Italian boxer Tta out as gay after Olympic succs | Rters

boxer come out gay

By Kirk Jackson Throughout the history of the sport, as well as every other sport, there has been gay athlet. Wh boxg, this beg such a

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ITALIAN BOXER TTA OUT AS GAY AFTER OLYMPIC SUCCS

Italy's Olympic bronze medal-wng boxer Irma Tta has e out as gay, sayg her succs at the Tokyo Gam earlier this year gave her the strength to make her sexual orientatn public. * boxer come out gay *

Irma Tta of Italy actn agast Nthy Petec of the Philipp REUTERS/Ulei MarceloROME, Dec 3 (Rters) - Italy's Olympic bronze medal-wng boxer Irma Tta has e out as gay, sayg her succs at the Tokyo Gam earlier this year gave her the strength to make her sexual orientatn 23-year-old boxer won bronze the women's featherweight tegory at Tokyo 2020.

And for many homosexualy is still an imperfectn. "Tta follows the lik of Bra's double Olympic gold medallist Nila Adams and Ireland's Olympic lightweight champn Kellie Harrgton beg an openly gay female than 160 openly LGBTQ athlet peted Tokyo, makg the most clive Gam ever held.

THIS GAY BOXER SAYS WNG AN OLYMPIC MEDAL GAVE HER THE STRENGTH TO E OUT

Italy’s Irma Tta publicly me out as gay four months after wng bronze at the Tokyo Gam. * boxer come out gay *

Irma Tta (blue) jos sr of other medal-wng out gay Olympians. “And for many homosexualy is still an imperfectn.

Has his first fight sce announcement on FridayFirst active boxer to publicly e outHas gaed support the gay munyKISSIMMEE, Fla. — For so many years, Puerto Rin featherweight Orlando Cz stggled wh nflictg emotns regardg his place as a gay man the tradnally mascule, btal and often-remorsels enavor that is profsnal boxg.

"I was aaid I uld be discrimated agast bee there is a lot of discrimatn agast the gay muny. ''Two weeks ago, the 31-year-old boxer beme the first active pro fighter to publicly clare that he was gay.

GAY BOXER ORLANDO CZ STGGLED WH G OUT

Puerto Rin featherweight Orlando Cz be the first active boxer to publicly reveal he is gay. * boxer come out gay *

In 2005, Ee Griffh, the Hall of Fame former world welterweight and middleweight champn, revealed his homosexualy three s after his fal 's story has generated world-wi media attentn for the ge tle ntenr and journeyman.

''Cz's publicly issued statement that he is a "proud gay man'' was a rare acknowledgement and unprecented among active pro athlet major sports. "Osr asked me before the fight, 'Are you gog to tell people you are gay?

''While Cz said his cisn to e out has been well received om fay and iends, pl the gay and lbian muni, he scribed a recent overt act of discrimatn that sadned him. ''Cz said he is unncerned about potential tnts om fans — or future opponents tryg to distract him wh homophobic, Cz's Friday opponent, said he don't re about his challenger's sexual preference.

CZ BE FIRST BOXER TO E OUT AS GAY

Puerto Rin n make history by beg the first openly gay world champn on Saturday. He tells Steve Bunce about g out the macho world of boxg * boxer come out gay *

"I have to w whether he is gay or not, '' he said.

ORLANDO CZ: THE GAY BOXER WHO IS BREAKG BARRIERS

Featherweight boxer Orlando Cz has bee the first big-time active profsnal boxer to e out as gay. Acrdg to USA Today, Cz, who has a strong profsnal rerd of 18-2-1, said he... * boxer come out gay *

He said she spected he was gay even though he said, "I ed to like girls.

"When I fish boxg, '' he add, "I want people to remember me: 'Orlando Cz was gay — and he was a good boxer and a good guy.

I have always been and always will be a proud gay man.

ORLANDO CZ BE FIRST PROFSNAL BOXER TO E OUT AS GAY

* boxer come out gay *

"Former two-weight world champn Ee Griffhexternal-lk me out as bisexual an terview wh Sports Illtrated magaze, but his admissn me after he had Bra, only Surrey cricketer Steven Davi, external-lk footballer Jt Fashanu, who took his own life 1998, external-lk and dual- gby ternatnal Gareth Thomas have e out durg their 2007, Brish basketball star John Amaechi beme the first NBA player to publicly announce he was gay, but he had retired three years prevly.

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.

BOXER EE GRIFFH OUT AS GAY

Terry Flanagan knows somethg about the urage took Orlando Cz to bee the first active profsnal boxer to announce he is gay. * boxer come out 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.

ORLANDO CZ COM OUT AS FIRST OPENLY GAY PROFSNAL BOXER

Donald McRae go behd the scen Buffalo as Orlando Cz, boxg's first openly gay fighter, prepar for his reer-fg world tle bout * boxer come out gay *

" 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.

ORLANDO CZ: 'I'M GAY, BUT I'M ALSO A BOXER. THIS IS MY TIME'

ROME (Rters) - Italy's Olympic bronze medal-wng boxer Irma Tta has e out as gay, sayg her succs at the Tokyo Gam earlier this year ga... * boxer come out gay *

"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.

BOXG-ITALIAN BOXER TTA OUT AS GAY AFTER OLYMPIC SUCCS

Orlando Cz, the No. 4 ranked WBO featherweight fighter, has released a statement sayg that he is "a proud gay man." * boxer come out gay *

" 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 A 'PROUD GAY MAN'

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.

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.

BOXG-ITALIAN BOXER TTA OUT AS GAY AFTER OLYMPIC SUCCS

"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. Featherweight boxer Orlando Cz has bee the first big-time active profsnal boxer to e out as gay.

Endorsement als are lucrative, and for someone whose e om those als and wng fights, he has more to lose than many other gay pro athlet. Throughout the history of the sport, as well as every other sport, there has been gay athlet. Wh boxg, this beg such a gladiator-que, mascule sport, ’s difficult to picture a gay boxer.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* BOXER COME OUT GAY

Gay boxer Orlando Cz stggled wh g out .

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