Gay Boxer Orlando Cruz Weighs In For Tonight's World Championship Title

Orlando Cruz weighed in for the bout wearing rainbow briefs and will wear rainbow trunks during the fight. He spoke to the Guardian about tonight's featherweight world title match.

Cruz understands how this fight will smudge the boundaries between the personal and professional. He even implies that Salido, as a Mexican, might be troubled by facing a gay fighter. "My coming out made it harder for him. He will have it in his mind that he's fighting a homosexual for the world title." Is he suggesting Salido might be homophobic? "He's professional with me but Mexicans often have something homophobic in them. It's the machismo culture. He won't want to lose to a gay man. Salido will be much more aggressive. He will want to make a statement because I'm gay. But he'll fall into the trap by being macho. I'll let him come at me, and I'll show him then. The only language I will use is spoken by my fists. They will do my talking."

The Bleacher Report is predicting that the slightly bigger Salido will win. Cruz is 5'4" and weighs 125 pounds.

Salido has a two-inch height and reach advantage, but Cruz is clearly the quicker, slicker boxer. The major question to be answered in this fight is whether Cruz can hurt Salido with single shots. El Fenomeno doesn’t throw a lot of combinations. This could be an issue, considering Salido’s counter-punching prowess. Throwing one shot at a time will make him easier to counter and time. This will only increase Salido's aggressiveness. If Cruz can’t slow the former champion's pursuit, stamina could become a problem later in the fight.

The fight will air at 9pm ET/6pm PT on HBO Pay-Per-View. (Photo via Andres Duque.)