Edwin Valero arrested for murder of his wife – News
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picture of valero's body i don't know why I'm postin it but its here:
http://tweetphoto.com/19168095
http://tweetphoto.com/19168095
Valero's final interview just hours before suicide.
(this is translated so it's not perfect. Crazy shit)
Here's the translation.
19 de abril 2010 | 08:08 pm - Javier Ignacio Mayorca
Boxeador Edwin "Inca" Valero | AP
In the farthest corner of the carabobo police headquarters, world lightweight champ edwin valero started to feel depressed.
The effect of the cocaine mixed with alcohol was wanning, leaving in its place the hangover, a sensation he's familiar with.
He's a dangerous detainee, the officials guarding him warned. The man stick his arms out of the bars from the cell he has for himself alone.
He was stripped of the national soccer team jersey he was wearing in the morning, when he arrived because he wasn't wearing a shirt. The tatoos he used to show in the ring were visible, when fortune smiled to him, religion and patriotism written in his chest and arms.
In the next cell, the leader of the prisoners hit the door to call his attention: "Edwin my love, here I have a little juice can for you when you want it" Valero didn't show a reaction, on the contrary, his first words were a petition, the boxer didn't want any privileges, he wanted to be with the rest of the prisoners.
I feel lonely, i need to talk with somebody" he expressed.
The boxers memory hasn't recovered yet, there are numerous blurry spots and contradictions in his story. He remembers driving out of el vigia, in the state of merida, with his wife, Jennifer Carolina Viera Finol, 24 years old.
"I was going to Cuba for a rehab treatment, but i didn't have a passport, I lost it. So we were going to spend time in La Guaira until they issue another, the flight was gonna be yesterday" he explained.
Valero was driving a blue toyota land cruiser, license plates IAP900. He said the relationship with his wife was getting better. That she wanted to help him to recover from his addiction to drugs.
"We left by the Paramo way, since then I was drinking vodka, I drank and drank, suddenly I realized somebody was following us, it was around 10:30 pm, I accelerated until we got to a police post on the highway, and I told a seargeant that somebody wanted to rob or kidnap us, I cant remember well which police post it was. After some time there, the officer told us to go to intercontinental hotel, I came to Valencia because they wanted to kidnap us" he said.
Valero said he paid cash for the room. While he was booking the room, he was watching the people who was around him, in the hotel lobby. "there was a woman that was leaning on a couch watching my wife with fixed eyes, another man also greeted her" he indicated.
Upstairs in room 624, Valero ingested more alcohol and cocaine, until he lost the sense of time and space. His story was interrupted there, in bed with his woman. "I went to bed with her and when I woke up my wife was already dead" he said, covered with blood
In his cell, the boxer remembers going down to the hotel lobby, there he talked with a security employee, he notified what happened in his room.
Valero, however, still doesnt know with certainty if he's responsible of his wifes death.
He remember that when he woke up he was covered in blood, and that he went down to the lobby to notify the clerk. Upon being asked whats his immediate future, Valero expressed his fears for the first time. "Now I'm fucked. I wont see my daughter again" he said.
when asked if he wanted somebody to be called, the champion showed indifference" I cant count on my family in this moment. I think they will know from the press. They told me everybody knows about this. Now, if you can, please call my manager, segundo lujano. he should come" he said.
Time passed, it was 4:00 pm and his manager wasn't there yet. In the boxers mind a conspiracy is taking shape, a conspiracy to incriminate him in a crime he doesn't admit.
In the other cell, the prisoners hit the door again: "Valero, we don't care, you're the best."
(this is translated so it's not perfect. Crazy shit)
Here's the translation.
19 de abril 2010 | 08:08 pm - Javier Ignacio Mayorca
Boxeador Edwin "Inca" Valero | AP
In the farthest corner of the carabobo police headquarters, world lightweight champ edwin valero started to feel depressed.
The effect of the cocaine mixed with alcohol was wanning, leaving in its place the hangover, a sensation he's familiar with.
He's a dangerous detainee, the officials guarding him warned. The man stick his arms out of the bars from the cell he has for himself alone.
He was stripped of the national soccer team jersey he was wearing in the morning, when he arrived because he wasn't wearing a shirt. The tatoos he used to show in the ring were visible, when fortune smiled to him, religion and patriotism written in his chest and arms.
In the next cell, the leader of the prisoners hit the door to call his attention: "Edwin my love, here I have a little juice can for you when you want it" Valero didn't show a reaction, on the contrary, his first words were a petition, the boxer didn't want any privileges, he wanted to be with the rest of the prisoners.
I feel lonely, i need to talk with somebody" he expressed.
The boxers memory hasn't recovered yet, there are numerous blurry spots and contradictions in his story. He remembers driving out of el vigia, in the state of merida, with his wife, Jennifer Carolina Viera Finol, 24 years old.
"I was going to Cuba for a rehab treatment, but i didn't have a passport, I lost it. So we were going to spend time in La Guaira until they issue another, the flight was gonna be yesterday" he explained.
Valero was driving a blue toyota land cruiser, license plates IAP900. He said the relationship with his wife was getting better. That she wanted to help him to recover from his addiction to drugs.
