Trans boxer Patricio Manuel achieves undefeated record in matches

Patricio Manuel has been waiting for a fight for years, and now he will be competing in his third boxing match in a year. The 38-year-old California super flyweight and 2023 Outsport Transgender Athlete of the Year will compete as part of the Golden Boy Fight Night card on Thursday in Indio, California. He is aiming for his fourth win in four professional fights against Joshua Brian Reyes.

Reyes will be Manuel's most proven opponent to date. The 27-year-old from Lubbock, Texas, comes into this bout with a 3-2 record, including a knockout win last year. His most recent fight was a majority decision loss to Martin Armijo, in which Reyes won a draw from one of the judges but was trailing on the other two cards.

Manuel enters this bout in 2023 after a busy year in the ring. He defeated Hien Huynh by a four-round decision last March. He followed that up with a decisive unanimous decision over Alex Gutierrez in June, and Manuel landed roughly twice as many decisive hits as his opponent, winning three straight matches.

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This next fight also comes five days after International Transgender Visibility Day, and landed on the same day that some people tried to use the Easter holiday to create a “controversy.”

While Manuel condemned those who tried to make Easter Day an issue, he affirmed his reasons for advocating for transgender rights and continuing to train for a chance to compete again.

“I walk between so many worlds. But I never walk into a room unless I'm my complete self,” he said on Instagram on Sunday. “When I made the choice not to compromise my truth any further for fear of the consequences, I realized that becoming me, becoming the person I had always dreamed of, was actually a choice. I also realized that if I gave myself to this world to the fullest, I would have so much more to offer.”