Puerto Rin gay boxer Orlando Cz to marry - ESPN

Contents:

• PUERTO RIN BOXER ORLANDO CZ ANNOUNC HE'S GAY
• PUERTO RIN ORLANDO CZ IS FIRST OPENLY GAY BOXER
• ORLANDO CZ: THE GAY BOXER WHO IS BREAKG BARRIERS
• ORLANDO CZ: BOXER DREAMS OF BEG FIRST OPENLY GAY WORLD CHAMPN
• ORLANDO CZ: BOXER DREAMS OF BEG FIRST OPENLY GAY WORLD CHAMPN
• PUERTO RIN BOXER ORLANDO CZ ANNOUNC HE'S GAY
• ORLANDO CZ COM OUT AS FIRST OPENLY GAY PROFSNAL BOXER
• PUERTO RIN BOXER ORLANDO CZ ANNOUNC HE'S GAY
• ORLANDO CZ A 'PROUD GAY MAN'
• THIS GAY PUERTO RIN BOXER IS MAKG HIS NEXT FIGHT ALL ABOUT THE ORLANDO SHOOTG VICTIMS
• GAY BOXER ORLANDO CZ TO MARRY
• GAY PUERTO RIN BOXER MARRI BOYIEND
• PUERTO RIN OLYMPIAN CZ OUT AS FIRST GAY BOXER

PUERTO RIN BOXER ORLANDO CZ ANNOUNC HE'S GAY

SAN JUAN, Puerto Ri (AP) — Dcribg himself as "a proud gay man, " Puerto Rin featherweight Orlando Cz on Thursday beme what is believed to be the first pro boxer to e out as openly homosexual while still petg.

There has yet to be an openly gay player Major League Baseball, the NBA or NFL.

-based Natnal Gay and Lbian Task Force, praised Cz for his cisn and said breaks stereotyp that gay people are not volved sports like boxg.

PUERTO RIN ORLANDO CZ IS FIRST OPENLY GAY BOXER

"It also giv a lot of hope to young gays who n see him the tegry and bravery to be who you are and face a society that is often tolerant, pecially this type of sport, " he said. Among those who sent msag of support was Puerto Rin sger Ricky Mart, who announced he was gay 2010.

Griffh is bt known for his 1962 fight agast Cuban Benny Paret, who tnted Griffh wh gay slurs before the bout.

ORLANDO CZ: THE GAY BOXER WHO IS BREAKG BARRIERS

Cz said he is prepared for the fallout om his announcement, sayg many boxers had already spected he was gay but gave him privacy.

ORLANDO CZ: BOXER DREAMS OF BEG FIRST OPENLY GAY WORLD CHAMPN

"I have always been and always will be a proud gay man. (Getty)Puerto Rin featherweight boxer Orlando Cz is the first openly gay man the sport's history.

I have always been and always will be a proud gay man. “No fighter, pecially a Lat fighter, has e out as openly gay.

ORLANDO CZ: BOXER DREAMS OF BEG FIRST OPENLY GAY WORLD CHAMPN

It tak a lot of urage to announce you’re a proud openly gay Puerto Rin man, pecially wh the Lat muny where men are very mascule, and wh the homophobic world of boxg. ”While Cz is the first Lato boxer to speak ndidly about his sexualy, he is not the first gay athlete to fight profsnally.

Former welterweight and middleweight champn Ee Griffh, who was mored to be gay while fightg the ’50s and ‘60s, me out 2008 long after he retired. He was gay and like all boxers, at all levels, he was judged on whether he uld fight and not on his sexual preferenc; the Pounr, who wore pk, was a nice guy but not much of a fighter and nobody held that agast Saturday Las Vegas, Orlando Cz, which is his real name, will bee the first openly gay boxer to w a world tle if he n overe the odds and beat Orlando Salido for the vant WBO featherweight tle. Cz announced he was gay last year, never lost his promoter, never lost his rankg and never lost a sgle iend om si the ugly bs of boxg.

"Cz fought for Puerto Ri at the Sydney Olympics 2000 and has been a ge ntenr for a uple of years and gay for a lot longer.

PUERTO RIN BOXER ORLANDO CZ ANNOUNC HE'S GAY

"I'm a boxer first, I want to be a world champn and remembered that way and not as a gay boxer, " he the Neti, Christy Mart, another boxg pneer, said somethg siar about women the sport: "I fight for Christy Mart and not for women's rights to box. " Mart, who has sce survived a murr attempt when her hband shot and knifed her, is now retired and volved a gay relatnship. "Boxg n be a macho sport and I have heard some gay slurs, " says Cz.

"However, Cz, who is 32, is not a mpaigner for gay rights jt yet and he has polely refed all attempts to csa on behalf of other gay athlet, men like him stgglg to e to terms wh tellg the people they pete wh, or for, that they are gay. However, private he has obvly spoken to other boxers facg the same dilemma he did last has received a lot of media attentn this week (Getty) (Getty Imag)"Perhaps there are other gay boxers and perhaps they are too sred to say anythg, " Cz says.

" Hopefully, there will not be a reverse wch-hunt boxg, like there is other sports, where people on the outsi bee fixated on outg more gay athlet; the people boxg simply don't re. "Gay, so what? " All boxers world tle fights have to unrgo and pass a route HIV tt and plenty, none of whom said they were gay, have failed the has dited Saturday's fight to Ee Griffh, one of the greatt boxers history, who died this summer after admtg late his life that he had slept wh both men and women.