"We left by the Paramo way, since then I was drinking vodka, I drank and drank, suddenly I realized somebody was following us, it was around 10:30 pm, I accelerated until we got to a police post on the highway, and I told a seargeant that somebody wanted to rob or kidnap us, I cant remember well which police post it was. After some time there, the officer told us to go to intercontinental hotel, I came to Valencia because they wanted to kidnap us" he said.
Valero said he paid cash for the room. While he was booking the room, he was watching the people who was around him, in the hotel lobby. "there was a woman that was leaning on a couch watching my wife with fixed eyes, another man also greeted her" he indicated.
Upstairs in room 624, Valero ingested more alcohol and cocaine, until he lost the sense of time and space. His story was interrupted there, in bed with his woman. "I went to bed with her and when I woke up my wife was already dead" he said, covered with blood
In his cell, the boxer remembers going down to the hotel lobby, there he talked with a security employee, he notified what happened in his room.
Valero, however, still doesnt know with certainty if he's responsible of his wifes death.
He remember that when he woke up he was covered in blood, and that he went down to the lobby to notify the clerk. Upon being asked whats his immediate future, Valero expressed his fears for the first time. "Now I'm fucked. I wont see my daughter again" he said.
when asked if he wanted somebody to be called, the champion showed indifference" I cant count on my family in this moment. I think they will know from the press. They told me everybody knows about this. Now, if you can, please call my manager, segundo lujano. he should come" he said.
Time passed, it was 4:00 pm and his manager wasn't there yet. In the boxers mind a conspiracy is taking shape, a conspiracy to incriminate him in a crime he doesn't admit.
In the other cell, the prisoners hit the door again: "Valero, we don't care, you're the best."
Andre Berto learns lesson about social networking.
Berto’s mistake
Andre Berto is one of boxing’s good guys. He worked tirelessly to raise money for victims of the earthquake in Haiti.
He’s a friendly presence on the social networking website Twitter, where he easily and frequently interacts with his fans. Berto has more than 9,900 followers and has made more than 5,500 Tweets. And unlike some celebrities and/or prominent athletes, he doesn’t have a publicist Tweeting for him.
But on Monday, Berto’s openness came back to haunt him.
He was distressed when he learned that former lightweight champion Edwin Valero had committed suicide in his jail cell in Venezuela, a day after Valero was accused of murdering his wife, Jennifer Viera.
On Monday morning, Berto wrote the following on Twitter: “R.I.P to Edwin Valero after killing his wife yesterday he just killed himself in jail today. WOW women are a motherfucker boy RIP E.V.”
The backlash against Berto, the World Boxing Council welterweight champion, was fast and furious and it wasn’t long before he deleted the Tweet and offered condolences to Valero and Viera and their families.
His comment was clearly in outrageously bad taste, particularly when referring to a murder victim.
Give Berto credit, though, for understanding that. His mother and sisters were angry at him, but he realized he had gone over the edge.
He spoke to Yahoo! Sports by telephone late Monday afternoon and said at the time he made the post, he had problems with his girlfriend and had just broken up.
“The comment was made, pretty much, in kind of the heat of a personal frustration for myself and what I was going through in my personal life with my girlfriend,” Berto said. “That comment wasn’t directed toward Jennifer at all. It was said out of frustration and I didn’t mean it that way at all. It wasn’t intentional.
“Everybody who knows me or who has been around me knows I have the utmost respect for women in general. That’s just me, that’s just my morals, that’s the way I was raised. This was a tragic situation. Someone got killed. Why would anyone make a derogatory comment?”
Berto said he learned a deep lesson and will think before he writes in the future. He’s been a good ambassador for boxing and doesn’t deserve to be turned into a villain because of one clearly inappropriate, unacceptable comment.
The Valero case is an epic tragedy and there are children aged 8 and 5 who are now orphaned because of it.
Berto reflected poorly on himself by his words, but the pain was evident in his voice as he spoke and it’s obvious he gets it.
He’s usually done the right thing at the right time in his life and here’s hoping he learns from this and will do the right thing again.
With that, let’s hop into the mailbag where I’ll respond to your questions and comments about the Valero tragedy, the Sergio Martinez-Kelly Pavlik fight and other boxing topics.
Berto’s mistake
Andre Berto is one of boxing’s good guys. He worked tirelessly to raise money for victims of the earthquake in Haiti.
He’s a friendly presence on the social networking website Twitter, where he easily and frequently interacts with his fans. Berto has more than 9,900 followers and has made more than 5,500 Tweets. And unlike some celebrities and/or prominent athletes, he doesn’t have a publicist Tweeting for him.
But on Monday, Berto’s openness came back to haunt him.
He was distressed when he learned that former lightweight champion Edwin Valero had committed suicide in his jail cell in Venezuela, a day after Valero was accused of murdering his wife, Jennifer Viera.
On Monday morning, Berto wrote the following on Twitter: “R.I.P to Edwin Valero after killing his wife yesterday he just killed himself in jail today. WOW women are a motherfucker boy RIP E.V.”
