ESPNStar.com
Edwin Valero found fleeting fame as one of the most concussive punchers of his generation.
He won every one of his 27 fights inside the distance, but he failed to land a knockout blow on the demons that raged inside his head.
Valero, who committed suicide in a police cell in Venezuela this week where he was being detained after reportedly admitting to murdering his wife, took with him a perfect record and any number of burning question marks.
Many fighters fail to live up to their billed potential, either failing to impress at all or else seeing their star shine all too briefly on the grandest stage, victims either of over-hype or personal chaos which affects their ability to fight.
Few, however, exit the sport having neither burnt out nor faded away. Valero was one of those few, his death bringing an abrupt end to a career which will now be the endless topic of debate: a slew of wins asterisked with what-might-have-been.
Valero's escalating private life and violent demise have been documented elsewhere, as has his fight to overturn a ban on fighting in the US, which he put down to conspiracy due to his affection for Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.
There was talk that Valero was being lined up for a showdown with Manny Pacquiao, and plenty who saw the man fight believe outside Floyd Mayweather there was nobody better equipped to defeat the Filipino.
That is now conjecture. What is a fact is that Valero's demise has deprived the sport of one its more intriguing showdowns, just as similarly sorry circumstances have turned the lights out on the careers of others before him.
The question marks burn just as bright over Ike Ibeabuchi, the Nigerian heavyweight who emerged as his division's potential saviour in the meltdown of the post-Mike Tyson era, only for his wild lifestyle to catch up with him.
Ibeabuchi handed a beating to then unbeaten fellow contender David Tua in 1997 to take his unbeaten record to 16 fights. In 1999, he scored a crushing knockout win over Chris Byrd, who would go on to win the IBF world title.
Ibeabuchi's life was already unravelling. Having previously been imprisoned for injuring the son of a former girlfriend, he was then jailed in 2001 for battery and attempted sexual assault following an incident with a lap-dancer in his hotel room.
Ibeabuchi has been denied parole three times and does not become eligible again until 2012, by which time he will be 39 years old. He will most likely be deported to Nigeria with no chance to resume his boxing career.
Perhaps the most notorious case of squandered boxing talent involves former middleweight star Tony Ayala. The brutal, aggressive Ayala moved to the brink of a world title fight against Davey Moore in 1983.
Aged 19, Ayala was being described by many good judges as one of the most promising fighters in the sport. But he never got to fight Moore. He was found guilty of a brutal sexual assault on a neighbour and sentenced to 35 years in prison.
Ayala was released in 1999 and made a return to boxing, winning six fights all by knockout until he lost to Yory Boy Campas. In 2004, after a series of new brushes with the law, he was returned to prison for another 10-year term.
All the above only have themselves to blame for their failures to leave a lasting legacy of greatness on their sport. The same cannot be said for Salvador Sanchez, whose career was cut short through no fault of his own.
To some extent, Argentinian featherweight Sanchez fulfilled expectations. He won 44 of his 46 fights and defended his world title over great names like Juan Laporte, Wilfredo Gomes and Azumah Nelson.
But such was Sanchez's ability that after he died in a car accident in his homeland at the age of 23, the sport of boxing felt it had lost a fighter who might one day have been mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Ali, Robinson and Pep.
Unfortunately, Valero will never be afforded such acclaim. His fleeting, explosive career will be overshadowed by the manner of his demise. His is another of those burning question marks that will never find an answer.
Source: espnstar.com
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