Cara Castronuova (born February 6, 1980) is an American champion boxer, a professional sports announcer, political activist and celebrity fitness trainer. She has won two Golden Gloves championships in Madison Square Garden. She was ranked #2 nationally by USA Boxing. Castronuova also starred as one of the head celebrity trainers on

Season 11 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

of NBC's '' The Biggest Loser'' and is a boxing ring announcer.

Early life

Castronuova was born and raised in Elmont, New York with three younger brothers. She began boxing at the age of five in the family garage with her father Nicholas Castronuova, who was a decorated United States Marines Corps Vietnam War veteran ( Purple Heart, Bronze Star) of Italian American heritage. She also wrestled in high school and in college. She graduated from

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of Ne ...

with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications. Her mother Rosita was a Chinese

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

from the Philippines and worked as an architect.

Boxing career

Castronuova began her boxing career as a youth boxing trainer. Soon, she started entering local bouts, winning her first fight in 2002 at the NY Empire State Games in

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

. She also was a volunteer for a government-funded program designed to teach troubled youth the virtues of boxing and keep them off the streets. Later, while working as a personal fitness and boxing trainer at popular sports clubs in the New York City area, like Chelsea Piers and Gleason's Boxing Gym, she used fighting and boxing to encourage clients to “find their warrior within.” While continuing to train clients, Castronuova kept boxing competitively, winning a pair of “ Silver Gloves” in 2004, the second-place prize in the Golden Gloves competition. Determined to redeem herself, Castronuova came back one year later and won her first New York Golden Gloves championship at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

in 2005 in front of a televised, capacity crowd. Following her first Golden Gloves win, she started competing nationally and was ranked #2 in the nation by USA Boxing. She went on to place in National boxing tournaments and win numerous titles, such as the NYABC title, the Metros, and the Empire State Games, and won her second Golden Gloves title in 2006 at Madison Square Garden. Certified as a boxing coach by the New York State Athletic Commission, she is also a personal trainer certified by ISSA (International Sports Science Association).

Personal life

Castronuova is of Chinese, Filipino, and Italian heritage. Her Italian ancestry can be traced back Castronuovo di Sant'Andrea where her last name originated. Her mother is from

Cotabato Cotabato or North Cotabato ( hil, Aminhan Cotabato; ceb, Amihanang Cotabato; Maguindanaon: ''Pangutaran Kutawatu'', Jawi: ڤڠوترن كوتاواتو; fil, Hilagang Cotabato), officially the Province of Cotabato, is a landlocked province in ...

, Philippines and of mixed Chinese and Filipino heritage. Her ancestry is from the Fujian Province in Southern China. Her father died from Vietnam War causes related to

Agent Orange Agent Orange is a chemical herbicide and defoliant, one of the "tactical use" Rainbow Herbicides. It was used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971. It ...

when Cara was a teenager and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Her mother died in a car accident in 2006. These unfortunate events fueled her ambition and motivated her to become a role model and a strong foundation for her family, especially for her three younger brothers and her elderly aunt who lives with her and is disabled. She has stated “I became the ' matriarch' as the oldest child and had to step up to the plate.” “Boxing competitively taught me how important it is to never give up, no matter how hard it gets”. Castronuova has been tied romantically in the past to Showtime color commentator Paulie Malignaggi.

Television career and appearances

Cara has trained extensively in

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

and other fighting techniques, which led to acting opportunities, primarily as a stuntwoman and stunt coordinator. In addition, she has worked as a correspondent and fitness writer for news and boxing press outlets, and as a sports commentator in various boxing venues like

and

Mohegan Sun Mohegan Sun is an American casino, owned and operated by the Mohegan Tribe on of their reservation, along the banks of the Thames River in Uncasville, Connecticut. It has of gambling space. It is in the foothills of southeastern Connecticut, ...

. Castronuova has learned first hand that in boxing and in life, “a comeback is important,” and that fighting mentality has served her well, professionally and personally. She was credited by NBC for inspiring Season 11 contestants and the audience of '' The Biggest Loser'' to find "their fighter within" and make their own comebacks on the road to good health. She spent one season on NBC's hit show ''The Biggest Loser'' as a head trainer opposite Jillian Michaels, Bob Harper and

Brett Hoebel Brett Hoebel is an American personal trainer best known for appearing as a trainer on the U.S. reality television show '' The Biggest Loser: Couples 4'' in 2011. He coached the majority of the contestants on the Red Team that season and was touted ...

. She has been featured on

Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels *Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 *Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...

's '' Top Chef Masters''. Castronuova has appeared in and voiced characters for '' Grand Theft Auto''. She has been featured on the cover of '' USA Today'' as well as on/in E!, ''

Entertainment Tonight ''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American Broadcast syndication, first-run syndicated news broadcasting news magazine, newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Para ...

'', TMZ, The History Channel, '' The New York Daily News'', '' The New York Post'', '' The National Enquirer'', ''Self'' magazine, ''Shape'' magazine and ''Women's Health''. She has worked as a spokesperson for

Puma Puma or PUMA may refer to: Animals * ''Puma'' (genus), a genus in the family Felidae ** Puma (species) or cougar, a large cat Businesses and organisations * Puma (brand), a multinational shoe and sportswear company * Puma Energy, a mid- and d ...

and Everlast Sports. Cara shot a pilot for a major production company and it is currently being shopped. She shot it with her ex-boyfriend, professional boxer and Showtime color commentator Paulie Malignaggi. Cara founded the Knockout Obesity Foundation, a

501(c)(3) nonprofit organization A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...

that helps kids that are obese or at risk of becoming obese lose weight and get healthy by teaching them the virtues of boxing. On October 14, 2013 Cara participated in an Everlast/ Modell's sponsored event for breast cancer awareness in Times Square. Castronuova is a boxing and

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

apprentice for USA Boxing. Castronuova is notable as one of the few female boxing ring announcers in the USA. On January 10, 2020 she announced the Press Conference Weigh-In and the undercard leading up to the historical Showtime Championship Boxing "Herstory" matchup between Claressa Shields and Ivana Habazin.

Political activism

In 2020, Castronuova has appeared on '' Fox & Friends'' and other news outlets speaking about her political movement "Liberate New York". She was recognized by President Donald Trump for her work in political activism on his Twitter account before it was shut down. She was one of the organizers of the Justice for J6 rally, a September 18, 2021 rally in Washington, D.C. in demonstration in support of those arrested for the January 6th riot at the US capital.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castronuova, Cara Living people American exercise instructors Participants in American reality television series People from Elmont, New York American women boxers Boxers from New York (state) 1973 births Super-bantamweight boxers American sportspeople of Filipino descent American sportspeople of Chinese descent American people of Italian descent Sportspeople from Nassau County, New York 21st-century American women Storm King School alumni