The backlash against Berto, the World Boxing Council welterweight champion, was fast and furious and it wasn’t long before he deleted the Tweet and offered condolences to Valero and Viera and their families.
His comment was clearly in outrageously bad taste, particularly when referring to a murder victim.
Give Berto credit, though, for understanding that. His mother and sisters were angry at him, but he realized he had gone over the edge.
He spoke to Yahoo! Sports by telephone late Monday afternoon and said at the time he made the post, he had problems with his girlfriend and had just broken up.
“The comment was made, pretty much, in kind of the heat of a personal frustration for myself and what I was going through in my personal life with my girlfriend,” Berto said. “That comment wasn’t directed toward Jennifer at all. It was said out of frustration and I didn’t mean it that way at all. It wasn’t intentional.
“Everybody who knows me or who has been around me knows I have the utmost respect for women in general. That’s just me, that’s just my morals, that’s the way I was raised. This was a tragic situation. Someone got killed. Why would anyone make a derogatory comment?”
Berto said he learned a deep lesson and will think before he writes in the future. He’s been a good ambassador for boxing and doesn’t deserve to be turned into a villain because of one clearly inappropriate, unacceptable comment.
The Valero case is an epic tragedy and there are children aged 8 and 5 who are now orphaned because of it.
Berto reflected poorly on himself by his words, but the pain was evident in his voice as he spoke and it’s obvious he gets it.
He’s usually done the right thing at the right time in his life and here’s hoping he learns from this and will do the right thing again.
With that, let’s hop into the mailbag where I’ll respond to your questions and comments about the Valero tragedy, the Sergio Martinez-Kelly Pavlik fight and other boxing topics.
Mother-in-law: Valero was addicted
CARACAS, Venezuela -- Former boxing champion Edwin Valero was addicted to cocaine and had grown increasingly violent before he was arrested in his wife's death and hanged himself in a Venezuelan jail, his mother-in-law said Tuesday.
The fighter's wife, Jennifer Carolina Viera, had told her family that Valero "didn't sleep, he didn't eat, he used drugs every day and he was growing more violent all the time," Mary Finol told reporters at her daughter's funeral in El Vigia in western Venezuela.
Valero, who gained fame with a record of 27 straight knockouts and a tattoo of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on his chest, was arrested Sunday in the stabbing death of his 24-year-old wife. Police said the former lightweight champion hanged himself in his cell early Monday.
Venezuelans have been asking what went wrong in Valero's life and why authorities hadn't stepped in after reported previous incidents of domestic violence.
Some 50 Venezuelan organizations, including women's rights groups and others, criticized the handling of the case by the government, saying there has been a pattern of indifference to violence against women in Venezuela.
Authorities "didn't do more than look away, and therefore they're responsible by omission for this crime," the groups said in a statement. The justice system "didn't act with due diligence, wasn't fair or efficient," and didn't provide protection for Valero's wife, the statement said.
Jorge Linares, a Venezuelan who is a former WBA super featherweight champion, said the case has been "a hard blow for the sport, for those of us who appreciated him ... and for all Venezuelans."
"What's important is that we learn a lesson," Linares said. "We admired him as an athlete, but we never did anything to help him with his problems. We could have started by making public his problems and not hiding anything."
Valero's funeral was scheduled for Wednesday.
The former WBA super featherweight and WBC lightweight champion had a turbulent disposition and had been in trouble with the law before, both for violent outbursts and for problems with alcohol and drugs.
Since 2008, Venezuelan news reports had repeatedly linked Valero to domestic violence, but the fighter and his supporters denied those reports. Until recently, authorities had not commented publicly.
"We all looked away, not to admit what was going on," Valero's manager, Jose Castillo, told reporters Monday. He said authorities also "were very permissive with him, and because of that, we're now in the middle of this tragedy."
As he gained fame in boxing, Valero appeared as a special guest at events hosted by Chavez and was lionized by some of the president's supporters as a national hero, while some critics accused the fighter of avoiding punishment for past problems due to his links to the government.
In September, Valero denied that he was detained on domestic violence charges after Venezuelan news reports said a neighbor called emergency services and told authorities the boxer had struck his mother and a sister.
Five months earlier, in circumstances that were never clarified by authorities, Viera was treated at a hospital for a gunshot wound to her left leg. Officials said at the time that she was thought to have been shot outside her house by an unknown attacker on a motorcycle.
Last month, Valero was charged with harassing his wife and threatening medical personnel who treated her at a hospital in the western city of Merida. Police arrested Valero following an argument with a doctor and nurse at the hospital, where his wife was treated for injuries that included a punctured lung and broken ribs.
The Attorney General's Office said in a statement that Valero was detained March 25 on suspicion of assaulting his wife, but his wife told a police officer her injuries were due to a fall.
Valero's lawyer, Milda Mora, said that after the incident, the boxer was held for nine days in a psychiatric hospital in Merida, where he underwent police-supervised rehabilitation. She said people close to the fighter posted bail April 7 and he was allowed to go free.
