And so it ends for Edwin Valero.
It ends with a whimper, not the big bang many boxing fans expected, not the glory, the adulation, the big money that could’ve come from a megabout against another ultra aggressive lefthander named Manny Pacquiao.
Valero had no brilliant opponents. His 27-0 record, all by knockout, is filled with names of guys who could be tuk tuk drivers, no disrespect meant to honest boxers.
Valero turned out to his own worst enemy and I suppose we will shall never how if he was flying high as a kite during some of those bouts, those nontitle bouts where he was never tested before or after the bout.
Just like I suppose we shall never know how damaged his brain was from that motorcycle accident and all the accumulated blows he took to the head in daily sparring and in fights.
Remember, he was undefeated, he won them all by KO, yes, but he was far from unhittable. I saw him on the seats of his pants in Cancun against ordinary Zaid Zavaleta although he got up to stop him in the Plaza de Toros, a bullring where the ringside seat flooring was just sawdust.
Plaza de Toros is a helluva long way from Mandalay Bay or the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
So it ends and the grieving faces of Valero’s parents tell you all you want to know.
Valero’s casket is surrounded by mourners, media and fans in El Vigia, Venezuela (Leo Leon/AP Photo)
The Associated Press funeral coverage from El Vigia said, in part:
“During Wednesday’s Mass, Priest Esteban Gudino told parishioners he hoped Valero “receives the mercy of our Lord.”
“It’s a tragedy for all of us when the life of a youngster ends like this,” Gudino said from the church’s pulpit. “Hopefully, this will serve others to emulate his positive side, and they’ll distance themselves from drugs and alcohol.”
The fighter’s mother-in-law, Mary Finol, told reporters at her daughter’s funeral Tuesday in El Vigia that Valero was addicted to cocaine and had grown increasingly violent before he was arrested for his wife’s death.
AP Photo
“We knew that he used cocaine beginning at 12 years of age,” Finol said, adding that her daughter had told her that Valero “didn’t sleep, didn’t eat, got high every day and was increasingly violent.”
Valero’s fans shouted “Champion! Champion!” from a caravan of motorcycles and cars that accompanied the hearse carrying the coffin to the burial site.
Fellow boxer and friend Joel Finol broke down in tears.”
It’s time to move on to other topics and let the demons and the secrets attached thereto lay mouldering in the grave with Edwin Valero.
