All eyes were on Orlando Cruz, the world’s first openly gay pro boxer, this past weekend as he took on veteran Orlando Salido for the featherweight title. And although many fans were rooting for Cruz, the popular boxer lost the title to Salido in the seventh round.
According to the Associated Press, the Puerto Rican Cruz was met with a mix of boos and cheers as he entered the pro-Mexican event wearing rainbow colored trunks modeled after the Puerto Rican flag to fight his Mexican opponent, Salido.
Cruz, who has only enjoyed moderate success in a career highlighted by an appearance at the Olympics, was confident before the fight, saying in an interview that “This is my moment, my time.”
However, the night ended up belonging to Salido, who outclassed Cruz throughout most of the fight, pummeling Cruz with most of the heavier punches before knocking Cruz down with a right hand to the head in the seventh. Cruz was on his knees and failed to get up in time before being counted at 1:05 in the round.
“I went into the corner and he hit me with a good shot,” Cruz said. “I thought the fight was close up until then.”
However, Salido, who lost the title in his last fight, was overjoyed to reclaim the featherweight crown.
“This is the biggest moment of my life,” Salido said. “I won a world title for the fourth time.”
Well, you win some and you lose some, and this just wasn’t Cruz’s fight to win. But, he can always fight another day.
Check out some other major LGBT sports stars below. –nicholas robinson
