From the early age of five, Joscelyn Olayo-Munoz, now a senior at Las Cruces High School, showed a strong curiosity for the sport of boxing. As a child, Joscelyn was the smallest in her class and because of that, she was inspired to try a competitive contact sport. Her interest in boxing led her to seek her mother's permission to start training, and her stepfather, Danny Melendrez, a boxing coach since 2002, took on the role of her coach.
Joscelyn—aka "Jos the Boss" has earned 16 USA Boxing amateur titles, the latest of which came at the 2024 USA Boxing National Championships. With a couple of Junior Olympic titles under her belt, USA Boxing ranks her number one in the nation in her division.
When she started boxing, Joscelyn set a few goals: win a national title and earn a spot on Team USA. Since then, Joscelyn has surpassed every goal, earning gold in her division and making it onto Team USA as a youth during her junior year of high school. She competes in the youth female division for the 106-pound weight class, with 16 national titles in her amateur boxing career, she has her heart set on winning her first international gold medal in Germany this summer and going professional.
She began training Monday through Saturday at the Doña Ana Village Boxing Club. As quickly as Joscelyn learned new combinations, her determination paved the way for her to become a competitor in the ring. When she’s in camp training for a match, she trains twice a day—running in the morning and boxing in the gym in the evening.
“I knew this was what I wanted to do when I had my first fight. I got my hand raised, and I was eager to keep going with the sport. I just love that feeling,” said Joscelyn. “It was a feeling you couldn’t describe. None of the other sports gave me the spark that boxing did,” she added.
While Joscelyn trains to be in the best physical shape, she also takes studying and schoolwork very seriously. Good grades are part of the deal in her household.
“I give props to my mom because she pushes me a lot to keep going with school, because you never know what can happen in life. My mom keeps me motivated, so school has always been a top priority for me,” Joscelyn said.
Joscelyn also runs track for Las Cruces High School. Wanting to be more involved in athletics at LCHS, she started running track as a freshman. She runs the 800 and 400-meter sprints. While track is a seasonal sport, Joscelyn said it works with her schedule and all the running benefits her boxing training.
“If you want to be great, there’s a lot that comes with it,” Joscelyn said. “I miss out on a lot of things because I’m a high school student. I missed out on prom last year because I was with Team USA, but my mom and my coaches always tell me those are the sacrifices you have to make to be great. So, I know that I’m going to be great because I make those sacrifices.”
At 10 years old, after winning back-to-back fights, Doña Ana County Commissioners decided to proclaim Oct. 11 as "Joscelyn Olayo-Munoz Day" in Doña Ana County.
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