Champ boxer held over wife's murder takes his own life

FORMER boxing champion Edwin Valero – who gained fame for knocking out all his 27 opponents and having a tattoo of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez on his chest – died in jail yesterday after he was arrested for his wife's murder.

The former lightweight champion hanged himself in his cell, Venezuelan Federal Police chief Wilmer Flores said.

He said Valero was found by another inmate, who alerted authorities in the police cell.

The boxer still showed signs of life when prison staff took him down, but they were unable to save him and he died about 1:30am, Mr Flores said.

The 28-year-old was detained on Sunday on suspicion of killing his wife, Jennifer Viera. Prosecutors said they had planned to charge Valero for the killing.

The former WBA super featherweight and WBC lightweight champion was detained after police found the body of his 24-year-old wife in a hotel in Valencia. Valero left the hotel room around dawn on Sunday and allegedly told security he had killed his wife, Mr Flores said.

Valero was a household name in Venezuela and had a huge image of president Chavez tattooed on his chest along with the country's yellow, blue and red flag.

His all-action style and 27-0 record – all by knockout – earned him a reputation as a tough, explosive crowd-pleaser.

Venezuelans called him "Inca" alluding to an Indian warrior, while elsewhere he was called "Dinamita" or dynamite.

Valero had been in trouble with the law before. Last month, he was charged with harassing his wife and threatening medical personnel who treated her at a hospital in the western city of Merida.

Police arrested him following an argument with a doctor and nurse at the hospital, where his wife was being treated for a series of injuries, including a punctured lung and broken ribs.

The Attorney General's Office said in a statement that Valero was detained on 25 March on suspicion of assaulting his wife, but she told a police officer her injuries were due to a fall. When the boxer arrived moments later, he forbade Ms Viera from speaking to the police officer, and spoke threateningly to the officer, prosecutors said in a statement.

The Attorney General's Office said a prosecutor had asked a court to order Valero jailed, but that the judge instead placed him under a restraining order that barred him from going near his wife – a condition he repeatedly violated.

Police found three stab wounds on Ms Viera's body, but investigators who searched the hotel rooms had yet to find the weapon used in the killing, Mr Flores said.

In the ring, Valero shot to fame when he won his first 18 fights by first-round knockout, setting a record that has since been eclipsed by US middleweight Tyrone Brunson, who recorded 19 first-round knockouts.

Valero was replaced as WBC lightweight champion in February after he expressed a desire to campaign in a higher weight division, WBC president Jose Sulaiman said.