BOISE, Idaho — Sometimes big dreams start in small places. They can even be hidden inside a box.
"I think about the opportunities and hopefully the influence that I can have on people here," Alyssa Mendoza said.
On the outskirts of Middleton, signs of a champion highlight the heartbeat of Chukar Road, where chucking punches had long been part of a daily routine.
"I hope to open a door to motivate people to follow their dreams," Mendoza said. "It feels like home in here."
The 20-year-old boxer knows the ropes here.
"Me, I'm just kind of quiet, I stick to myself. Then I go fight and it's like, well, she looks like she really just wants to bite their head off," Mendoza said. "I am very competitive. I don't like anybody being better than I am. So, I only have nine minutes to prove to everyone – the judges and the crowd and everyone – that I'm better than this person and I'm going to do whatever it takes."
Years of Mendoza's blood, sweat and tears are soaked into the canvas, just so she could try to stay off of it.
When asked how good she is at what she does, Mendoza told KTVB, "I feel like that's a question for my dad."
"The speed that she's got, it's crazy," said JR Mendoza, Alyssa's father. "Truly when I tell you if she's the best in the world, she has the best (speed) in the world."
If these walls could talk, they would brag about Alyssa – not because of what she's accomplished, but because of what she has overcome.
"I really wanted to quit boxing in 2018," Alyssa said. "I went to make the team, the junior team, the USA Team, and I lost the very first day. I told my dad, I said, 'if I'm not winning, what's the point of doing this?' Thankfully he got me out of that, overcame it, preserved, and now we're here."
These walls would also boast about the father of the fight, who helped his daughter's dream take flight.
"When she was about ready to quit, with when you had to explain to her, 'you can literally be the best in the world,'" JR said.
Born in Guanajuato, Mexico, JR Mendoza was one of eight siblings – including six brothers.
They all worked on the farm, took care of the family cows and idolized their father.
"He was like my Hulk, literally my Superman," JR said. "He used to love boxing back in the 70s."
Jose Mendoza didn't waste time unboxing his great passion as a gift to his offspring.
"We were six brothers, so he used to put the gloves on us and just let us whoop each other," JR said. "We would (fight) with no head gear, I mean, we had some really beat up gloves. It's no mouthpieces, no head gear, we just whooped each other up."
The sport landed heavily on the heart of JR, specifically, and he simply couldn't get enough of it.
"I always wanted to be a boxer and there was not even a gym where I grew up," JR said. "I used to walk in the streets with some beat up gloves and just taking on whoever was there, that want to do it, or let other people do it. I mean, it was not illegal. So, we did it."
Shortly after JR's 20th birthday, he reconsidered his rouge boxing style.
"For at least where I came from, every teenager's dream is to come to the United States," JR said.
JR moved to America, finding work on a farm in Idaho Falls. Searching for a more orthodox approach to boxing, he unexpectedly was back into a corner.
"I kind of joined a gym. I only went a few times. Got beat up a couple times," JR said. "Found out that I wasn't as good as I was, because you just spar somebody in the streets and you go with a real good boxer, a complete difference. I (found) out I was not as good as I thought."
When he got off the mat, JR went from throwing punches, to catching punches – mostly from his own children. Falling just shy of the 10 count, he had seven of them.
The Mendoza's would bounce around the Gem State for years, looking for a ring of their own.
"Me and my wife started looking for a house with a shop," JR said. "It took us quite a few years to find this spot."
A ring from a realtor would finally provide it.
"My wife told me, 'okay, we found this house, it has a shop, I think it'd be perfect.' The deal was done in less than 15 minutes," JR said.
Until she was 11 years old, Alyssa mostly floated around the ring, but never in it. But then came the day she was ready to take a swing at boxing.
"One day she said that she wanted to compete, she wanted to train," JR said.
It was a day that her dad will never forget.
"That's it, from that day on," JR said. "I started asking for combinations and the way she'd throw the punches, I was like – it blew me away. It literally blew me away."
"Seeing my dad's reaction to like, 'oh, you hit really hard,' and then hearing that, you know, I do hit really hard and I go hit the bag. I'm like, 'yeah, I hear that, I hear the sound of it.' I just ended up really liking that," Alyssa said.
JR said he still remembers his daughter's hook and his reaction – "holy cow."
With her pops holding her punching bag, Alyssa constantly hit her goals from that moment on.
"Definitely winning was the thing that I fell in love with," Alyssa said. "The feeling of winning, look at the corner at my dad and seeing how proud and excited he was, even for me, probably just the best feeling. I started striving for that more and more."
Sure, there were ups and downs, but after graduating from Middleton High School in 2022, she moved to Colorado Springs by herself to further her career at the US Olympic Training Center.
"They do everything for you, really," Alyssa said. "They house you, they feed you and they give you all the gear. You have all the resources you need there."
With her sights set on the 2024 Paris Olympics, the qualifying process dealt blow after blow, and nearly knocked her out. Alyssa lost in Chile and the Pan American Games, then came up short at the world qualifier in Italy in March.
"I had always dreamed of being an Olympian," Alyssa said. "Even though I had some moments where I had lost and I didn't understand why, I still believed that I was meant to go."
It left her with one last chance to advance, but it would require a perfect performance at the second Olympic Games World Qualifying Tournament in Thailand in late May.
"I was probably the most peaceful I have ever been," Alyssa said.
It was there that a change in mindset finally allowed Alyssa the freedom to roll with the punches.
"Pan Am's and Italy, I was super confident in myself. I believed that I was ready, I was in shape, that nobody could beat me," Alyssa said. "I just kind of let go of it. I didn't want to put the pressure on myself. I didn't want to be stressed every day."
Alyssa won her first three fights, narrowly beating a big hitter from Mongolia, before picking up lopsided decisions against boxers from Greece and Spain.
"You can read the body language. I could kind of read it in their eyes," Alyssa said. "I already had felt like I had won the battle mentally. So, I just had to go and beat them physically."
The wins set up one last bout that was about to change her life.
"I ended up fighting the girl from Netherlands and she definitely came the fight," Alyssa said.
Half a world away, her dad was watching – still committed to her corner.
JR said he slept on and off stressing all night, but "had peace," adding "I knew that it was going to be okay."
"After the first round, I kind of figured her out and what she does, her mistakes, and was able to adjust to her style," Alyssa said. "Second and third round, I won unanimously, resulting in me winning unanimously. When they raised my hand, it was like, wow. This is – in a few months, I'm going to be in Paris representing USA. Like, to me, that is the biggest honor and that was just my dream for years. It happened. It came to life when they raised my hand. When they gave me the ticket, you know, reading that you're going to Paris, it's like, my dream just came true."
"All I can picture is her doing that, and I didn't see it because they don't show you there, but I can just picture in my head, see my girl running towards that ticket," JR said. "Just like I said, you experience something that you've never felt before. It is amazing because you're an Olympian. You're special when you're an Olympian."
"I'm very, very excited," Alyssa said. "I know people might think going to Paris is an award itself, but I want to come back with a medal for sure."
They say all roads lead home, but this one also happens to point to Paris, a destination made possible by dad.
"Would not be here (without him), not at all," Alyssa said.
"There's not a better feeling or joy than to work mitts with her," JR said. "There's no better feeling than to be there for her. I am extremely proud for what she has accomplished, but I am more proud for who she is."
Paris Ticket Punched
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