Venezuelan boxing superstar Edwin Valero has reportedly killed himself in prison after benig arrested for murdering his wife.
Chief Wilmer Flores of the Venezuelan Federal Police told AP that he hanged himself using his clothes in the early hours of Monday morning.
Valero, a former WBC lightweight champion who was being lined up as Manny Pacquiao's next opponent, had been arrested on Sunday for the murder of his wife, Jennifer, who had been discovered with three fatal stab wounds in a room at the InterContinental hotel in the Venezuelan city of Valencia.
The attorney-general's office said after the arrest that Valero had confessed to the murder.
The statement read: "Valero went down to a hotel reception and confessed to the employees that he had carried out the murder."
The 28-year-old fighter had suffered in the past from drug and alcohol problems, and was detained in March for mistreating his wife.
The incident appears to mark a gruesome and tragic end to a stellar boxing career that has seen him earn a reputation as one of the hardest punchers in the sport.
He was unbeaten in 27 professional fights, but relinquished his world lightweight title earlier this year in order to move up a weight division
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"Maybe if we were a cynical team somebody would have pulled your man down but I suppose that is not in our DNA." Jack O'Connor