A Mysterious Fighter Who Has Been Devoured by Inner Demons

this two-time world champion has established a remarkable record of 26 wins no losses with all 26 wins coming by way of knockout here is the undefeated wbc lightweight champion of the world edwin in the history of boxing there are many dramatic stories in which ordinary people overcoming incredible difficulties became world champions and the idols of millions there are also reverse situations when money in popularity caused the fighters to engage in crazy and self-destructive behavior but edwin valero's story is unlike any of them during his boxing career he fought only 27 times and won each fight ahead of schedule while finishing the first 18 fights in the first round setting a world record at the time he was predicted to have a great future fame and world titles but it all ended in a real tragedy in this video we will take a look at the career of edwin valero edwin was born in 1981 in venezuela and grew up under very difficult conditions so at the age of nine he had already left school and worked with his mother to help support his brothers and sisters in total he served 14 prison terms for robbery and similar misconduct edwin started boxing at the age of 12 and the young boy was immediately noticed he became fully committed to training wanting to learn the subtleties of his new hobby the techniques of this youngster i can see his ability i can see the power i can see the killer instinct that he presents as he grew older he had a bright amateur career where the young bolero earned a good record of 86 wins with 57 knockouts and only six defeats he was one of many young fighters but such a large number of early victories was not common among the larger field of amateurs he was given the nickname dynamite there was no doubt that edwin valero was going to be successful in the professional world but in 2001 he suffered a serious accident that marked the beginning of his downfall valero received a serious head injury as the result of a motorcycle accident doctors advised valero to retire from boxing as any subsequent blows to his head could be dangerous but edwin after being treated for about 10 months assured everyone that he was fine and decided to continue boxing the hot-blooded valero also known as the liquidator was eager to prove himself in the professional ring and saw no obstacles despite his injury on july 9 2002 edwin valero entered his first professional fight finishing it in the first round he repeated this exactly 18 times setting a new world record 18 wins with 18 knockouts in the first round edwin's impressive achievement could not go unnoticed he fought in the real underground venezuela panama japan the most vicious places of professional boxing edwin's impressive achievements did not go unnoticed in 2004 edwin joined oscar de la hoya's new promotion company golden boy promotions the contract with the venezuelan was signed but difficulties arose during a medical examination in order to obtain his boxing license in the united states due to his head injury he was banned from performing in the u.s it would seem that everything ended before it began valero was still able to find a good option and signed a contract with taikan promotions in japan naturally in japan panama and other countries his new managers were not especially worried about his injury since he brought them good money [Music] after a couple of battles he rose to his first championship fight against vincente mascara mascara was a good fighter and the fight took place in his homeland imagine what it's like to be an outsider fighting in the center of panama with a local champion this style of fight is the most difficult in the career of any boxer valero knocked down his opponent twice foreign [Applause] [Music] is [Applause] foreign there was no tactically elegant boxing the boxers stood opposite each other and unambiguously exchanged blows by the third round the venezuelan had also been knocked down [Applause] the spectators rejoiced cups and other garbage flew into the ring the crowd exploded edwin looked shocked but while the announcer reassured the fans he managed to collect himself [Music] by the 10th round he had found the strength to stop the champion thus he became the wba world champion in his weight class career was taking off and he had to defend his title three times even at this early stage rumors of drunken balls by the boxing champion and outbursts of rage outside the ring were reported in 2007 it was reported that edwin attacked his own mother and sister it was said that simply he had a hot temper and soon it was forgotten valero was known and loved in his home country venezuelan president hugo chavez was his friend and there were many photos on the news showing edwin and the politician together around this time the venezuelan fighter obtained his famous tattoo bearing the likeness of the venezuelan president on his chest chavez became his personal patron life went on but valero did not lose touch with america and his dream to return there one day dynamite was often asked to be the sparring partner of other famous fighters it was thanks to his wild performances in training camps and his overwhelming domination of great champions during these sparring sessions that edwin became famous in america everyone who watched valero was struck by his aggression his animal hatred and the dynamite in his gloves specialists who monitored fresh fighters direct from training camps could not believe their eyes many compared him to pacquiao and shane mosley the guy moved brilliantly in the ring equally dominating and working defense but most importantly he had a really heavy blow while being a fairly sophisticated boxer edwin took part in the scandal that appeared before the battle between oscar de la hoya and manny pacquiao according to the rumors during their sparring session he beat up the golden boy so badly that he was asked to leave the hall you may remember how oscar looked that night and how the match ended interestingly both morales and de la hoya invited valero to spar with them before their fights with manny pacquiao apparently edwin could perfectly imitate the filipino style like no other even mikey garcia one of the most promising fighters of our time sparred with edwin valero hey so you spark with edwin valero lots of times when i was younger when i was like 16 17 18. the power was just unbelievable no matter where it hit you even if you were blocking it just feel the [ __ ] power and he never really took it light on anybody 27 knockout mikey who's the toughest guy you ever spot what sparring session do you think was the most epic edwin valero why hit the hardest man hardest puncher ever