A trans-identified female boxer lost a bout on April 4 to a biological male fighter. Patricio Manuel was defeated in just 21 seconds.
According to Breitbart, opponent Joshua Brian Reyes delivered a knockout blow just 21 seconds into the fight at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California.
Manuel, born Patricia Manuel, began transitioning in 2013 and had undergone full transgender surgery by 2014. Manuel sports a beard and tattoos, but was no match for Reyes in the ring.
Competing as a female, Manuel was a five-time female amateur boxing champion and had participated in the 2012 US Olympic trials, but had to bow out after an injury.
Manuel had won three fights in a row leading up to the April 4 bout.
"I’m not one to hide my face no matter the outcome….I lost last night," Manuel wrote on Instagram following the loss.
"I trained my ass off, had great sparring, cut no corners. But sometimes sh*t doesn’t go your way. It’s a risk we all take when we step in the ring. It’s what is exciting about boxing - and also the most heart breaking. But I refuse to bow my head in shame. I’ve never been one to play it safe and sometimes that means I fail. And life has taught me over and over again that failure will not break me. Thank you to everyone who has been (and hopefully will still be) in my corner."
Manuel, the first female trans boxer to compete at the male pro level, spoke out about the World Boxing Council’s decision in 2023 to create a separate category for transgender boxers after winning a third fight.
"It is heartbreaking to me to have the WBC, a leader in my sport, argue that I don’t have a place in the ring as a man," Manuel said in a statement through Athlete Ally, according to Fox News.
"Given the WBC’s stated values of sportsmanship, diversity and respect (via their philanthropic arm WBC Cares), I trust this intended new policy was made with the best of intentions to be inclusive of transgender boxers. Yet, in reality, the WBC is inherently dehumanizing transgender people by implying that trans men aren’t men and trans women aren’t women. This rhetoric flies in the face of both existing policies at the highest level of governing bodies in the world of sports and my own lived experience."