"The court put him in rehab for six months, and somehow he got out in a weekend," said Valero's promoter, Bob Arum, the founder of Top Rank. "I never talked to him during this period; I only talked to his manager. They were trying to get him to come to Mexico, to start training and cleaning himself up.
"It's obvious now, in retrospect, that he should have been institutionalized during this period, but it's silly to play the blame game."
Mora said the Venezuelan government had arranged for Valero to attend a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program in Cuba. He had missed a flight to Cuba this month and was scheduled to fly there soon, she said.
Valero grew up in poverty, the third of eight brothers, and started boxing at age 12.
Finol said he started using cocaine around the same time and that he "lived constantly in the streets, with bad groups." She said he didn't finish school and sold fruit to make a living whiling drinking liquor from a young age.
The fighter had a stellar 27-0 record, all knockouts, and had his last victory in Mexico in February over Antonio DeMarco.
Valero was replaced as WBC lightweight champion in February after he expressed a desire to compete in a higher weight division.
CARACAS, Venezuela -- Former boxing champion Edwin Valero was addicted to cocaine and had grown increasingly violent before he was arrested in his wife's death and hanged himself in a Venezuelan jail, his mother-in-law said Tuesday.
The fighter's wife, Jennifer Carolina Viera, had told her family that Valero "didn't sleep, he didn't eat, he used drugs every day and he was growing more violent all the time," Mary Finol told reporters at her daughter's funeral in El Vigia in western Venezuela.
Valero, who gained fame with a record of 27 straight knockouts and a tattoo of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on his chest, was arrested Sunday in the stabbing death of his 24-year-old wife. Police said the former lightweight champion hanged himself in his cell early Monday.
Venezuelans have been asking what went wrong in Valero's life and why authorities hadn't stepped in after reported previous incidents of domestic violence.
Some 50 Venezuelan organizations, including women's rights groups and others, criticized the handling of the case by the government, saying there has been a pattern of indifference to violence against women in Venezuela.
Authorities "didn't do more than look away, and therefore they're responsible by omission for this crime," the groups said in a statement. The justice system "didn't act with due diligence, wasn't fair or efficient," and didn't provide protection for Valero's wife, the statement said.
Jorge Linares, a Venezuelan who is a former WBA super featherweight champion, said the case has been "a hard blow for the sport, for those of us who appreciated him ... and for all Venezuelans."
"What's important is that we learn a lesson," Linares said. "We admired him as an athlete, but we never did anything to help him with his problems. We could have started by making public his problems and not hiding anything."
Valero's funeral was scheduled for Wednesday.
The former WBA super featherweight and WBC lightweight champion had a turbulent disposition and had been in trouble with the law before, both for violent outbursts and for problems with alcohol and drugs.
Since 2008, Venezuelan news reports had repeatedly linked Valero to domestic violence, but the fighter and his supporters denied those reports. Until recently, authorities had not commented publicly.
"We all looked away, not to admit what was going on," Valero's manager, Jose Castillo, told reporters Monday. He said authorities also "were very permissive with him, and because of that, we're now in the middle of this tragedy."
As he gained fame in boxing, Valero appeared as a special guest at events hosted by Chavez and was lionized by some of the president's supporters as a national hero, while some critics accused the fighter of avoiding punishment for past problems due to his links to the government.
In September, Valero denied that he was detained on domestic violence charges after Venezuelan news reports said a neighbor called emergency services and told authorities the boxer had struck his mother and a sister.
Five months earlier, in circumstances that were never clarified by authorities, Viera was treated at a hospital for a gunshot wound to her left leg. Officials said at the time that she was thought to have been shot outside her house by an unknown attacker on a motorcycle.
Last month, Valero was charged with harassing his wife and threatening medical personnel who treated her at a hospital in the western city of Merida. Police arrested Valero following an argument with a doctor and nurse at the hospital, where his wife was treated for injuries that included a punctured lung and broken ribs.
The Attorney General's Office said in a statement that Valero was detained March 25 on suspicion of assaulting his wife, but his wife told a police officer her injuries were due to a fall.
Valero's lawyer, Milda Mora, said that after the incident, the boxer was held for nine days in a psychiatric hospital in Merida, where he underwent police-supervised rehabilitation. She said people close to the fighter posted bail April 7 and he was allowed to go free.
"The court put him in rehab for six months, and somehow he got out in a weekend," said Valero's promoter, Bob Arum, the founder of Top Rank. "I never talked to him during this period; I only talked to his manager. They were trying to get him to come to Mexico, to start training and cleaning himself up.
"It's obvious now, in retrospect, that he should have been institutionalized during this period, but it's silly to play the blame game."
Mora said the Venezuelan government had arranged for Valero to attend a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program in Cuba. He had missed a flight to Cuba this month and was scheduled to fly there soon, she said.
Valero grew up in poverty, the third of eight brothers, and started boxing at age 12.
Finol said he started using cocaine around the same time and that he "lived constantly in the streets, with bad groups." She said he didn't finish school and sold fruit to make a living whiling drinking liquor from a young age.
The fighter had a stellar 27-0 record, all knockouts, and had his last victory in Mexico in February over Antonio DeMarco.
