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LGBT

xchrom

(108,903 posts) Sat Oct 20, 2012, 07:03 AM Oct 2012

CRUZ WINS FIRST FIGHT SINCE ANNOUNCING HE'S GAY

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BOX_CRUZ_PAZOS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-10-20-02-43-19

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) -- These last two weeks have weighed heavily on Orlando Cruz.

But as soon as he walked out to a cheering crowd displaying flags of his native Puerto Rico, boxing's first openly gay fighter could finally breathe and do what he came to do, slugging his way to a victory by unanimous decision over Jorge Pazos.

"That was my moment, my opportunity, my event," Cruz said Friday night after the bout, his mother Dominga Torres-Rivera seated beside him. "And I won."

Cruz was touched by the support on display at the Kissimmee Civic Center outside of Orlando, the latest in a continual outpouring since his announcement two weeks ago that made him the first active male athlete in a major sport to come out.