ORLANDO CZ COM OUT AS FIRST OPENLY GAY PROFSNAL BOXER

He was om a time when homosexuals were not lled "gay" and he hated the word once was ed to scribe him when he fally end three s of speculatn. The Cuban never revered and died a few days emerged later that Paret had lled Griffh a marin, the Spanish word for homosexual, and had touched him appropriately when the pair weighed for the fight; Paret was naked at the time, which is not unmon for a tle fight.

PUERTO RIN BOXER ORLANDO CZ ANNOUNC HE'S GAY

There has always been a bate about whether Paret meant or was jt sayg to get unr Griffh's sk; Griffh told me that Paret had been ma to say , but that was heartfelt and meant, which is good enough for late great Ee Griffh me out after he retired (Getty) (Getty Imag)Griffh had stggled wh his sexualy throughout his reer and retirement and 1992 was left for ad after five thugs on a "fag-bashg" rampage attacked him wh baseball bats outsi a gay club New York. "This fight is for Ee bee he never had the backg and support that I have had, " add Saturday Cz starts as a heavy unrdog agast former champn Salido but will still leave the rg as the first openly gay male boxer to fight for a world tle.

He proposed to Manuel on Facebook earlier this year and, has to be said, if he was thkg of makg the transn to gay fighter low-key, then planng a same-sex marriage was a bold move. Cz was also a first-year ductee to the Natnal Gay and Lbian Sports Hall of Fame Chigo this summer, alongsi Greg Louganis and Marta n also really fight and the thls bs of boxg, a sport that has not really changed 150 years, that is all that matters; mak no difference if you are black, whe, gay, straight, male, female, nice, unpleasant, Christian, Mlim, ugly or handsome, as long as you have guts and n have a fight.

I thk that is pretty rehg and Ee would be very and proud: Gay sportspeopleJason Colls Sce g out as gay, US basketball player has been unable to fd an NBA Rogers Former Leeds and Stevenage footballer who currently plays for LA Walsh and Helen Richardson GB Olympic hockey players who married Hysen First active footballer to e out sce Jt Fashanu. Will he be boxg's first openly gay champn? Cz aims to bee boxg's first openly gay world champn.

ORLANDO CZ A 'PROUD GAY MAN'

Beme boxg's first openly gay, active fighter 2012. Deeply embedd two worlds – boxg and Puerto Ri – that are found machismo, Cz has also bee a gay in to thoands.

On Saturday, Cz has the chance to create history – should he beat Bra’s Terry Flanagan for the WBO lightweight tle, the 35-year-old will bee the first ever openly gay world champn. Boxg, like many other sports, is yet to fully open s arms to the ia of a gay athlete, somethg Cz has unsurprisgly experienced first-hand. “I don’t re if they say, ‘Orlando Cz is gay.

Wh so few openly gay, active profsnal athlet across all sports, Cz is aware what the rult of the fight will mean to those who look up to him. “The support of the gay muny, Puerto Ri, New York and different natnali, is very important, ” he says.

THIS GAY PUERTO RIN BOXER IS MAKG HIS NEXT FIGHT ALL ABOUT THE ORLANDO SHOOTG VICTIMS

In 2013, his chance to bee the first openly gay boxg champn me and went btal fashn.

Cz me out to his fay and a psychologist long before publicly announcg he was gay 2012. I don’t re that other people talk about me, sayg, ‘Orlando Cz is gay, Orlando is bad or bulls***.

GAY BOXER ORLANDO CZ TO MARRY

For many, boxg is sport’s ultimate show of masculy and Cz still regularly fds himself fightg the misnceptn that a man n’t be both gay and mascule. “Sometim one, two or three people say, ‘you’re gay, and you’re a boxer… wow.

I say, ‘I am gay, but I am a man like you. “I am gay and I am the first openly gay boxer, but this has been my reer for years.

“People say, ‘Orlando is gay but this is boxg, boxg is macho.

GAY PUERTO RIN BOXER MARRI BOYIEND

’ I have to tell them, ‘Orlando Cz is gay, but he’s a man… not a girl. “Ee Griffh never spoke publicly or told an terview he was gay, ” Cz says. Cz n still vividly remember the feelg of steppg to the rg for the first time as an openly gay man, retag his WBO Lato Featherweight tle agast Mexin Je Pazos.

Such is Cz’s fluence the gay muny and wir sportg world, Jason Colls – the first openly gay active basketball player – ntacted him to say he’s an spiratn for “g out of the closet.

Wh gay marriage illegal Puerto Ri – the Caribbean island where the uple ris, albe at oppose sis of the untry – and many US stat, they had some thkg to do. The Englishman’s sister, a profsnal footballer the Women’s Super League, is also openly gay.

PUERTO RIN OLYMPIAN CZ OUT AS FIRST GAY BOXER

It don’t affect me at all as my sister Chelsea is openly gay. While Flanagan’s views are rehg – Cz also says he has received nothg but rpect om opponents – there are still high-profile figur boxg who are openly homophobic. Former heavyweight world champn Tyson Fury has regularly shown disda towards homosexuals, while Manny Pacquiao earlier this year lled upl same-sex relatnships “worse than animals.

“The Philipp have gay people, so why was he talkg badly about the LGBT muny? He said he was sorry and that he rpects me and the gay muny a lot. His stggle to make to the top of his sport; the fight to be accepted as a gay man the world of boxg and his home natn; the punishg world tle feat to Salido.