Noelle Haro’s Olympic hopes weren’t derailed by late start

A late start to boxing didn’t derail the Olympic hopes of Noelle Haro.

Haro, the women’s 51kg representative for USA Boxing, made her international debut last month in Brazil, winning a bronze medal at the 2026 World Boxing Cup.

If boxing were a classroom, then Haro would have been tardy. She was born in Yuma, Arizona, but spent the majority of her formative years in Alexandria, Virginia. She started boxing during her junior year of high school, the same year she moved to Sierra Vista, Arizona.

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“I played basketball, volleyball and soccer, and mentally I think I felt bored with it all,” Haro told BoxingScene. “I wanted something a little bit more challenging.”

Haro trained around future titleholders such as Shakur Stevenson and Keyshawn Davis, but admits she wasn’t training for competition. That changed in August 2020. She joined the army at that time and began to take boxing more seriously, challenging the best in the nation.

“For boxing, it was so nerve-racking, because as soon as you got one thing down, there was another obstacle in the way,” Haro said. “It was a never-ending feeling of I had to be better than I was the day before.”

Haro began competing in national bouts in 2021. In 2024, Haro lost in the finals of the national championship to 2024 U.S. Olympian Jennifer Lozano. Last December, they rematched in the finals, with Haro winning.

“Everything that I had done led to that moment right there,” Haro said. “It was the mindset of ‘I know I can go in there, and I know I can do this.’ I did exactly that.”

During the World Boxing Cup, she defeated Canada’s Mckenzie Wright in the opening round and the Dominican Republic’s Esther Jimenez. She lost in the medal round to France’s Romane Moulai. For Haro, a 29-year-old now residing in Austin, Texas, fighting on the international stage was extra special.

Haro is looking to secure a spot in the 2028 Olympic Games, which will take place in Los Angeles, as each international competition helps her gain valuable experience.

“Every time I looked around, I couldn’t believe I was in Brazil and getting ready to step on that stage and represent Team USA,” Haro said. “I feel like the energy inside and outside the ring was so high. I feel like when you get into an environment like that, you don’t have much time to feel the nerves; you just have time to react.”

Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.