Edwin Valero

Edwin Valero (3 December 1981 – 19 April 2010) was a Venezuelan professional boxer who competed from 2002 to 2010. He was an undefeated former world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBA super featherweight title from 2006 to 2008 and the WBC lightweight title from 2009 to (February) 2010. A southpaw known for his highly aggressive fighting style and exceptional punching power, Valero remains the only champion in the 30-year history of the WBC to win every fight in his career by knockout. In 2010, Valero committed suicide in jail after being arrested on suspicion of killing his wife.

On 25 February 2006, Valero set a new world record by winning his first 18 fights as a professional by first-round knockout, breaking Arthur Susskind's historic record set in 1905. That record has since been broken by Tyrone Brunson, but most boxing experts do not acknowledge Brunson's claim owing to the extremely poor level of opposition he faced while making his way to the record; in contrast to Valero's opponents, just one of Brunson's 19 opponents had a winning record and six had failed to win a single fight in their careers.

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. His death was officially ruled to be a suicide, though there has been some skepticism about that ruling.

• El Inca (film), a 2016 film about the life of Valero