DID EDWIN VALERO’S TRAGIC DOWNFALL EXPOSE THE DARK SIDE OF BOXING’S CULTURE?

You mean brain damage ?
That is a issue to be taken seriously, but there is no scientific proof that brain damage makes you kill your wife. It depends and there is a lot to be the proved in that regard yet.
He was a drug addict too, his lack of moral brakes were always a problem.

 

boxing is a part of his story but there are office workers who hit all his lowlights without ever getting hit in the head.

 

I wouldn't say the boxing world bears any responsibility. Although, looking at it from a cold business perspective, the boxing people around him might have treated their investment with a little more care. That is to say, he was clearly not the full shilling before the tragic events unfolded - but no one cared to intervene.

Valero was the perfect storm. