# 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 2010. A southpaw known for his highly aggressive fighting style and exceptional punching power, Valero remains the only champion in WBC history to win every fight in his career by knockout. In 2010, Valero died by suicide in jail after being arrested on suspicion of killing his wife.

## Professional career

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.

## Career roadblocks

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.

## Allegations of assault

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.

## Death

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.

## In popular culture

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.

## Professional boxing record

| 27 fights | 27 wins | 0 losses |
| By knockout | 27 | 0 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
| 27 | Win | 27–0 | Antonio DeMarco | RTD | 9 (12), 3:00 | 6 Feb 2010 | Monterrey Arena, Monterrey, Mexico | Retained WBC lightweight title |
| 26 | Win | 26–0 | Héctor Velázquez | RTD | 7 (12), 0:10 | 19 Dec 2009 | Polideportivo José María Vargas, La Guaira, Venezuela | Retained WBC lightweight title |
| 25 | Win | 25–0 | Antonio Pitalúa | TKO | 2 (12), 0:49 | 4 Apr 2009 | Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas, U.S. | Won vacant WBC lightweight title |
| 24 | Win | 24–0 | Takehiro Shimada | TKO | 7 (12), 1:55 | 12 Jun 2008 | Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, Japan | Retained WBA super featherweight title |
| 23 | Win | 23–0 | Zaid Zavaleta | TKO | 3 (12), 1:18 | 15 Dec 2007 | Plaza de Toros, Cancún, Mexico | Retained WBA super featherweight title |
| 22 | Win | 22–0 | Nobuhito Honmo | TKO | 8 (12), 1:54 | 3 May 2007 | Ariake Coliseum, Tokyo, Japan | Retained WBA super featherweight title |
| 21 | Win | 21–0 | Michael Lozada | TKO | 1 (12), 1:12 | 3 Jan 2007 | Ariake Coliseum, Tokyo, Japan | Retained WBA super featherweight title |
| 20 | Win | 20–0 | Vicente Mosquera | TKO | 10 (12), 2:00 | 5 Aug 2006 | Figali Convention Center, Panama City, Panama | Won WBA super featherweight title |
| 19 | Win | 19–0 | Genaro Trazancos | TKO | 2 (6), 1:48 | 25 Mar 2006 | World Memorial Hall, Kobe, Japan | |
| 18 | Win | 18–0 | Whyber Garcia | TKO | 1 (12), 2:57 | 25 Feb 2006 | Centro Recreacional Yesterday, Turmero, Venezuela | Won WBA Fedelatin super featherweight title |
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | Aram Ramazyan | KO | 1 (8), 0:20 | 5 Dec 2005 | Palais Omnisports, Paris, France | |
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | Hero Bando | TKO | 1 (6), 1:56 | 25 Sep 2005 | Yokohama Arena, Yokohama, Japan | |
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Jose Hernandez | KO | 1 (10), 0:41 | 13 Aug 2005 | Circulo Militar, Maracay, Venezuela | |
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Esteban de Jesus Morales | KO | 1 (10), 1:15 | 1 Jul 2005 | Roberto Durán Arena, Panama City, Panama | |
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Hernan Abraham Valenzuela | TKO | 1 (10), 2:06 | 21 May 2005 | Ce.De.M. N° 2, Buenos Aires, Argentina | |
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Tomas Zambrano | TKO | 1 (10), 1:45 | 18 Dec 2003 | Marriott Hotel, Irvine, California, U.S. | |
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Alejandro Heredia | KO | 1 (10) | 27 Oct 2003 | Gimnasio José Beracasa, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Roque Cassiani | TKO | 1 (8), 2:21 | 28 Aug 2003 | Marriott Hotel, Irvine, California, U.S. | |
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Emmanuel Ford | TKO | 1 (6), 1:52 | 19 Jul 2003 | Activity Center, Maywood, California, U.S. | |
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Dairo Julio | TKO | 1 (8) | 23 May 2003 | Hotel Tamanaco Intercontinental, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Edgar Mendoza | TKO | 1 (8) | 17 May 2003 | Centro Recreacional Yesterday, Turmero, Venezuela | |
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Danny Sandoval | KO | 1 (8), 2:26 | 22 Mar 2003 | Centro Recreacional Yesterday, Turmero, Venezuela | |
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Julio Pineda | KO | 1 (6), 1:57 | 30 Nov 2002 | Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Luis Soto | TKO | 1 (6) | 18 Nov 2002 | Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Angel Alirio Rivero | TKO | 1 (4), 2:03 | 26 Oct 2002 | Centro Recreacional Yesterday, Turmero, Venezuela | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Danny Sandoval | TKO | 1 (4) | 23 Sep 2002 | Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Eduardo Hernandez | TKO | 1 (4), 2:02 | 9 Jul 2002 | Parque Naciones Unidas, Caracas, Venezuela | |