LAS VEGAS?No description of the recently defeated Orlando Cruz (20-3-1, 10 KOs) would be complete without being prefixed by ?openly gay boxer.? I can?t remember the last time a fighter was described as an ?openly straight boxer,? but my memory ain?t what she used to be, and neither is boxing.
It took guts for Cruz to come out in the uber-masculine realm of boxing. But since he was already a boxer, no one of sound mine questioned his guts. His wisdom, however, given the context, might be another story.
The Cruz story was the feel-good boxing story du jour. You had a 32-year-old boxer of Puerto Rican descent who decided to set the record straight, as it were, by coming clean and out of the closet.
But coming out of the closet is one thing, coming out in the ring quite another, especially with the formidable Orlando Salido (40-12-2, 28 KOs) in the opposite corner.
Cruz had declared, ?This is my moment, my time,? and performed well under the circumstances, but he was seriously outclassed. He is a 13-year pro, but his experience, no less than his power, paled before that of his opponent. Salido landed the heavier punches and it was just a matter of time before Cruz went down. A left hook to the head dropped Cruz to his knees and he was counted out at 1:05 of round seven.