Valero was replaced as WBC lightweight champion in February after he expressed a desire to compete in a higher weight division.
seen valero and former pac opponent diaz on "tv patrol" philippine news channel yesterday. they visited pac back on the islands at his birthday party all dressed up and shit enjoying the event. pacquaio had some words about valero and was just basically saying he probly had some problems. couldn't understand most of it i only understand my parents dialect basically. i know he wasn't talk'n shit cause he respects all his opponents and flies all of them over for his b-day parties.
r.i.p. coulda been a good fight.
r.i.p. coulda been a good fight.
Photos: Edwin Valero's Funeral: Hundreds Say Goodbye
By Mark Vester
On Wednesday in El Vigian, Venezuela, hundreds of fans, friends and relatives attended the funeral of Edwin Valero, who killed himself on Monday in a jail cell. Valero was arrested on Sunday for the murder of his wife Jennifer Carolina. Fans, friends and relatives were very upset, with many of them in tears. Valero's body was taken to a local gym where he once trained and later buried at a nearby cemetery. His wife was buried at the same cemetery on Tuesday. Valero, high on drugs and alcohol, had stabbed his wife to death in their hotel room in Valencia. He was arrested by local police after he approaching hotel employees and confessed to the crime, though he later denied the confession to police. Valero used his pants to hang himself.
During Wednesday's service, Priest Esteban Gudino said he hoped Valero "receives the mercy of our Lord. It's a tragedy for all of use when the life of a youngster ends like this. Hopefully, this will serve others to emulate his positive side, and they'll distance themselves from drugs and alcohol."
Valero's fans shouted "Champion! Champion!" from a caravan of motorcycles and cars that followed the Hurst carrying his coffin.
The children of Valero and his wife, ages 9 and 5, have been taken in by the boxer's sister. A local court will decide whether they will live with her or stay with Jennifer's mother.
Valero's last fight took place in Mexico in February, where he stopped mandatory challenger and interim-champion Antonio DeMarco. Valero had a perfect record of 27 wins, no defeats, and all 27 wins came by way of knockout.
A woman touches a jacket, with Venezuelan WBC lightweight champion boxer Edwin 'El Inca' Valero's name, placed on top of his coffin
By Mark Vester
On Wednesday in El Vigian, Venezuela, hundreds of fans, friends and relatives attended the funeral of Edwin Valero, who killed himself on Monday in a jail cell. Valero was arrested on Sunday for the murder of his wife Jennifer Carolina. Fans, friends and relatives were very upset, with many of them in tears. Valero's body was taken to a local gym where he once trained and later buried at a nearby cemetery. His wife was buried at the same cemetery on Tuesday. Valero, high on drugs and alcohol, had stabbed his wife to death in their hotel room in Valencia. He was arrested by local police after he approaching hotel employees and confessed to the crime, though he later denied the confession to police. Valero used his pants to hang himself.
During Wednesday's service, Priest Esteban Gudino said he hoped Valero "receives the mercy of our Lord. It's a tragedy for all of use when the life of a youngster ends like this. Hopefully, this will serve others to emulate his positive side, and they'll distance themselves from drugs and alcohol."
Valero's fans shouted "Champion! Champion!" from a caravan of motorcycles and cars that followed the Hurst carrying his coffin.
The children of Valero and his wife, ages 9 and 5, have been taken in by the boxer's sister. A local court will decide whether they will live with her or stay with Jennifer's mother.
Valero's last fight took place in Mexico in February, where he stopped mandatory challenger and interim-champion Antonio DeMarco. Valero had a perfect record of 27 wins, no defeats, and all 27 wins came by way of knockout.
A woman touches a jacket, with Venezuelan WBC lightweight champion boxer Edwin 'El Inca' Valero's name, placed on top of his coffin
Boxing must learn from Valero case
There are telltale signs in the life of a fighter that should not go unnoticed.
When lawsuits begin to accumulate as easily as knockout victories, when a fighter's headlines can be equally divided between the sports and police sections, when every fight is preceded by a laundry list of legal run-ins -- that's when things can take a turn for the worse, when the steering wheel starts to veer toward the curb and a crash is imminent.
Edwin Valero, who died Monday in a jail cell in Caracas, Venezuela, knew all this. He had hit that curb more than once, sometimes literally. The former Central and South American amateur champion had amassed an 11-0 record (all by first-round KO) when a routine MRI revealed a small blood clot on his brain, the result of a motorcycle accident that occurred years earlier -- a condition that initially kept him from being sanctioned to fight in the United States.) One of his last legal problems was a DUI charge that was still pending trial. Fast cars and lots of booze in the life of a boxer? Nothing new.
But Valero had other demons, as well.
The left-handed Venezuelan power puncher was driven by urges he seemed unable to control. His boxing style serves as an example: Valero couldn't settle for simply defeating his opponents. He had to overpower them, overwhelm them, attack them with blazing combinations loaded with explosive power from all angles, to the point of neglecting his own defense (arms low, mouth open, eyes popping out of their sockets, high-pitched screams with every punch). The fury in his expressions was the fuel for his successes -- but was also at the heart of his failures, including his tragic demise.
