BOXING?S brutality is not confined to the ring. Shocking recent events have once again reminded us what a precarious balance exists between life inside and outside the squared circle. On Sunday, April 18, the undefeated WBC lightweight champion, Edwin Valero (27-0), confessed to stabbing his 24-year old wife, Jennifer Carolina Viera, to death in the Venezuelan province of Caribobo. The following day, Valero?s lifeless body was found hanging in a police cell in Valencia.
There were countless signs that this most tortured of beings was on a one-way trip to oblivion. Why was this preventable tragedy allowed to happen?
Boxing?s ?KO King? had the image of his country?s President, Hugo Chavez, tattooed on his torso. The dictator?s close relationship to ?the Inca,? may ultimately have catalysed Valero?s tragic fall from grace. The government pandered to his every need to such an extent that startling accusations of frequent drug abuse and domestic violence were continuously swept under a dusty, Venezuelan carpet. Given Valero?s addictive personality, could this not have been more effectively dealt with?
However, given the statements of WBC President, Jose Suliaman, this week, such hopeful sentiments may be misplaced. Suliaman proudly announced that Edwin was, ?the only boxer in history to have a perfect 100 per cent knockout record.? Whilst this is the case, to simply bask in the fighter?s glories without reference to the most heinous of crimes committed against his wife, is disgraceful.
Regrettably, Valero?s case is by no means an isolated one. Sonny Liston, one of the most formidable boxers in history, was the 24th of 25 children, fathered by the tyrannical Tobe Liston. At 13, having escaped Arkansas and regular, hideous beatings, Sonny resorted to a life of crime in St Louis, Missouri. He was arrested over 20 times and had two spells behind bars. It was only when the Prison Chaplain of Jefferson City Pentitentiary, Father Schlattmann, introduced him to boxing that Sonny could legitimately beat up his fellow inmates. Sonny soon blossomed into a devastating talent. Having served only two years in prison (for armed robbery), Liston was granted parole in October 1952 and turned professional a year later.
After a second bout in prison, Liston destroyed Floyd Patterson in a little over two minutes to capture the heavyweight crown in 1962. Having been a pawn for the mob throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Liston was found dead in mysterious circumstances on January 5 1971. According to the pathologist, he had been dead for at least a week, apparently from an injected overdose. However, given that his widow, Geraldine, referred to his phobia to needles, it appears such an injection was not self-induced. Charles ?Sonny? Liston?s life ended as it had began ? in hopeless obscurity.
Mike Tyson?s story is equally sad. From a childhood split between two of the most desperate ghettos in America, the Brooklyn districts of Bedford-Stuyvesant and Brownsville, he was arrested more than 40 times.
In 1979, the 13-year-old was seemingly rescued from oblivion, by legendary trainer, Cus D?Amato, who took him out of a reformatory for hard cases in upstate New York and adopted him. Life in the D?Amato household near Catskill offered a tiny echo of happier times. When his guardian?s death, from pneumonia, was quickly followed by that of the old guru?s managerial prot?g?, Jimmy Jacobs, Tyson?s career was soon awash with litigation.
When a calming influence was needed, Don King, the ex-con from Cleveland, reared his frizzy-haired head. It seems fate was playing a sick joke on ?Iron Mike?. When he lost his crown to James ?Buster? Douglas, Tyson?s career soon mirrored the violent waywardness of his youth.
Tyson?s career was now a catalogue of misdemeanours. He served three years for rape in 1992, chewed on Evander Holyfield?s ears in their 1997 rematch and attempted to break Francois Botha?s arm in 1999.
Another Brownsville native, Riddick Bowe, is now an unrecognisable shell of his former self. He was sent to prison for kidnapping his own son in 2002. He has since been reduced to selling off memorabilia in car boot sales in Maryland.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of a sad cast. Carlos Monzon, the great Argentine middleweight, was jailed for murdering his partner in 1989 ? he died while on release in 1995. The promising Nigerian heavyweight, Ike Ibeabuchi, is an emotional wreck in prison, having assaulted a lap dancer on a Las Vegan escapade.
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?Boxing remains a sport that keeps its friendly hand extended to the poor of the world,? proclaimed Suliaman. This seems a dubious link. If boxing wishes to avoid another calamity, more help must be given to these tortured souls. President Chavez has announced that a fund will be set up to support Valero?s two young children. Perhaps it is time for a similar fund for ex-boxers. Maybe, some good will come out of this sickening saga after all.
