Sarah Cremer
SALT LAKE CITY — Oriandy Reyes Dominguez has been boxing since she was 9 years old. It started out as a way to show classmates what women are made of when they said that girls couldn’t be boxers.
“I had a bunch of kids in my classroom who were talking about how women couldn’t do any fighting sports because they were too weak,” said Oriandy, a junior at Judge Memorial Catholic High School. “I went home to my dad and said, ‘They’re wrong, so what can I do to prove them wrong?’”
Having a background in the sport, her dad suggested boxing, and she fell in love with it. She also feels that it has allowed her to grow and become much more resilient.
“I think boxing has helped me overcome insecurity,” she said. “Mainly because I feel confident, like I belong here. It’s really who I am as a person, and it’s something I enjoy doing.”
However, starting out in boxing wasn’t so simple. Girl boxers are not considered the norm when it comes to the sport, because the majority of people who box are men.
“I was the first girl at the gym or one of the few girls at the gym, but I really didn’t feel intimidated,” Oriandy said. “I felt special in a way, because not a lot of girls do fighting sports and I kind of want to encourage other people to do the same as me, to join something they might not believe they’re good at but find out that they have a great talent for it.”
Not only do people assume that girls can’t box because they are weak, but according to Oriandy, people also assume that less height means less ability in boxing.
“I’m a short person,” she said. “And many people believe that I’m not going to be good at the sport because of my height and I don’t have that much reach. It actually has its benefits because I can dodge and throw certain combinations that others can’t.”
Getting to where she is now as a boxer wasn’t easy, but she always had her dad by her side.
“Besides he himself being a boxer – when he was younger a professional boxer – he is just someone I’ve always admired,” she said. “Not only does he have pride in himself and his family, but he shows respect towards others. He’s really humble, and he’s a great guy. I’m proud that he’s my dad, and I’m proud to be his daughter.”
At the beginning of 2019, with her dad as her coach, Oriandy won the Ringside Boxing Golden Gloves tournament in Michoacan, Mexico. Her goal for the future is to be an Olympic gold medalist and a professional boxer.
That may seem like a hard goal to reach, but Oriandy has been proving people wrong since she was a 9-year-old.
“Don’t let stereotypes affect you or change your focus on your goals,” she said. “Stereotypes sometimes can be helpful as motivation to not only prove that stereotype wrong but to show the world what you can do and who you are.”
Sarah Cremer is a junior at Judge Memorial CHS. This article originally was published in the Bulldog Press with the headline “Knocking Out Stereotypes.” Reprinted with permission.
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