Valero's appetite for excess was prodigious, and his struggles with substance abuse (and depression) came to be common knowledge. His troubles ranged from denied visas and pending jail sentences to DUI charges and allegations of having punched or threatened to punch multiple family members. (Valero's mother and sister were among the victims of his rage, according to a report.) After being charged with harassing his wife, Jennifer Carolina Viera, last month, Valero was arrested Sunday when, local police said, she was found dead in a hotel room where the couple had been staying. On Monday, Valero hanged himself in his jail cell, according to police.
As tumultuous as Valero's personal life was, his career was equally vertiginous. After being denied a boxing license to fight in the States, Valero became a traveling act, and his services were rendered all over the world. He traveled to Panama, Japan, France, Mexico and Argentina, putting his all-out style to work toward one purpose only: the destruction of his rivals, with the intent of leaving an indelible mark in the minds of his growing number of fans.
Watching Valero fight was a task in itself. He quickly became boxing's first Internet legend, a cult hero among hard-core fight fans. The KO artist who was barred from fighting in Las Vegas and New York, the fighter with the power to crush his opponents with frightening ease, became the subject of countless forums and chat sessions. The underground peer-to-peer live broadcasting websites that thrive today overflowed with fans from all over the world. It wasn't unusual for 20,000 fans to connect to a single site to watch Valero fight.
His successes quickly mounted. Valero became the WBA champ in the 130-pound division with a TKO victory in the 10th round against Vicente Mosquera in his 20th fight. Before that, he had completed fewer than 20 rounds of action in his previous 19 fights. His 18 first-round KOs were a world record until Tyrone Brunson broke it in 2008, and Valero's 19th fight marked the first time he heard the bell more than once during a fight in his professional career. That's what the fighter known as "El Inca" brought to the ring -- an explosive style that would later earn him a more fitting moniker that needs no translation: Dinamita.
At this point, Valero's potential was huge, and everything suggested he would have an extraordinary career. His style was captivating: speed, numbing punching power and the controversial personal background that helps capture the attention of casual fans. The controversy was even stronger in Valero's own country, which was divided between admirers of his boxing achievements and those who dismissed him as a drunken, irresponsible wife-beater. And none of this took into account the fighter's inflammatory politics.
Valero was an ardent supporter of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, going so far as to get the face of "El Comandante" and the Venezuelan flag tattooed across his chest. Valero's politics follow him after his death. A few hours from the celebration of Venezuela's bicentennial, the news of Valero's suicide caused a huge national commotion -- a division between those who lamented the gifted fighter and those who used the tragedy to attack Chávez's self-styled "Bolivarian" project. The president has been accused of pampering Valero, putting him above justice by allowing (and even arranging) for his unlawful release from jail (on previous charges of assault and battery on his now deceased wife).
The fight on this front -- part of an ongoing battle between two completely opposed political ideologies -- has begun already. Both sides threaten to attack or defend the figure of the fallen fighter to unthinkable extremes. There are even rumors of an Elvis-like fake-death scheme that probably will feed the tabloids for years with bogus pictures of Valero pumping gas at an undisclosed location somewhere south of the Rio Grande.
One of the most serious controversies this episode should generate, though -- one that must be discussed in a far broader environment -- is the relationship between fighters and the women in their lives. Although there is no statistical evidence to confirm higher levels of domestic violence among boxers as compared with the rest of the population, recent incidents suggest a problem that deserves more detailed analysis.
Valero's case is just one of many instances in which an ambitious and talented athlete is drowned in a downpour of advice regarding how to improve his skills in the ring, how to become more violent and vicious, how to make (and spend) more money -- but finds himself left hung out to dry when in need of more profound life lessons. As a result, fighters often are left unassisted in finding ways to solve personal issues without using the same methods that brought them success in the ring.
Today, boxing fans struggle with the mixed emotions of an unexpected loss and the way in which it occurred. Without overlooking Valero's controversial and violent nature outside the ring, we can lament the loss of an extraordinary boxing specimen. As a top fighter in the most lucrative and attractive divisions of this era (lightweight and welterweight), he might have engaged in very attractive fights with such champions as Floyd Mayweather Jr., Shane Mosley, Antonio Margarito, Marcos Maidana, Miguel Cotto and even Manny Pacquiao (a fight that had legions of fight fans holding their breath), with chances to win many of those contests and earn much more than a plaque in the Hall of Fame.
Instead, Valero's name -- forever stained -- will always bear a question mark next to it. And as long as we refuse to acknowledge it and fail to make the effort to find answers and solutions, the possibility of a new and similar tragedy will continue to cast its shadow upon the world of boxing.
There are telltale signs in the life of a fighter that should not go unnoticed.
When lawsuits begin to accumulate as easily as knockout victories, when a fighter's headlines can be equally divided between the sports and police sections, when every fight is preceded by a laundry list of legal run-ins -- that's when things can take a turn for the worse, when the steering wheel starts to veer toward the curb and a crash is imminent.
