Alyssa Mendoza (Caldwell, Idaho) earned her first Olympic victory this morning at the Paris 2024 Games with a hard-fought, 3-2 split decision.
In a sport of grit and grind, Mendoza had to dig deep and steal Tuesday’s win away from Tajikistan’s Mijgona Samadova. Mendoza took the first round 3-2 and looked strong after landing multiple jabs throughout the opening three minutes. Despite dropping the second round 4-1, she bounced back in the third to seal the victory in her Olympic debut.
“The second round I got caught the most,” Mendoza stated on her adjustments heading into the final round. “The third round I started moving to my right more when she was orthodox, and I felt like I landed cleaner punches in the third round.”
Down 2-1 after the opening two rounds, Mendoza needed to win judges 2, 3 and 4 to secure her comeback victory. Mendoza did just that and took all five scorecards to win the bout via a 3-2 split decision.
“It was a good first fight and it was tougher than I expected,” Mendoza stated after the win over Tajikistan. “It was a good test and good first fight and I look forward to the next one.”
Following the win, Mendoza advances to the round of 16, where she will face Brazil’s Jucielen Cerqeuira Romeu on Friday, Aug. 2, at 10:18 a.m. ET.
Roscoe Hill opened Tuesday’s action for Team USA against France’s Billal Bennama. Bennama came out strong and took the first round 5-0 behind the raucous roars from the home crowd. Hill found his footing in the second round and notched a 4-1 score before claiming a 3-2 advantage in the third round. However, he was not awarded the win and ultimately fell by a difficult 3-2 split decision.
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Team USA is coached by USA Boxing Head Coach Billy Walsh (Colorado Springs, Colo.), along with National Resident Coach Timothy Nolan (Rochester, N.Y.), as well as National Development Coach Chad Wigle (Colorado Springs, Colo.), along with assistant coaches Adonis Frazier (Minneapolis, Minn.) and Christine Lopez (Rowlett, Texas).
Tuesday, July 30 Results
51 kg: Billal Bennama/FRA dec. over Roscoe Hill, Spring, Texas/USA, 3-2
57 kg: Alyssa Mendoza, Caldwell, Idaho/USA dec. over Mijgona Samadova/TJK, 3-2
Wednesday, July 31 Schedule
71 kg: Omari Jones, Orlando, Fla./USA vs. Kan Chia Wei/TPE – 5:48 a.m. ET
57 kg: Jahmal Harvey, Oxon Hill, Md./USA vs. Luiz Gabriel Oliveira/BRA – 10:02 a.m. ET
Thursday, Aug. 1 Schedule
50 kg: Jennifer Lozano, Laredo, Texas/USA vs. Pihla Kaivo-Oja/ FIN – 10:02 a.m. ET
66 kg: Morelle McCane, Cleveland, Ohio/USA vs. Navbakhor Khamidova/UZB – 10:50 a.m. ET
Friday, Aug. 2 Schedule
57 kg: Alyssa Mendoza, Caldwell, Idaho/USA vs. Jucielen Cerqueira Romeu/BRA – 10:18 a.m. ET
