Edwin Valero commits suicide in dark day for boxing
The world of boxing was rocked today by news of the tragic demise of Edwin Valero.
The 28-year-old former multi-weight champion committed suicide in his cell early this morning, the day after his arrest on suspicion of his wife’s murder.
It marks the end for one of the most promising fighters in modern boxing history. Had Valero continued for another 10 years he would surely have gone down as one of the all-time great pugilists. Despite the harrowing circumstances surrounding his death, he will be remembered as a talented fighter with unlimited skill and power.
Born in Venezuela, Valero laced up his first pair of gloves at the age of 12 and was a natural-born fighter from the very start. The protégé then proceeded to make his professional debut in July 2002 with a resounding TKO over Eduardo Hernandez, marking the first of 18 successive first-round knockouts. As the world sat up and took notice of “El Inca” he took home his first world title, the WBA super-featherweight, which he plundered from Vicente Mosquera in 2006.
Valero proceeded to defend that title four times, before vacating and moving up a weight class to lightweight, promptly winning the WBC belt with a resounding second-round knockout victory over Antonio Pitalua. Valero then proceeded to defend his title twice, most recently a ninth-round victory of Antonio DeMarco in February.
In his home country of Venezuela, Valero was a superstar. On the international scene he was getting more and more recognition and was arguably one big fight away from laying claim to being the pound-for-pound best. He had vacated his lightweight belt to move up to light-welterweight and was hoping to one day fight Manny Pacquiao in a super fight.
Fans loved Valero’s speed and power. His accuracy was frightening and he could finish of a fight almost on a whim, a bundle of speed, exuberance and raw strength. His 27-27-27-0 record testament to his ability.
Sadly Valero was always a tormented sole with known anger problems. Often in trouble with the police, he has in the past battled drink and drug issues in rehab and has been suspected of assault on his mother and sister after a feud, although all parties denied this. In March of this year his wife was admitted to hospital with a collapsed lung and broken ribs. Again both Valero and his wife denied he had anything to do with it and so no charges were brought, but due to Valero’s aggressive nature at the hospital he was sentenced to six months in rehab for anger issues.
While staying in a hotel in Venezuela, Valero alerted staff in the early hours of Sunday morning that he had stabbed his wife. He was subsequently arrested for murder, before he was found hanging in his cell by a fellow inmate just 24 hours later.
Boxing is a sport that appears to attract tragedy. Many troubled individuals have found solace inside the ring, such as Valero. The history of the sport is littered with hero’s falling from grace and succumbing to sorrowful ends since the very start of professional bouts. Many fighters, from the likes of Sonny Liston to Arturo Gatti and Darren Sutherland have ultimately lost their lives under wretched circumstances, while others like Tony Ayala Jr, Carlos Monzon and Mike Tyson have found themselves incarcerated.
Most come to boxing as a way to escape despairing situations and use the hardships of their lives in a constructive way. As a discipline boxing teaches you how to control aggression and channel anger into a positive force.
Sadly for Valero he was unable to utilise the skills he learnt in the ring and put them into practice in his personal life.
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