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Thoughts on Cruz vs. Salido
Orlando Cruz will be the first openly gay boxer to fight for a world title as he will face former WBO Champion, Orlando Salido, in a 12 round title fight for the vacant WBO Featherweight crown.
What's striking is that Cruz has already caused controversy before the fight by having pictures of him posing in front of his selected ring attire for the fight, a mixture of the LGTB colours and the Puerto Rican flag. Cruz is of Puerto Rican descent and is proud of his heritage, although Puerto Rico being a very conservative society and frowning upon LGBT rights and the like.
What's so brave about Cruz, and what strikes me as similar with another maverick that bucked against the trend, Muhammad Ali (formerly known as Cassius Clay), the greatest of all time, is that he is standing up for what he believes and standing against the seeming injustice and intolerance directed towards gays and homosexuals. That is commendable.
But, as with Ali, the controversy is taking away from his skills and ability in the ring and this title fight, taking away from his career resume, is becoming more political than it is about pure sports and competition- with sports and athleticism being ties that are supposed to bind people, rather than pull them apart- and it also takes away the energy and luster from his opponent and possibly subsequent opponents.
But, the cause, as with Ali's stance against going to Vietnam to fight for an America that wouldn't let him and other people of colour drink from the same fountain as whites, sit at the same dinner table as whites or sit in the same seats as whites on the public buses, is greater than a mere fight and all about bringing awareness to that greater cause.
However, this is all of where those similarities end. For example, Ali was being forced to go to Vietnam, was the undefeated and undisputed heavyweight champion of the world at the time and took jail time for his beliefs. In fact, one can say that we were robbed out of 3 to 5 years of Ali's prime in the ring had he not served jail time.
Ali also converted to Islam, at that time a little known and understood religion (even though it has strong relationships with Christianity and Judaism).
Cruz is no where near that stature, never was a champion, barely is a fringe contender, no one heard of him until he came out as openly gay, his championship qualities that would qualify him as someone to watch (heart, power, speed, boxing style, grit, determination, stamina and hunger) has not been on display at any point in his career and neither is his cause as dire as Civil Rights and the Vietnam War were in the 1960's.
This is not to say Cruz doesn't deserve a shot. For goodness sakes, we have seen worse match-up's with all weight divisions in boxing. Cruz is actually a legitimate contender, albeit not the best contender for the title he is fighting Salido for tonight. But, as said, with boxing, we have seen worse.
For example, we saw last week a blown up heavyweight contender in Seth Mitchell, ranked in the top 5 slots on all of the major sanctioning bodies rankings, who started his pro career as an adult after his football career ended with a knee injury, summarily dispatched in one round by a former title contender in Chris Arreola, who has a longer career both as a professional and an amateur than Mitchell, has a longer record of quality opposition who he has beaten plus has shown his heart, punching power and determination in the ring.
Without a doubt Salido is going to beat the breaks off of Cruz. Even though Cruz has amateur pedigree having represented Puerto Rico in the 2000 Olympics in Australia, which can mean a lot or very little in the professional boxing world, the fight may not last past 5 rounds in my estimation. The only chance Cruz has tonight of winning is by a shocking, one shot knockout punch OR if Salido is robbed by the judges.
Salido has a better record of opposition, has beaten, twice, a former champion who was considered, at that time, to be one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world- within the top 5 fighters in the world. Plus, Salido is hungrier, has shown more heart in the ring, has proven he can take a punch and land heavy shots on his opponents in addition to having tremendous stamina and recuperative powers. Cruz has just not shown that and odds makers would probably agree- Cruz is a 4 to 1 underdog, which is a better chance than I would have given him. But, this is what the expert odds makers have it as.
All that aside, and regardless of the finish, the era of political statements has entered into boxing on this lap. Is it fair or just is not the question as much as it is what it will be. Somewhat of a shame that the fighters aren't getting more shine for their abilities, but the political correctness of this moment calls for something- serendipitous or injected as anyone would want to claim it to be.
A moral victory for the LGTB cause nonetheless. Someone with more bravery outside of the ring will get a chance to prove what he can do inside of it, and God's willing history will be made again by Cruz stepping in the ring to prove what it is he can do.
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Originally Posted by p4pking
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