Terry Flanagan knows something about the courage it took Orlando Cruz to become the first active professional boxer to announce he is gay.Cruz (25-4-1, 13 KOs), who came out in 2012, challenges Flanagan for his WBO world lightweight title on Saturday and will become the first openly gay boxing world champion if he wins at the at the Matchpoint Arena in Cardiff.Boxing this year has seen two of the sports biggest global stars -- Manny Pacquiao and Tyson Fury -- make homophobic remarks.But Flanagan (31-0, 12 KOs) only has admiration for Cruz after seeing his sister Chelsea also announce she was gay.To come out in such a sport like boxing which is a macho combat sport, you have to admire it, Flanagan told ESPN.It takes bravery and courage. It doesnt affect me at all as my sister Chelsea is openly gay.I remember well when she came out and what it was like. Shes had it hard, she came out in her teens and shes a better person for it now.Shes a footballer herself [for Sheffield FC in the Womens Super League] and there are a few girls in womens football who have come out. But there arent any in the mens game.There are more and more people coming out so people dont look at it as a bad thing and its good for boxing what Orlando has done.Puerto Rican Cruz, who married his partner Jose Manuel Colon earlier this year, was knocked out by Orlando Salido in a shot at the WBO world featherweight title in 2013.The 35-year-old has won his last five fights -- the last four were at super-featherweight -- and he will be Briton Flanagans challenger for the WBO belt he won in 2015.He looks quite classy, he can punch, and hes got a few knockouts, Flanagan said.He uses his short height to an advantage and looks a bit tricky. He lost to Salido, but Salido is a great fighter who has a win over [Vasyl] Lomachenko.Cruz is arguably Flanagans highest profile opponent yet, but the Briton is still yearning for a big fight.Flanagan, 27, had hoped to face fellow Manchester-based boxer Anthony Crolla (31-5-3, 13 KOs), who lost his WBA version of the world title on points to Jorge Linares (41-3, 27 KOs) in September.Flanagan now hopes victory over Cruz sets up a mandatory defence against Puerto Ricos dangerous Felix Verdejo (22-0, 15 KOs) or a unification fight.Verdejo is my mandatory and hes boxing after Christmas and then I will be looking at defending my title against him in March, or maybe it will be a unification fight, Flanagan said.?Ive heard there will be a rematch between Linares and Crolla so I wont be fighting either of them in the near future. Ive got my mandatory due in March so its maybe at least two fights away.Linares got offered the fight against me and took less money to fight Crolla again than he would against me, so he chose the safer option in fighting Crolla.I thought [WBC champion] Dejan Zlaticanin had accepted an offer to come over here and fight this month but then we heard he was fighting Mikey Garcia next instead. I thought it was done but was only a verbal agreement. Hopefully we can make it in the future.I just hope one of these big fights comes off for me in 2017.Flanagan says he would consider stepping up to light-welterweight and challenging for the vacant WBO world title, if American Terence Crawford relinquishes the belt to move up to welterweight.I would jump at the chance of fighting for the world title at the next weight, Flanagan said. If Terence Crawford is stepping up to welterweight then I would happily jump up.Crawford went from being WBO lightweight champion to fighting for the WBO light-welterweight title and Ive heard there are rumours that he will step up again if the fight is right. I would go straight into a world title fight if I stepped up. Mario Lemieux Penguins Jersey . Detroit and Boston are deadlocked, 1-1, and Tigers manager Jim Leyland could be forgiven if he was caught rationalizing instead of dissecting how his club could blow a 5-1 lead late in Game 2. Paul Coffey Penguins Jersey . Reigning world champion Eve Muirhead of Scotland opened with a 12-2 rout of Winnipegs Jennifer Jones in a battle of teams bound for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. http://www.penguinsauthenticofficial.com/chad-ruhwedel-jersey/ . -- In a span of seven Washington Redskins offensive plays, Justin Tuck sacked Robert Griffin III four times. Paul Martin Penguins Jersey . After taking two big hits this week -- losing at home and dropping back-to-back games for the first time all season -- Indiana struck back by playing its most complete game of the year. Bryan Rust Penguins Jersey .25 million option on reliever Jose Veras. Historically reticent when it comes to retirement talk, Venus Williams finally opened up about when she might call it a career.Appearing on the Hallmark Channels Home & Family, Williams said she hopes to play long enough for another opportunity at gold: Im kind of targeting the next Olympics [Tokyo 2020], and thats in, what, three-and-a-half years ... and Im not counting!Williams, 36, finished this season ranked No. 17 and won one title, in Taiwan. She played surprisingly well at the majors, highlighted by a run to the semifinals at Wimbledon and the fourth round of the US Open.Despite a lackluster fall, Williams was steadfast in her belief that she can still compete on tour. After a heartbreaking, third-set tiebreaker loss to?Karolina Pliskova in New York, Williams spoke of the positives she took from the season.Where theres a will, theres a way, she told the press. I definitely have the will, so I think I will keep finding the way. I feel like Im going to get more [wins] as the future goes on.ddddddddddddive years ago, Williams was diagnosed with Sjogrens Syndrome, an autoimmune disorder that causes debilitating joint pain, swelling and numbness. She saw her year-end ranking plummet to No. 103, and Williams was more or less an afterthought on tour.Still, she refuted any retirement rhetoric and began to play regularly -- with encouraging results. A year ago, she won three titles, her most in a season since her halcyon days in 2008. Williams is a seven-time Grand Slam champion, and her 49 career titles rank ninth all time.If she does indeed compete on tour until the 2020 Games, she will be 40 years old. She is a four-time Olympic gold medalist (one singles and three doubles with sister Serena). This season, after falling in the first round in singles and doubles in Rio, Williams teamed with Rajeem Ram to win a silver medal in mixed doubles. ' ' '