By Elisinio Castillo
The Venezuelan film premiere of the motion picture "El Inca," has been set for November 25.
The movie details the tragic story of two division world champion Edwin Valero, who was viewed as a potential superstar and he was being groomed by Top Rank and Teiken for a pay-per-view fight with Manny Pacquiao.
Valero, known as "El Inca", won all 27 of his fights by knockout. He was a sympathizer for late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and had a huge tattoo of Chavez on his chest.
Valero last fought in February 2010. That same year, in April, he was arrested by the police as the alleged murderer of his wife, Carolina. A day later prison officers found him hanging in his cell, which officials ruled a suicide.
Valero held the WBA super featherweight title from 2006 to 2008, and the WBC lightweight title from 2009 to 2010. Valero started boxing at the age of 12 and compiled an amateur record of 86–6 with 57 knockouts. He was a Venezuelan national amateur champion three years running, as well as a Central and South American champion.
On February 25, 2006, Valero set a new world record by winning his first 18 fights first round knockout, breaking Arthur Susskind's historic record set in 1905. That record has since been broken by Tyrone Brunson, but most boxing experts do not acknowledge Brunson's claim due to the extremely poor level of opposition he faced. In contrast to Valero's opponents, just one of Brunson's 19 opponents had a winning record, and 6 had failed to win a single fight in their careers.
One of the biggest hurdles in Valero's career, was the aftermath of his motorcycle accident on February 5, 2001. Valero fractured his skull and had surgery to remove a blood clot.
After his twelfth pro fight, Valero signed with Golden Boy Promotions. That deal fell apart after he failed an MRI due to brain scan irregularities in New York and because of that he was not allowed to fight in the United States. His career progressed outside of the U.S., until he was able to present enough medical evidence to get cleared to fight in Texas on March 25, 2008.
Outside of the ring, Valero struggled with substance abuse, alcohol abuse and violent temper. His wife was hospitalized for injuries on numerous occasions, but she always claimed her ailments were due to some accident.
On April 18, 2010, Valero was arrested after police found the body of his 24-year-old wife, Carolina, in a hotel in the city of Valencia, Carabobo. Valero allegedly admitted to hotel security and police that he had murdered his wife. The following day he was found hanging in his prison cell, by his pants.