By Lee Groves

On the night of February 6, 2010, Edwin Valero was at the top of his game.

In stopping Antonio DeMarco via nine-round corner retirement, Valero proved he was much more than a knockout artist. Fighting through a horrific gash on his forehead, Valero exhibited breathtaking speed, blazing combinations and prodigious volume to register his 27th knockout in as many fights.

Everyone knew Valero could punch, but now they realized that inside the ring he had that vital blend of physical talent and psychological fortitude that would allow him to conquer just about any situation. It would have been convenient for him to submit to the adversity and allow DeMarco’s outside game to pick him apart.

Instead he ignored the blood and used his inner fire to immolate his rival.

It was the most complete performance of Valero’s career and for the first time his name and the phrase “elite fighter” carried a measure of credibility. Some compared the high-octane Valero to pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao and when he announced plans to move up to 140 fans salivated at the prospect of future matches against Timothy Bradley, Devon Alexander, Marcos Maidana and Amir Khan.

There was so much promise for the 28-year-old rock-fisted Venezuelan. Now, both it and he are gone.

This past weekend, the inner rage that fueled Valero’s success in the ring exploded in a burst of ruinous insanity. The first act of brutality occurred early Sunday morning inside a hotel room in Valencia, Venezuela when Valero stabbed his 24-year-old wife Jennifer to death.

Once police found the body and spotted the three stab wounds, Valero, who had confessed the crime to hotel security earlier, was taken into custody and detained so that the investigation could proceed.

Prosecutors indicated later Sunday that they intended to charge Valero in the death.

The news of Valero’s jailing produced worldwide headlines as well as shock waves throughout the boxing community. Given his admission to authorities and the evidence that supported it, his career was effectively dead.

No one could have guessed that his body would follow less than 24 hours later.

Valero used his sweat pants to create a makeshift noose, then proceeded to asphyxiate himself in his cell. A fellow inmate spotted the fighter’s body and alerted authorities, and although he reportedly showed signs of life once he was taken down efforts to revive him ultimately failed. At 1:30 a.m. Monday, Valero’s weekend of carnage was complete.

Valero’s wife is only the most obvious victim of the fighter’s savagery. His eight-year-old son and five-year-old daughter are now orphans who will be raised by a grandmother. God only knows how much psychological damage their father’s wickedness had wrought and how that will be expressed in future years.

The extended families of both sides of the marriage must deal with a toxic mix of anger and sorrow that may recede over time but will never go away.

For members of his boxing family – his manager, trainer, sparring partners, gym pals and others with a personal stake in his career – the pain is different but no less intense.

For those who had peripheral contact with him such as writers who conducted interviews with him or fans who secured his autograph, the sheer unreality of the here-today gone-tomorrow aspect of life was jarring while the manner by which it transpired triggered feelings of rage, disgust and disappointment.

While the events of the last few days have been shocking, Valero’s chaotic history suggested that this ending was possible, if not probable. His life outside the ring included several out-of-the-ring scuffles, multiple car accidents, a DUI charge in Texas, and repeated reports of violence against his sister, mother and especially his wife.

Years of drug and alcohol abuse combined with a variety of psychological issues fueled much of his erratic behavior and it came to a head in the weeks before his death.

On March 25, Valero was arrested after his wife suffered a punctured lung and broken ribs, injuries that were supposedly inflicted by the fighter. A judge issued a restraining order that was to have kept Valero away from his wife, but the boxer repeatedly defied its prohibitions.

The charges eventually were dropped after she claimed the injuries resulted from a tumble down a flight of stairs.

Valero entered a drug and alcohol rehab center in Venezuela three days later, but apparently didn’t stay very long; he was scheduled to fly to Cuba on April 9 to enter another facility.

A drunken Valero ended up crashing his car and missing his flight. Valero’s grasp on reality was spiraling out of control and that wild ride ended with his demise early Monday morning.

Adding to the anger and sadness is the fact that he has squandered a God-given talent that could have provided his family with financial security for generations to come.

His story could have – and should have – been so much better.

Valero was one of boxing’s first YouTube sensations. His sparring sessions with Erik Morales as “El Terrible” prepared for his first match with Pacquiao were eye opening to say the least.

