Читать книгу Berserk. The Shocking Life and Death of Edwin Valero онлайн

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“He wasn't a sweet kid,” said Hernandez.

Despite the drinking and flare-ups, Valero was generally likable. “He was quiet,” said Fischer. “Respectful. Shy. He kept to himself. When he trained, it was like no one else existed. He was in his own little world. But if he talked to you he'd be really cool and sincere. He took pride in himself. And when he shook your hand, he crushed it.”

Valero occasionally talked to his new associates about his criminal past. He said he had known thirty people who were already dead and buried. In El Vigia, Valero said, one had to be either a drug dealer or an assassin. He claimed a contract had been taken out on him, but the killer who drew the assignment was a friend and couldn't do it. Why the contract wasn't given to someone else was a detail Valero didn't explain.

The impression Valero gave was that boxing had saved his life. Without boxing, he said repeatedly, he'd be in prison or dead.

• • •

Valero's first professional bout in America took place on July 19, 2003, at the Activities Center of Maywood—which has since become Maywood's YMCA—on the undercard of a show headlined by de Leon. Valero was matched with Emmanuel Ford, a thirty-two-year-old with a record of 5-20-2. Ford was on the canvas three times before the bout was stopped in the first.