Carina Moreno was born in Watsonville and attended local schools, graduating from Watsonville High School in 2000.  While attending WHS, Carina was active in basketball, track and cross-country.

The daughter of Esteban and Maria Conception Moreno, she has three older brothers. Her parents own Tacos Moreno in Santa Cruz and her brother, Juan, owns Tacos Moreno on the UCSC campus.

When Carina was very young she was introduced to boxing by an older cousin and became interested in the sport.  The natural athlete that she is, as a junior in high school she began training in recreational Kick-Boxing.  In 1999 she met her current trainer, Rick Noble, also a Watsonville native and 1967 WHS graduate.  In February, 2000 Carina began her amateur career with the goal of the 2004 Olympics.  That year she had one exhibition fight and then won the San Francisco Golden Gloves representing the Watsonville Police Activities League (PAL).  In April, 2000 Carina entered the USA Women's National Boxing Championships in Midland, Texas.  Carina beat the #1 and #2 ranked females in the United States and continued on to win the National Championship on ESPN2.  With that win she was selected to the United States Boxing Team to compete in Finland in the world’s largest female tournament at the time.  Fifteen countries were represented at the tournament.  Carina beat the Hungarian, French and Canadian girls to win the Gold Medal for her country.  She was also selected the Best Fighter of the tournament.  Later that year she won the National Golden Gloves, National Blue & Gold and The National PAL representing Watsonville.  During the next two years she won four National Titles, The Pan-American Games and a bronze medal in the first World Championships for amateur women’s boxing.

In July, 2003 she fought her first professional fight in Monterey winning a unanimous decision.  Carina has continued her professional career with a record of 17 wins, 1 loss.  She won the North American Boxing Federation Junior Fly-Weight Title and then fought for the WBC interim title, then fighting Nanako Kikuchi of Japan for the WBC minimum weight world title.  She defended her World Title twice in 2007.  She also won the WBC Female Fighter of the Year and the NABF Fighter of the Year.  That same year, Carina received the first Lily Rodriguez Award from the World Boxing Hall of Fame, the first time a female has received an honor.  Carina fights June 13^th in New Mexico on pay per view.  She moves up in weight for a new title.

The City of Watsonville honored Carina with the first Carina Moreno Day and was a special guest of the 4^th of July parade.  In March, 2008 she received an award from the World Boxing Hall of Fame for a salute to women in boxing and she was honored for her accomplishments as a World Champion.  Carina attends Cabrillo College and will transfer to San Jose State University in the fall.