2005 and 2006 Golden Glove Champion

Cara Castranouva

by Natalie Forte

Born and raised in Elmont Long Island, Cara is the oldest of four siblings. She was exposed to boxing and mixed martial arts at an early age by her father who was a Marine. “My dad had a bag set up in the garage.” “My brothers and I would watch him train.” “He would teach us how to spar and the four of us would hold matches and duke it out in the living groom.” “He gave me my first pair of gloves”. Cara’s interest in boxing further developed while she was attending school at Hofstra University. “I was looking to join a gym that offered boxing training so I did a search on the internet and found the PAL in Westbury, I went to check it out with a friend.. “ I fell in love with the sport in that grimy, smelly gym and have been boxing ever since” Cara knew her sorority lifestyle was no match for a future competitor so she gave up drinking and late nights. “It took me a while to adapt but eventually I learned to live like a boxer and balance that with fun!” Cara now trains with Team Freeform, a group of national and world female boxing competitors at Gleason’s Boxing Gym in Brooklyn. When she is training for a fight, she runs 3.5 miles a day and hits the gym and the bags almost everyday for 3 hours. Her intense workout routine includes a series of sit ups, pull-ups, dips, plyometric exercises, and jump rope. When she is not training for a fight Cara spends her time studying acting and is currently shooting two independent films. She is also a contributing writer for www.boxingtalk.com and works part time as a ring announcer and commentator. In the past Cara has donate her time at the Rising Star Program teaching boxing class to girls ages 7-13. So what are her plans for the future? “My next step is to turn pro and make Long Island proud as a female world champion boxer of out Long Island!” Cara is also in talks with the producers of an upcoming reality series on female boxers.

Stats

Bantom

Weight 119 Height: 5’5”

Accomplishments

two-time New York Golden Gloves Champion won the titles in 2005 and 2006 also ranked #2 in nation by USA Boxing in the past, and was the New York Metro Champion, the Empire State Games Champion, the NYABC Champion, and has competed and won at many national ranking tournaments.