this man was was so sure of himself his his power was so natural that in his mind he thought that he could go out there and just by throwing the first few shots he would destroy the opponent and he was right can see the improvement you can see the talent you can see his boxing ability whenever he knocked out an opponent he was always thinking right he would always go in and execute in time and change his speed and faith and jab and change the combinations and made it change power in media like michael jordan he had that ability so that basically what we tried to teach this youngster and we were doing very well until the bad news from the commission that the letter could not fight anymore valero's return to the united states was simply a matter of time and business acumen the old cunning fox the godfather of modern boxing bob arum took up his case but disturbing news continued to come edwin was caught with drugs driving while drunk and fighting outside of the ring and his whole family was afraid of him his wife's family was also terrified her uncle later said legends even say that he got away with murder but when your friends are the president of your country and one of the most cunning promoters of our time how many problems can you have in early 2009 the contract was signed edwin valero officially returned to american tv and the issue with his injury was abruptly settled edwin valero got into a new weight category and there he waited for a duel over the vacant wbc championship belt his rival was a fairly strong mexican antonio pitalua with a record of 47 and 3 with 41 victories obtained ahead of schedule petalua has not lost ahead of schedule since 1995. the larger american public saw for the first time this new fighter with his crazy look and wild blows petalua was on the ropes three times in the second round he's about to go again valero just did trying to finish him off and down he goes and he bounces up i don't think he is a long way to go in this round valero became the two-time world champion in his weight category edwin's fame grew not only in the narrow circles of boxing specialists but also in the larger audience that began to learn about him increasingly bob aaron mentioned his new fighter and the press discussed his dream battle against manny pacquiao valero himself wanted this fight towards the end of 2009 the champion attacked his mother and sister again in addition rumors began to circulate that the champion was regularly beating his own wife jennifer was silent as was his family again everything was forgotten the venezuela was given a slap on the wrist edwin's eyes seemed to burn more and more with each passing year and each fight was a spectacle to behold indeed there was something wild in his eyes eyes don't lie it is said that each of his battles broke down into a duel of views and this is not surprising dynamite held another title defense after which he met a young and very promising boxer antonio dimarco as with his first title fight valero went to the homeland of his opponent but this time he was already the champion it was a real old school battle with dirty blows and flying mouth guards [Applause] fights in that same time frame with stoppages that's where the market doesn't want to be against the ropes and he motors often demarco's people telling us that they want to keep this fight in the center of the ring there's a left hand but he's doing it in spots here tonight valero with both hands down valero saying that he caught an elbow now he's got a gash over his right hand that didn't come from a punch [Applause] [Music] of antonio demarco the left elbow will come around and hit the forehead the right hand was there and there comes the elbow there's no very very well great opposition was he a great knockout puncher or he told me during our meeting that his right hand wants to show the american public that he's a future superstar in this weight class [Music] very effective tonight with that step back after he delivers [Music] he is showing all those nuances eight brown scheduled for 12. 17 seconds to go oh low blown by debunking wild and there was talking to marco's corner that if he didn't get busier they were going to stop the fight nice straight left hand by demarco [Music] between rounds demarco refused to continue the fight the elbow strike he received the final shots of their confrontation and the insane look of the champion's glee will forever remain in his memory valero won 27 fights all of them by knockout an ideal record for what seemed like an ideal boxer but everything changed in an instant after one fight where dynamite showed excellent skills and a clear growth of his understanding of technical and boxing knowledge talks once again resumed about the fight with pacquiao valero really wanted to fight with pacquiao but the boxer's dream was not destined to come true a month after his last fight his past head injury coupled with his constant use of drugs did the trick former lightweight boxing champion edwin valero has been arrested for allegedly killing his wife the 28 year old is a household name in venezuela and police have said he was arrested after they found the body of his wife in a hotel where the couple was staying police say valero left the hotel room at about dawn sunday and allegedly told security he had killed the woman police say she had three stab wounds on her body at 5 30 in the morning valero walked barefoot to the front desk of his hotel and calmly announced that he had killed his wife she was found stabbed to death he showed no resistance at the time of his arrest since valera was allegedly drunk and under the influence of drugs there was a risk of suicide the police took away his shoes and jacket but they left him with a pair of sweatpants which became his method of choice for hanging he was found in his cell on the early morning of april 19 2010 he was just 28 years old only after the tragedy did valero's acquaintances begin to talk about his problems with drugs and alcohol his extreme jealousy over his wife whom he beat repeatedly bob arum described him as completely unstable and said that he was not normal but all these statements and revelations made no difference the worst had already happened edwin valero a boxer of incredible talent who could have been the next roberto duran instead ended up in a grave dug by his own internal demons [Music] you

Channel: The World of Boxing!

Views: 7,208,500

Keywords: Boxing, edwin valero, Mysterious, highlights, documentary, training, tribute, antionio demarco, manny pacquiao, power, Erik Morales, Vicente Mosquera, Antonio Pitalua

Id: 6TXLUcBU2QY

Length: 19min 21sec (1161 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 29 2020