Edwin Valero, who died Monday in a jail cell in Caracas, Venezuela, knew all this. He had hit that curb more than once, sometimes literally. The former Central and South American amateur champion had amassed an 11-0 record (all by first-round KO) when a routine MRI revealed a small blood clot on his brain, the result of a motorcycle accident that occurred years earlier -- a condition that initially kept him from being sanctioned to fight in the United States.) One of his last legal problems was a DUI charge that was still pending trial. Fast cars and lots of booze in the life of a boxer? Nothing new.
But Valero had other demons, as well.
The left-handed Venezuelan power puncher was driven by urges he seemed unable to control. His boxing style serves as an example: Valero couldn't settle for simply defeating his opponents. He had to overpower them, overwhelm them, attack them with blazing combinations loaded with explosive power from all angles, to the point of neglecting his own defense (arms low, mouth open, eyes popping out of their sockets, high-pitched screams with every punch). The fury in his expressions was the fuel for his successes -- but was also at the heart of his failures, including his tragic demise.
Valero's appetite for excess was prodigious, and his struggles with substance abuse (and depression) came to be common knowledge. His troubles ranged from denied visas and pending jail sentences to DUI charges and allegations of having punched or threatened to punch multiple family members. (Valero's mother and sister were among the victims of his rage, according to a report.) After being charged with harassing his wife, Jennifer Carolina Viera, last month, Valero was arrested Sunday when, local police said, she was found dead in a hotel room where the couple had been staying. On Monday, Valero hanged himself in his jail cell, according to police.
As tumultuous as Valero's personal life was, his career was equally vertiginous. After being denied a boxing license to fight in the States, Valero became a traveling act, and his services were rendered all over the world. He traveled to Panama, Japan, France, Mexico and Argentina, putting his all-out style to work toward one purpose only: the destruction of his rivals, with the intent of leaving an indelible mark in the minds of his growing number of fans.
Watching Valero fight was a task in itself. He quickly became boxing's first Internet legend, a cult hero among hard-core fight fans. The KO artist who was barred from fighting in Las Vegas and New York, the fighter with the power to crush his opponents with frightening ease, became the subject of countless forums and chat sessions. The underground peer-to-peer live broadcasting websites that thrive today overflowed with fans from all over the world. It wasn't unusual for 20,000 fans to connect to a single site to watch Valero fight.
His successes quickly mounted. Valero became the WBA champ in the 130-pound division with a TKO victory in the 10th round against Vicente Mosquera in his 20th fight. Before that, he had completed fewer than 20 rounds of action in his previous 19 fights. His 18 first-round KOs were a world record until Tyrone Brunson broke it in 2008, and Valero's 19th fight marked the first time he heard the bell more than once during a fight in his professional career. That's what the fighter known as "El Inca" brought to the ring -- an explosive style that would later earn him a more fitting moniker that needs no translation: Dinamita.
At this point, Valero's potential was huge, and everything suggested he would have an extraordinary career. His style was captivating: speed, numbing punching power and the controversial personal background that helps capture the attention of casual fans. The controversy was even stronger in Valero's own country, which was divided between admirers of his boxing achievements and those who dismissed him as a drunken, irresponsible wife-beater. And none of this took into account the fighter's inflammatory politics.
Valero was an ardent supporter of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, going so far as to get the face of "El Comandante" and the Venezuelan flag tattooed across his chest. Valero's politics follow him after his death. A few hours from the celebration of Venezuela's bicentennial, the news of Valero's suicide caused a huge national commotion -- a division between those who lamented the gifted fighter and those who used the tragedy to attack Chávez's self-styled "Bolivarian" project. The president has been accused of pampering Valero, putting him above justice by allowing (and even arranging) for his unlawful release from jail (on previous charges of assault and battery on his now deceased wife).
The fight on this front -- part of an ongoing battle between two completely opposed political ideologies -- has begun already. Both sides threaten to attack or defend the figure of the fallen fighter to unthinkable extremes. There are even rumors of an Elvis-like fake-death scheme that probably will feed the tabloids for years with bogus pictures of Valero pumping gas at an undisclosed location somewhere south of the Rio Grande.
One of the most serious controversies this episode should generate, though -- one that must be discussed in a far broader environment -- is the relationship between fighters and the women in their lives. Although there is no statistical evidence to confirm higher levels of domestic violence among boxers as compared with the rest of the population, recent incidents suggest a problem that deserves more detailed analysis.
Valero's case is just one of many instances in which an ambitious and talented athlete is drowned in a downpour of advice regarding how to improve his skills in the ring, how to become more violent and vicious, how to make (and spend) more money -- but finds himself left hung out to dry when in need of more profound life lessons. As a result, fighters often are left unassisted in finding ways to solve personal issues without using the same methods that brought them success in the ring.
Today, boxing fans struggle with the mixed emotions of an unexpected loss and the way in which it occurred. Without overlooking Valero's controversial and violent nature outside the ring, we can lament the loss of an extraordinary boxing specimen. As a top fighter in the most lucrative and attractive divisions of this era (lightweight and welterweight), he might have engaged in very attractive fights with such champions as Floyd Mayweather Jr., Shane Mosley, Antonio Margarito, Marcos Maidana, Miguel Cotto and even Manny Pacquiao (a fight that had legions of fight fans holding their breath), with chances to win many of those contests and earn much more than a plaque in the Hall of Fame.
