In February 2001, Edwin Valero was involved in a near fatal motorbike accident in which he fractured his skill and had surgery to remove a blood clot. Had he been wearing a helmet, his injuries would not be half as severe. Despite the life threatening injury, El Inca was cleared by Venezuelan doctors to begin his professional boxing career.

Three years and twelve first-round knockouts later, Valero signed with Golden Boy Promotions and was heavily tagged as the next big star. His recklessly aggressive style and consistent offense was reminiscent of Pipino Cuevas, who made the most of his abilities to successfully defend his WBA welterweight title eleven times before Thomas Hearns ended his champion run.

But his chances of emulating Cuevas’ achievements were slim when an MRI scan exploited the full extent of his injuries. He had the most traumatic of brain irregularity, a tear inside the cranium, which is the most fragile part of the brain and thus ending all chance of capturing an American boxing license to appear on the planned HBO Boxing After Dark card.