Fighting for Common Ground
Along the coastline of LA’s Manhattan Beach, walks Patricio Manuel. His sun drenched skin decorated in a tapestry of tattoos displaying people, places, and events significant to his 34 year journey towards becoming a professional boxer. He pauses to reflect on what led him to this moment, “Boxing has always been a sport of transformation my story just looks a little different.”
The injury brought despair and depression. The pinnacle was so close and then all taken away. However just as out of the ashes rose the phoenix; out of the injury rose Patricio Manuel. “Boxing had taught me to be introspective and think, ‘what do I really want and how am I going to have to work for it?’” It was then he decided to take on a six-year transformation to live his truth, what he had always known. Patricio was going to live his life as a fully actualized male. He knew this decision would come at a cost but also knew the reflection in the mirror did not match who he was inside and he was tired of living that way.
Patricio lost his coach, friends and training partners during the transition. He would be starting from scratch, as his ranking among the female division would not carry over. “People would come up to me and say ‘You could’ve been one of the greatest female world champions of all time. You would throw it all away to be yourself?’ And I tell them, that’s how bad I felt living that lie.” Patricio understood that big dreams sometimes come with big sacrifices. “If it meant that much to me to risk the love of my life, boxing, then they knew it was something that was important to me. No one just throws away a possible chance at the Olympics or becoming a world champion because this is something that they’re half in about.” Patricio was all in for boxing, life and finally being his true authentic self, inside and out. “This is something that’s going to hurt. Living in your truth is going to hurt, but it’s worth it.”
The next chapter began just outside Pasadena, CA, where Vic Valenzuela and his gym, Duarte Boxing Club, opened their doors as the new home and family for Patricio and his championship aspirations. At Duarte, Patricio was another male boxer at the gym. He found a coach, training partners, friends and validation. But just as 16 year old Patricio wasn’t satisfied with simply sparring in the gym now 33 year old Patricio wanted back in the ring under the lights.
This seemingly insurmountable endeavour didn’t just include the opposition of social constructs and public opinion but of rules set by USA Boxing. It wasn’t that there were restrictions on trans-men competing in the male division but that Patricio would be the first. Was he ready for the inevitable bigoted public outcry? Would other fighters step up and take the match? Breaking barriers was a new battle for Patricio. He had taken up arms for his own journey of identity but to live this in the public eye was another thing all together. He understood it all and he was ready, “Unfortunately when you deviate from the norms that society has constructed you have to fight for that identity and you have to really make it yourself.” With help from rules on trans-athletes set by the Olympic Committee, USA Boxing restructured their rules to be inclusive of trans-athletes and Vic began scheduling amateur bouts for Patricio.
Manuel quickly learned that he still had the skills and determination to box for a living and began dedicating his life to becoming a professional boxer. Finding an opponent proved to be tough. Promoters were dodging calls and making excuses. But then on December 8th, 2018, at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indo, CA, Patricio took the next big step towards his dream, “So many people had said it was impossible for someone like me, a trans-man, to compete against a non-trans-man and win. But I proved them all wrong that night.” At the end of 3 rounds Patricio was the one standing in the middle of the ring, hand raised, as a now 1-0 professional male boxer. “It was a victory greater than just having my successful pro debut. I think it challenged a lot of people’s assumptions about what people like me are able to do.”
Patricio started this journey as a search for an identity that he always knew was his, though society told him he couldn’t have. He fought and continues to fight not just for tallies in the win column or belts around his waist but for all people, “So many of us are being forced into these restrictive boxes of identification but very few of us actually fit. I want all of us to be who we are and to be unafraid and not have to deal with all these obstacles just to be our authentic self.”
