Tyson Fury’s former trainer proved that being openly gay boxer is still impossible in three tweets
Boxer Orlando Cruz has come under fire with homophobic tweets, proving homophobia is still not dead in sport.
Cruz fought for the title of WBO lightweight champion last night but lost the match to his opponent, Terry Flanagan, in the 8th round.
The match, which took place in Cardiff, Wales, was watched by many – and a few had something to say about Cruz’s sexual identity.
Tweets like “that’s the difference between real men & half of something else” and “Don’t worry about my position. Fighting men I want to see. Not something else!” littered Fury’s twitter feed, and he is still yet to delete them despite backlash.
Tyson’s former trainer and uncle, Peter Fury, hailed Flanagan’s victory but wrote some pretty disturbing tweets in the process commenting on Cruz’s sexuality.
British pro-boxer Frankie Gavin took to twitter alongside Fury to express his hopes for the match and managed to disappoint everyone with the inevitable “but” in his tweet.
“I have nothing against gay people have gay friends,” Gavin said, “But if I lost to a gay lad I would get bantered for life by pals so Flanagan has to win.”
He has since deleted the tweet.
Cruz became the first openly gay boxer to come out while still fighting in 2012, and married his long term boyfriend José Manuel in 2013. He has been celebrated as an advocate figure in the community, having dedicated fights he won to the victims of the Orlando massacre.
He had hoped to win last nights match to inspire members of the LGBT community across the world.
