Career
As an amateur, he represented Puerto Rico at the 2000 Olympic Games in Australia. Cruz made his professional debut on December 15, 2000, against Alfredo Valdez in Puerto Rico. He was undefeated until 2009, when he lost to Cornelius Lock by TKO. Cruz is currently ranked at Number.
4 among featherweights by the World Boxing Organization (WBO).
On October 4, 2012, Cruz became the first boxer to come out as gay while still active professionally, stating that "I have and will always be a proud Puerto Rican. I have always been and always will be a proud gay man".
He was among the first class of inductees into the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame on August 2, 2013.