The 23-year-old Valero showed poise, speed, nimbleness, balance and command of technique as the 12-fight southpaw novice gave a prime Morales excellent work. He consistently beat the Mexican to the punch and his subtle head movement allowed him to avoid most of Morales’ thunder and land several sharp counters.

Yes, this action unfolded under the controlled confines of sparring but the flashes of precocious talent couldn’t be denied.

Valero’s refined restraint didn’t carry over to his actual fights, for he strung together a record breaking 18 consecutive first round knockouts (a mark since surpassed by Tyrone Brunson’s 19). Due to a car accident that caused a cerebral hemorrhage, Valero was banned from fighting in the U.S. at a time when he could have capitalized on his budding stardom.

Nothing attracts attention like a flame-throwing banger and because of that – as well as the raves of then-MaxBoxing editor Doug Fischer – Valero became a cult figure for the cognoscenti. He was the hard-core fans’ best-kept secret but his talent guaranteed that the rest of the world would know about him sooner rather than later.

As the KO streak grew ever longer, Valero’s technique became as ragged and undisciplined as his daily life. The string was finally broken when Genaro Trazancos managed to get into the second round; in fact he was 1:12 away from seeing a third round when Valero finally lowered the boom.

Despite his pyrotechnics, many questions about his ability persisted going into his title shot against WBA junior lightweight champion Vicente Mosquera in August 2006. Any doubts about Valero’s power against championship competition were answered with a pair of first-round knockdowns and those about his courage were erased after he arose from a third-round knockdown and battered Mosquera into a 10th round TKO.

Though still wild at times, Valero showed he had speed, style, patience and boxing ability to go along with his power. The man had future pay-per-view star written all over him, but his troubles getting licensed in the U.S. continued to hurt his cause.

From January 2007 to June 2008, Valero racked up four successful defenses against Michael Lozada (KO 1), Nobuhito Honmo (KO 8), Zaid Zavaleta (KO 3) and Takehiro Shimada (KO 7). The Zavaleta fight in Cancun, Mexico was the first Valero fight to be seen live by North American audiences and he lived up to all of the hype as his ferocity was on full display. His open-mouthed snarls and TNT-like detonations proved a perfect, if somewhat belated, introduction to the world’s richest market.

The Zavaleta fight, in part, created the momentum Valero needed to secure a license in Texas and on April 4, 2009 his two-round blowout of Antonio Pitalua was part of the “Lightweight Lightning” PPV triple-header. The impressive win added the vacant WBC lightweight title to his mantle and his defenses against Hector Velazquez (KO 7) and DeMarco appeared to be the set the table for future pound-for-pound stardom.

Then – just like that – everything Valero had ever built for himself and his loved ones was snuffed out in a hailstorm of violence.

There should be no ceremonial 10 counts or moments of silence for Valero, for those honors should only be reserved for boxing’s heroes. Valero’s jailhouse suicide was an act borne of desperation as well as cowardice, for rather than face the legal penalty for his murderous actions he acted as his own judge, jury and executioner.

For those who wish to pay some sort of homage, they could direct all prayers and good wishes toward Valero’s children and to those who will assume responsibility for their upbringing.

The controlled violence that is boxing served as an outlet for the demons that propelled Valero throughout his life. Unfortunately for Valero – and especially for his family – he never found a way to tame them once he departed the relative safety of the ring.

His is a tale of success and excess, of triumph and tragedy and the best and worst the sport can offer. It allowed Valero to surpass his lot in life and achieve untold fame and wealth. But once the cheers stopped and Valero was left to his own devices, they ended up failing him as well as those who cared most about him.

At the moment when Valero was poised to reach for rarified heights in his chosen profession, he sowed the seeds of his own destruction and in his wake he left a trail of destroyed bodies and souls. For the rest of time, his name will be included among those fighters who threw away their gifts in the prime of life. The fact that he callously victimized others in the process makes him deserving of a special brand of scorn.

“Death before dishonor” is an axiom that has resonated with warriors throughout time.

As for Edwin Valero, he now has both.

E-mail Lee Groves at lgroves@hughes.net