Puerto Rico-native and openly gay featherweight boxing sensation Orlando Cruz made news again Wednesday when he publicly proposed to his long-time boyfriend Jose Manuel on Facebook. Speaking in Spanish, Cruz declared, “Through the ups and downs we’ve had, you’ve always been there for your number, as one says. I’m a little bit nervous, but that aside, I want to tell you and share with your friends and my friends that if you want to marry me?”
Cruz went on to say: “I want you to be part of my life and me part of your life, and it’s what I want to do most, is to do this. It is an important step in my life, a step that I think we have thought out and I want to do. I want to share my life with you and want to be with you always, and support you 100 percent, and you support me 100 percent. I like you a lot, I love you and I look forward to your answer.”
For his part, a stunned and emotional Manuel posted his own video response just shy of an hour later. “I want to tell you, yes, I do accept and would like to marry you, because I love you…I’m a bit emotional. I didn’t expect (pause) to find your proposal (giggle) posted to Facebook.”
Cruz stunned the sports world last October when he became the first professional boxer, and one of the very few active athletes, to come out. The reaction was overwhelmingly positive and during his first bout after coming out – a victory against Mexico’s Jorge Pazos at the Civic Center in Kissimmee, Fla. –audiences leapt to their feet shouting “Fenómeno,” the Spanish word for his nickname, the phenomenon.
Cruz is currently ranked fourth in the featherweight category by the World Boxing Organization (WBO) and was among the first class of inductees into the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame Aug. 2.
