Carlos Javier "Kiki" Vera Montilva

So, he would be a classic example of "Why didn't this great (and I mean that in a non-hyperbolic sense, truly great...as in more so than all but the Lomachenkos or Usyks of the world) amateur ever turn pro??" - except he did, at 20 years old, in July of 2012, knocking out his debut opponent in just 42 seconds...and hasn't set foot in a pro ring since. :?

The hard-hitting young phenom was probably the best new Venezuelan to emerge in the last half-decade or so - which is saying a mouthful as the Land of Grace has recently yielded José Uzcátegui (who fought in 350 amateur bouts, mostly international and is now a major contender at super middleweight with a 24-1, 20 KO record since turning over in 2011) and Gabriel Jose Maestre Pérez (2013 world amateur bronze medalist and 2015 Pan-Am Games champion, who looked tremendous in last month's Río Olympics qualifiers, securing a berth to become a 2-time Olympian and putting up a spirited effort in his match for the qualification tourney gold medal to Cuban sensation Roniel Iglesias, a longtime rival Maestre Pérez has defeated before) and was quietly generating some word-of-mouth buzz reaching the ears of the boxing diehard fraternity around the globe, seemingly building into a crescendo that could have rivaled or surpassed the hype for Jorge Linares a decade earlier...

Why all the fuss? Kiki was a 4x national champion and performed well abroad, with his overall record in the amateurs standing at - get this - 121-7 with 82 by RSC or KO.

A win rate of 94% over that many bouts would be impressive enough (assuming it wasn't all soft opposition, which it wasn't) - but EIGHTY TWO STOPPAGES. Needless to say, if you don't follow amateur boxing very closely, you should know that stopping ⅔ of your opponents across that large a sampling is next to unheard of. He did all that, in his teens.


So where the hell did he go? :huh

Prime's a-wasting. He is still only about 24 (not sure his exact DOB, just know that he was 20 when he debuted) so the door is still open for him to make a run - but why isn't he? With those credentials he should've spent the last few years icing suckers left and right (vastly inferior talents have found it quite easy to pad up KO-heavy records in South America) and probably in contention by now.

 

Did he go to jail? Pass away? Get kidnapped by terrorists? Decide to live in seclusion in a Buddhist monastery?

This is baffling - there's next to no information available online past his pro debut. He did have a Twitter account, but hasn't been active on it since October 2012.

:conf

 

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Or, you know, that fraud Edwin Valero - who AFAIK didn't score eighty-two stoppages in the amateurs. :yep

(he was 86-6 with 52... so a lower KO percentage than Kiki, and with nearly as many losses in 36 fewer bouts)

 

One of his few losses, to José Guilardi:
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Kiki was 15 or 16 years old there. He got rocked early but managed to hang in there and fought on even terms most of the rest of the way.

Curiously enough, José Guilardi never went on to accomplish much in boxing himself as he gave the sport up to instead play hockey...eventually making the Brazilian national team and becoming an effective defenceman.

 

Well done.

So if ever I need a private detective, can I put you on retainer?

 

Yeah, he seems to be enjoying the domesticated life...and is apparently now one half of a pop/rap duo? :blood

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His main picture on his profile is still of him gloved up, though, so who knows...

 

I brought the stalking a step further and shot him messages inquiring about his future career prospects on both of his social media accounts. :hey

 

Nearly as frustrating as the abandonment od the sport by Alexander Frenkel. (remember him???)

 

Kiki accepted my friend request. :hey

Here's our conversation so far:


"Apr 3rd, 9:07pm

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Today, 8:16pm

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"

 

Four years on the shelf without proper management. That sucks. :verysad

 

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Can any native speakers cast light on his last response? I can't puzzle it out and Google Translate isn't helping. "If - ??? (something about some date) - we're back in the ring."