Patricio Manuel puts unbeaten mark on the line in fourth pro bout

Patricio Manuel has gone from waiting years for a fight to now facing his third boxing match in a year. The 38-year-old Californian super flyweight and 2023 Outsports Transgender Athlete of the Year, will seek his fourth win in four pro fights against Joshua Brian Reyes as part of the Golden Boy Fight Night card in Indio, Calif., Thursday.

Reyes will be Manuel’s most accomplished opponent to date. The 27-year-old from Lubbock, Texas, comes into the fight at 3-2 including a knockout win last year. His most recent fight was a majority decision loss to Martin Armijo, where Reyes earned a draw from one of judges, but was on the short end of two other cards.

Manuel enters this bout coming off a busy year in the ring in 2023. Last March, he pounded out a four-round decision over Hien Huynh . He followed up in June with a decisive unanimous decision over Alex Gutierrez where Manuel landed nearly twice as many scoring blows as the opponent to win his third straight bout.

This next fight also come five days after International Transgender Day of Visibility, and the “controversy” some tried to make out of the Easter holiday landing on the same day.

Manuel decried those who tried to make the Easter date a problem , while also affirming what keeps him speaking for trans rights, and keeps him training for another chance to compete.

“I walk between so many worlds. But I never enter a room without being my full self,” he stated via Instagram on Sunday. “When I made the choice to no longer compromise my truth for fear of the consequences, I realized that being me – the me I always dreamed to be – was actually an option. I also realized that when I offered this world myself in the fullest, I have so much more to give.”

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