In the essay, Tsarnaev says he took a semester off from studying engineering at Bunker Hill Community College to train for the Golden Gloves — a prestigious amateur
Although the essay is titled, "Will Box For Passport: An Olympic Drive To Become A United States Citizen," (page 18) there isn't a whole lot of evidence that he got close to qualifying.
He told Hirn he wanted fight for the US in the Olympics, but it's unclear if he was ever a serious contender to make the team.
Tsarnaev went to Salt Lake City in May 2009 to fight in the Golden Gloves, but he lost to Chicago fighter Lamar Fenner in the first round. Ninety fighters fought in that tournament.
The only other Tsarnaev fight we can find comes from February 2009, when he lost to super heavyweight Darnell Humphries in a New England regional Golden Gloves fight.
There are no other media reports of Tsarnaev boxing in the three years between the 2009 Golden Gloves and the 2012 London Olympics. That's not to say he didn't keep trying to qualify, but it doesn't appear that he was in the mix to make the team in the lead-up to London.
You can see a screenshot of Tsarnaev's "Comment" spread below.
Here's everything else you need to know about him >