicking that boy‘s butt!’” she said.
Every boxer needs a great trainer, and Jocelyn found the right coach in her father, Valente Camarillo. Valente has his worries like many Latinx parents, but they fade away when he sees his daughter’s joy.
“I was kind of scared. I was like, ‘My baby’s gonna go out there and compete!‘ But she went in there ready to fight, and she liked it,” Camarillo told the NBC station. “She came out with a smile and came out with a victory, so I knew that we got something.”
Boxing wasn’t Jocelyn’s first rodeo in sports. She has experience in soccer; however, she started gravitating towards boxing after the need to find something different. “It was just an amazing feeling,” she said, remembering her first winning. “That’s when I knew this is definitely for me.”
As reported, Jocelyn and her father train at the Lee Espinoza Coachella Valley Boxing Club, the same place that has bolstered former boxing pros and world champions Pancho Segura and Sandra Yard, plus Latina boxing prospects Gabriela Fundora and Citlalli Ortiz, winners of national titles.