Imagine gay athletes having to wear pink tutus when they play, or a black athlete being forced to wear a do-rag when they participate. That’s what the Amateur International Boxing Association is trying to do with women, floating the idea that women may soon have to wear skirts in the ring. Women have long worn shorts, [...]
Posts under ‘Boxing’
Moment #88: Nong Toom wins her first competitive match against a much bigger man
Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history. Kickboxing, 1998. Thailand is well-known for its “lady boys,” but when one of them starts beating bigger men in the Kickboxing ring…even in Thailand it causes a stir. That’s what happened when Nong Toom stepped foot in the ring for the [...]
Moment #96: Savoy Howe becomes first out lesbian in women’s boxing
Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in LGBT sports history. Boxing, 1993. Savoy Howe shot into the sports world out of a cannon. She first stepped foot in a boxing ring in 1992; A year later she was fighting in Toronto’s first-ever sanctioned women’s boxing event. And in 1993 she agreed to [...]
Art exhibit focuses on homoerotic desire
There is a fascinating exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery (that has gotten rave reviews) called “Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture.” In dozens of pieces that go back to the 1800s, the show demonstrates how same-sex themes made their way into American art, often going unnoticed by the public at large. One sports [...]
Floyd Mayweather’s homophobic rant. Again.
Floyd Mayweather has been hit in the head too many times. The latest result was a racist and homophobic rant mostly about fellow boxer Manny Pacquiao. And some of it was caught on tape. See his racist “fag” rant and ensuing (heavy on the quotes) “apology” after the jump. You can also read a partial transcript. [...]
Out lesbian making noise in the boxing ring
An out lesbian is making noise in the boxing ring with a big personality and some hard hits. Boxing “bad girl” Melissa “Huracan” Hernandez of the Bronx returned to New Mexico on Aug. 14 to claim the interim WIBA Lightweight title in an eight-round battle with Albuquerque’s Victoria Cisneros. The fight was the featured match [...]
Hector Camacho to appear in Playgirl again
This week Playgirl revisited a 25-year-old photo spread of boxer Hector Camacho with a photo shoot of the 47-year-old that will appear in an up-coming issue of the magazine. Daniel Nardicio, who’s a down-and-dirty gay club promoter in New York City, is Playgirl.com’s director of marketing: Hector Camacho has everything our fans want. He’s a [...]
Mayweather has gay panic on Chelsea Lately
Floyd Mayweather Jr. visited Chelsea Lately to promote his upcoming fight and return to boxing. During the interview, Mayweather twice steered the conversation inexplicably toward his personal homophobia. The first time came when Chelsea told Mayweather to get comfy and put one of his legs on the chair (you gotta see the video to understand [...]
Boxer drinks his own urine for success
How far will some athletes go to succeed in their sport? Pretty far. For boxer Juan Manuel Marquez, drinking his own urine has become part of his training routine. HBO is documenting his training on film as he prepares for the biggest fight of his career, on Sept. 19 against Floyd Mayweather Jr. Will it [...]
Thai boxer banned for gay-mag spread
Take a good look at the image to the right. We’ve seen something like it a thousand times, right? The man in the photo is Thai Olympic silver-medal boxer Worapoj Petchkoom, and Stage is a Thai gay magazine. Because Petchkhoom appears on the cover of said magazine wearing almost nothing, the Amateur Boxing Association of [...]
When women do a no-no in sports
Last weekend I missed the MMA championship bout between Gina Carano and Cyborg Santos, but watched what I could find on YouTube. The steel-cage event headlined at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, was billed as a breakthrough for women, and aired on Showtime pay-per-view. Now controversy rages. On AOL Fanhouse, commentator David Whitley did [...]
Gay Olympic silver medalist has died
Gay Olympic silver medalist Mark Leduc has died at the age of 47. He won his Olympic medal for Canada in boxing in 1992. He was apparently found dead in a sauna, and the assumption is that he died of heat stroke: A strange way to go for someone who made his career knowing the [...]
Gay boxers in Manhattan
Out magazine again dips a toe into sports with this month’s article about gay boxers in Manhattan, “Cinderella Men.” There is some good color on the atmosphere of the featured Down Low boxing gym in New York and the boxers who venture there. There is also lots of focus on stereotypical gay behavior by the [...]
NewFest starts this weekend with sports films
If you’re going to be in New York City over the next week, be sure to check out some of the gay-sports films showing at NewFest: Off And Running, June 6: Adopted children often face the dilemma of how much of their parents’ identities they can or should take on as their own. For Avery, [...]
Oscar De La Hoya retires
LGBT boxing fans (myself included) will miss the charismatic presence of boxing great Oscar De La Hoya, who announced his retirement from the ring on Tuesday. At age 36, the Golden Boy had to confess, “I don’t have it any more.” His most recent fight left him on the receiving end of a resounding TKO, preceded by losses [...]