Instead, Valero's name -- forever stained -- will always bear a question mark next to it. And as long as we refuse to acknowledge it and fail to make the effort to find answers and solutions, the possibility of a new and similar tragedy will continue to cast its shadow upon the world of boxing.
If anyone has seen the leaked police video, of valero dead in his cell which is availible online, it does seem a lil suspicious, just the whole hanging yourself with jeans from a wall at a low level seems very difficult to pull off. Wouldn't be surprised. I said to someone right after he killed his wife that valero would be killed in jail or would commit suicide.
Edwin Valero Murder Investigation Begins, Body Exhumed
By Jhonny Gonzalez
The murder investigation of Edwin Valero has begun in Caracas, Venezuela. The family of Valero requested the exhumation of his body because they suspect the fighter may not have committed suicide and was strangled to death by police officers. Prosecutor Jesus Belucchi told the press a forensic investigation to determine Valero's death will take place.
Valero was arrested on April 18 for the murder of his wife, Jennifer Carolina, in a hotel located in the city of Valencia. Valero took his own life the following morning in a jail cell in Carabobo. The head of the CICPC (Office of Scientific, Penal and Criminal Investigations), Wilmer Flores, told the press Valero hung himself using his pants.
Valero's wife was found dead in a hotel room in Valencia with three stab wounds. Valero made a confession to the murder shortly after it happened. He was taken, without incident, to a police station in Carabobo but during his interview with police officers he claimed to have passed out from a combination of drugs and alcohol and woke up to his wife in a pool of blood. He said there were thugs following him and his wife earlier that night.
No murder weapon has been recovered and police are not exactly sure as to how the wife was killed. There are lingering questions from Valero's family and hundreds of fans in Venezuela, about the lack of prison guards on duty when Valero committed suicide and how nobody knew he was hanging in his cell until other prisoners alerted the guards. Valero still had vital signs when he was cut down but he died shortly after.
Edwin Valero Murder Investigation Begins, Body Exhumed
By Jhonny Gonzalez
The murder investigation of Edwin Valero has begun in Caracas, Venezuela. The family of Valero requested the exhumation of his body because they suspect the fighter may not have committed suicide and was strangled to death by police officers. Prosecutor Jesus Belucchi told the press a forensic investigation to determine Valero's death will take place.
Valero was arrested on April 18 for the murder of his wife, Jennifer Carolina, in a hotel located in the city of Valencia. Valero took his own life the following morning in a jail cell in Carabobo. The head of the CICPC (Office of Scientific, Penal and Criminal Investigations), Wilmer Flores, told the press Valero hung himself using his pants.
Valero's wife was found dead in a hotel room in Valencia with three stab wounds. Valero made a confession to the murder shortly after it happened. He was taken, without incident, to a police station in Carabobo but during his interview with police officers he claimed to have passed out from a combination of drugs and alcohol and woke up to his wife in a pool of blood. He said there were thugs following him and his wife earlier that night.
No murder weapon has been recovered and police are not exactly sure as to how the wife was killed. There are lingering questions from Valero's family and hundreds of fans in Venezuela, about the lack of prison guards on duty when Valero committed suicide and how nobody knew he was hanging in his cell until other prisoners alerted the guards. Valero still had vital signs when he was cut down but he died shortly after.
Edwin Valero To Receive Tribute on April 30 in Caracas
Caracas - On Saturday, starting at 11am, young amateurs, both female and male, will take part in boxing related activities. The program, "Street Boxing," has already held numerous events in 2011. The program will play out at the Refugio de La Candelaria (Sambil), and the activities will be dedicated to the memory of world champion Edwin Valero, who in life was a valuable supporter for the development of this popular program for young kids, says William Gonzalez, who is president of the Capital District and head of the program.
"After a year of his death, we pay this tribute to champion Edwin Valero who always supported us. We know that his end was terrible, but what he did in the ring we can not fail to recognize," said Gonzalez.
He also said the program fights against drug and substance abuse.
"Drugs and alcohol are not good for any young person and we strive to get that message across. We want to reach out to those who are experiencing problems of this kind but do not have money for help."
Caracas - On Saturday, starting at 11am, young amateurs, both female and male, will take part in boxing related activities. The program, "Street Boxing," has already held numerous events in 2011. The program will play out at the Refugio de La Candelaria (Sambil), and the activities will be dedicated to the memory of world champion Edwin Valero, who in life was a valuable supporter for the development of this popular program for young kids, says William Gonzalez, who is president of the Capital District and head of the program.
"After a year of his death, we pay this tribute to champion Edwin Valero who always supported us. We know that his end was terrible, but what he did in the ring we can not fail to recognize," said Gonzalez.
He also said the program fights against drug and substance abuse.
"Drugs and alcohol are not good for any young person and we strive to get that message across. We want to reach out to those who are experiencing problems of this kind but do not have money for help."