Edwin Valero

Venezuelan boxer (1981–2010)
Because of his punching power and perfect knockout ratio, Valero became a cult sensation in the community. His biggest backers in the sport included Doug Fischer of The Ring magazine (who, on the former boxing website he used to write for, Maxboxing. com, regularly covered Valero in his articles for the website, which also aired videos of his workouts and sparring sessions) and Boxing Inside with journalist Peter Palmiere. The Los Angeles local cable show also aired Valero's workouts, sparring sessions and interviews conducted by Palmiere. In his first attempt at a world title, on 5 August 2006, Valero faced WBA super featherweight champion Vicente Mosquera. In what would arguably prove to be both boxers' toughest contest, Valero started out the match in signature fashion, knocking down the champion twice in the first round. However, Mosquera recovered and in the third round responded by knocking Valero down, which was to be Valero's only knockdown in his career. At this point in his 19–0 career, Valero's longest fight had only been two rounds, and the question remained as to whether the untested Valero had the stamina to go the distance. The answer came after ten grueling rounds when the ever tenacious Mosquera finally started to wane under the challenger's continuous heavy handed counters. Deciding Mosquera had received enough punishment, the referee called a halt to the match at 2:00 of round ten, making the 24 year old Valero champion. Valero would go on to successfully defend the title four times before moving up in weight class, with his final defense a seventh round stoppage of Takehiro Shimada in Tokyo on 12 June 2008. On 3 September 2008, Valero vacated his WBA title to fight in the lightweight division. He fought Antonio Pitalua for the vacant WBC lightweight title on 4 April 2009, in Austin, Texas. The bout marked the first time Valero had fought in the United States since 2003. Pitalua came into the fight with 14 consecutive knockouts on his 46–3 record, and with Valero's 24 consecutive knockouts the stage was set for a decisive match between two heavy hitters. After an uneventful first round, Valero knocked Pitalua down just seconds into the second round with a right hook. Pitalua managed to get up but suffered two more knockdowns before the referee stopped the fight at 0:49 of round two. Valero's next fight came on his home turf of Venezuela, in La Guaira, where he successfully defended his WBC lightweight title by a TKO victory over Hector Velasquez in the seventh round. Valero's second and final defense of the belt came against Antonio DeMarco in Mexico, on 6 February 2010. In the second round, Valero suffered a serious cut over his right eye after DeMarco landed an unintentional elbow. Valero was able to continue the fight and went on to win by corner retirement when DeMarco failed to answer the bell for the tenth round. This would be Valero's last match. In March 2010, Valero vacated his WBC title in order to compete in the light welterweight division. Valero's professional record at the time of his death was 27–0, making him one of the few world champions to finish their careers undefeated.

On 5 February 2001, Valero was involved in a severe motorcycle accident in which he was not wearing a helmet. He fractured his skull and had surgery to remove a blood clot. This injury was sustained prior to his launching his pro career, and it created roadblocks to major bodies sanctioning his fights. Valero claimed that his doctor cleared him to fight on 17 January 2002, and he turned pro that July with a first round KO. Valero appeared to hit the jackpot when he was signed after his 12th pro fight by Golden Boy Promotions. Valero was scheduled to appear on HBO's Boxing After Dark, but in January 2004 he failed an MRI owing to brain scan irregularities in New York and thus was not allowed to fight in the United States; as a result, the fight did not take place. He continued to fight outside the US and on 25 March 2008, Valero was cleared to box in the state of Texas.

It was reported on 27 September 2009, that Edwin Valero had been arrested on assault charges. A man alleged that the boxer attacked his mother and sister over a feud. Valero denied the allegations and considered them an attempt to harm his reputation. His mother came forward to tell the media that no foul play was involved. On 25 March 2010, Valero was again accused of assault, this time by his wife, who was sent to hospital for bruises and a damaged lung. Valero denied any wrongdoing, stating his wife stumbled from a stairway, but investigators doubted him. His wife later told authorities that her injuries were caused by an accident on some stairs, despite the fact that she had been treated for similar injuries twice before at the hospital. Because of the vicious personality he showed at the hospital where his wife was treated, Valero was sent for six months of psychiatric rehabilitation.

On 18 April 2010, Valero was arrested after police found the body of his 24 year old wife, Jennifer Carolina Viera de Valero, in a hotel in the city of Valencia, Carabobo. She had been stabbed three times. Valero was considered a suspect and was taken to jail. Valero allegedly admitted to hotel security and police that he had murdered his wife. The day after being taken to jail, Valero was found hanging in his jail cell by his pants. He was pronounced legally dead at 1:30 am.

Valero's life, his relationship with his wife and their deaths were dramatized in the 2016 film, El Inca, in which Valero was played by actor Alexander Leterni.

No. (Number)ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes27Win27–0Antonio DeMarcoRTD9 (12), 6 Feb 201026Win26–0Héctor VelázquezRTD (Corner retirement)7 (12), 19 Dec 200925Win25–0Antonio PitalúaTKO2 (12), 4 Apr 200924Win24–0Takehiro ShimadaTKO7 (12), 12 Jun 200823Win23–0Zaid ZavaletaTKO3 (12), 15 Dec 200722Win22–0Nobuhito HonmoTKO8 (12), 3 May 200721Win21–0Michael LozadaTKO1 (12), 3 Jan 200720Win20–0Vicente MosqueraTKO10 (12), 5 Aug 200619Win19–0Genaro TrazancosTKO2 (6), 25 Mar 200618Win18–0Whyber GarciaTKO1 (12), 25 Feb 200617Win17–0Aram RamazyanKO1 (8), 5 Dec 200516Win16–0Hero BandoTKO1 (6), 25 Sep 200515Win15–0Jose HernandezKO1 (10), 13 Aug 200514Win14–0Esteban de Jesus MoralesKO1 (10), 1 Jul 200513Win13–0Hernan Abraham ValenzuelaTKO1 (10), 21 May 200512Win12–0Tomas ZambranoTKO1 (10), 18 Dec 200311Win11–0Alejandro HerediaKO1 (10)27 Oct 200310Win10–0Roque CassianiTKO1 (8), 28 Aug 20039Win9–0Emmanuel FordTKO1 (6), 19 Jul 20038Win8–0Dairo JulioTKO1 (8)23 May 20037Win7–0Edgar MendozaTKO1 (8)17 May 20036Win6–0Danny SandovalKO1 (8), 22 Mar 20035Win5–0Julio PinedaKO (Knockout)1 (6), 30 Nov 20024Win4–0Luis SotoTKO1 (6)18 Nov 20023Win3–0Angel Alirio RiveroTKO1 (4), 26 Oct 20022Win2–0Danny SandovalTKO1 (4)23 Sep 20021Win1–0Eduardo HernandezTKO (Technical knockout)1 (4), 9 Jul 2002