Edwin Valero was a two-weight world boxing champion tipped for fights against Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather who was found dead in a jail cell after being accused of killing his wife

Edwin Valero was being built as a future challenger to Manny Pacquiao when in April 2010 he was found dead in a jail cell after ending his life after being arrested on suspicion of to have killed his wife.

The former Venezuelan lightweight champion, then 28, was arrested after police found the body of his 24-year-old wife Jennifer Viera at a hotel in the Venezuelan city of Valencia.

Valero had gone to the reception at 5:30 a.m. to tell them that he had killed her.

Three stab wounds were found on his body, but no weapon.

Valero, who had become increasingly addicted to cocaine and alcohol, was arrested in March for harassing Viera and threatening hospital staff trying to treat her for a punctured lung and broken ribs.

A prosecutor had asked a court to order Valero jailed, but a judge instead placed him on a restraining order that prevented him from traveling near Viera.

But he did it several times, and after this arrest he entered rehabilitation, but his stay there was ultimately brief.

A psychiatrist diagnosed him as “unstable and impulsive” and noted his “moderate degree of dependence” on drugs.

At the General Command Police Station in Carabobo, Valero’s shirt and shoelaces were removed and he was placed on suicide watch.

At 1:30 a.m. on April 19, guards found Valero’s lifeless body after he used his own pants as a noose after being alerted to a noise by another prisoner.

“He was going to prove himself and then fight Manny,” said Bob Arum, who promoted them both. “He was obsessed with Manny.

“He had incredible talent. At first people said he couldn’t box. Well, he proved he could box, and he was a hard-hitting guy; a whirling dervish in the ring.

“Him and Pacquiao would have been a hell of a fight. It was the whole idea that he was coming to see us. He would be better known and become a legitimate challenger to Pacquiao.

“The guys in my office were looking forward to this fight. It’s a tragedy. A tragic, tragic mess.

“We wanted it to go through [rehabilitation]. He was to stay there for 60 days. How he got out after a weekend, I have no idea.

Arum and Top Rank had been Valero’s second US promoter after a deal with Golden Boy ended when he was denied a license to fight by the New York State Athletic Commission.

Valero, who also seemed destined to face Floyd Mayweather, had a history of traumatic brain injury.

A motorcycle accident in 2001 caused a brain hemorrhage, which led to him first being denied a license in the United States and campaigning, for most of his career, outside Latin America and the United States. Japan.

In what was to prove his last fight, in February 2010, Valero earned his 27th stoppage of his 27th opponent by defeating Antonio DeMarco, just four fights before the Mexican stopped Valero’s famous compatriot Jorge Linares.

“Valero’s relentless aggression meant he had already gained a significant following; he had even set a new world record by winning his first 18 fights inside the first round.

Even before the domestic violence charges — in 2009, when Venezuela’s rate of violence against women was among the highest in the world — Viera was treated for a gunshot wound to her left leg which Valero said was shot. by a mysterious character. .

Valero had gained notoriety for his admiration and ties to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

He even had a large image of Chavez, and their country’s blue, yellow and red flag tattooed on his chest.

He started drinking when he was nine, first experimented with drugs when he was 11, and dropped out of school when he was 13, after which he took up selling garlic and gradually involved in gang violence and crime.

“Edwin was from another world,” said Ryan Coyne, a heavyweight who trained alongside Valero when they worked under Kenny Adams.

“He was a world champion drinker. When he was training, you could smell it on him; alcohol was seeping out of his pores. And Edwin never drank water.

“We would run six miles and he would drink four hot black coffees. [He] didn’t do anything with what he put in his body.

But it was Valero and Viera’s family that were of most concern.

In 2009, much to Top Rank’s frustration, he was denied a US visa because he was charged with drunk driving and carrying a firearm without a license.

In September, police were called to his mother’s home after the fighter had accused his brother Luis of being in love with Viera, and neighbors were alarmed by the sound of broken glass.

It was even alleged that Valero raised his hand to his mother and sister before leaving, but after police arrested him, his mother released a statement denying that any violence had taken place.

Neighbors near an apartment that Valero was renting then saw Viera on the roof of their building, from where she passed out and nearly fell.

An ambulance arrived and she revealed that she had taken an overdose of sedatives, attempting to kill herself.

“He was drinking and acting weird and wanted to fight everybody,” said another of his brothers, Edward. “Cocaine makes you paranoid.

“The drugs drove him crazy; made him see strange things. He always believed that people wanted to hurt him.

At the time he and Viera checked into the Intercontinental Hotel, it was said that he believed his mother was carrying out a plot against him, and Viera’s aunt later said that at that time he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Before accepting their hotel room, Valero had the staff check the wardrobes and under the bed to make sure no one was hiding there.

No one was, but Viera, who was raising a son and daughter with Valero, would ultimately never make it out alive.