Who is the man in my avatar?

lilith wrote:Papi: Who is that guy in your avatar?
He looks like everyone I go to school with...

Chavez laments Venezuelan boxer’s demise







By CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER, Associated Press Writer
Apr 25, 3:14 pm EDT







CARACAS, Venezuela (AP)—Venezuela President Hugo Chavez lamented the
tragic
death of Edwin Valero on Sunday, saying the troubled fighter who killed
himself
after slaying his wife had failed to defeat his biggest adversary—drug
and
alcohol addiction.










Valero, famed for an impressive record of 27 straight
knockouts and a huge
tattoo of Chavez on his chest, hanged himself in his jail cell last
week. The
boxer, who was nicknamed “El Inca” in reference to an Indian warrior, committed suicide a day after he was arrested in the stabbing death of
his
24-year-old wife.

“In his brilliant boxing career, giving it all for Venezuela, El Inca
never
knew defeat,” Chavez, one of Valero’s most vociferous aficionados, wrote
in his
weekly newspaper column. “But he couldn’t come to dominate himself.”

Hundreds of fans attended the fighter’s funeral in his hometown of El
Vigia
last week to bid him a final farewell.

The killing of Valero’s wife, Jennifer Carolina Viera, coupled with
the
boxer’s suicide, shocked many Venezuelans.

Relatives and friends of the former WBA super featherweight and WBC
lightweight champion said he was addicted to cocaine and alcohol, and
Venezuelan
news reports since 2008 had repeatedly linked him to domestic violence
incidents.

Chavez strongly criticized media coverage of Valero’s problems and
his
eventual demise, suggesting that anti-government media executives were
eagerly
chronicled the boxer’s ordeals.

“It’s necessary to underline the media frenzy that encircled ‘El
Inca’
during recent months. They never forgave his identification with the
Bolivarian
Revolution,” wrote Chavez, referring to his political movement named
after
19th-century independence hero Simon Bolivar.

“Someone who had turned into a symbol had to be destroyed—at any
cost.
Now, like vultures, they feed off the cadavers of Jennifer and Edwin.”

Valero was detained March 25 on suspicion of assaulting his wife but
Viera
told a police officer her injuries were caused by a fall. After that
incident,
the boxer was held for nine days in a psychiatric hospital, where he
underwent
police-supervised rehabilitation.

People close to the fighter posted bail on April 7 and he was allowed
to go
free.

Venezuelan government had arranged for Valero to attend a
drug-and-alcohol
rehabilitation program in Cuba. Valero had missed a flight to Cuba and
was
scheduled to fly there before he killed his wife and committed suicide.

lilith wrote:Holy cow, he looks way different in the white t-shirt image than all the other ones. I thought your avatar was a joke at first.

lilith wrote:He looked to me like a science nerd at first, throwin' a punch... then I saw the other pictures. !