A southpaw with bricks in his hands who has knocked out all of his opponents and gifted with a colorful personality, Edwin Valero has all the intangibles to be a star in the sports. But can he keep his cool long enough to make that happen? A southpaw with bricks in his hands who has knocked out all of his opponents and gifted with a colorful personality, Edwin Valero has all the intangibles to be a star in the sports. After his win against Antonio De Marco, fans were lobbying for a fight between him and Bradley or Pacquiao, but what they didn?t expect was Valero?s most dangerous opponent, who is himself will make those possible match ups virtually impossible. He seems to be destined to be included on the long list of talented athletes who never reached their potential due to his history of questionable behavior. It?s an exclusive group that includes a great number of talented athletes who could have made their mark in their respective sports such as Ryan Leaf, Lawrence Phillips and Ricardo Williams. For much of his career, Valero was relegated to fighting journeyman fighters mainly in Japan because of an injury to his head from an accident. Still because of his prowess and collection of highlight KOs he gained a following from hardcore boxing fans. Soon he gained enough following to get noticed by Top Rank, who eventually was able to obtain license for him to fight in Texas. In his first fight in the United States, he continued his knockout and winning streak by defeating a solid fighter in Antonio Pitalua. Pitalua, a strong puncher himself was a formidable opponent who had beaten the likes of Jose Armando Santa Cruz and Jose Luis Soto Karass. But Valero made Pitalua look his age and outclassed him. With the win, it seemed only a matter of time before Valero becomes a household name. It even became more of a reality when Las Vegas changed a rule that relates to how they treat fighters who have suffered previous head injuries. But as always, another obstacle came Valero?s way as he was denied his application for a U.S. Visa last year. He said it was because he supported the president of Venezuelan, but the real reason was his DUI charge in Texas early in the year. It didn?t either help that he was arrested a few months later for speeding and the authorities found an illegal firearm. One would assume that Valero would get his act together in order to set his career back on track. But as we?ve seen from many athletes who reach a certain level of success, they suddenly feel entitlement and begin to take things for granted. Instead Valero got into another trouble for allegedly beating up his sister and mother. Now an article by Jhonny Gonzalez for boxingscene.com reported that Valero was arrested early this week for supposedly brutally beating his wife. According to an article in Diario El Periodico, relatives reported that his wife suffered numerous hematomas in different parts of her body and an injury to her lung. In addition, he threatened doctors and nurses along with others in the hospital to ensure that the incident doesn?t become public. If Valero did indeed assault his wife, then his chances of ever obtaining a U.S. Visa becomes slim to none because of his recent behavior combined with his past troubles with the law. Valero may have been able to get away with this type of behavior in the past, but not anymore because of current status in the sport as one of the most exciting fighters in the game. Now he needs to control his behavior and get his career back on track or else he will end up as another underground legend whose athletic prowess will rely on the word of mouth and quickly forgotten. The irony is that he?s been longing for everybody to appreciate his talent and a chance to prove that he belongs among the elites, but that may never happen and he?s only got himself to blame.
