Female-to-male transgender boxer Patricio “Pat” Manuel is the first professional boxer to fight as a woman and a trans man.
Manuel debuted as a pro fighter in December 2018 and has won three professional boxing matches since March 2023.
So far, Manuel is undefeated in the super featherweight boxing category.
Manuel beat fellow super featherweight Hien Hyunh in round 4 after a first round knockout on March 18.
“There was some rust coming in, but I starting getting my rhythm,” Manuel said after the win. “I’m just happy to be in this ring. This where I am supposed to be.”
Manuel, 37, started professional boxing late in life due to discrimination in the male boxing world.
Manuel’s career stalled during the COVID pandemic. “We were getting ready to go back in 2020, and then the world stopped because of COVID,” Manuel said.
Despite the name, Patricio Manuel (pronounced man-you-all) is not Mexican. Manuel was born to an Irish American mother and a Black father.
Manuel has experienced race and gender discrimination due to being mixed race and transgender.
“I can’t disconnect my Blackness from my gender identity,” Manuel says. “Who I am, how I have moved through this world when I was identified as a quote-unquote ‘light-skinned, mixed-race Black girl,’ is a very different experience than a light-skinned, mixed-race Black man.”
Watch the video below.
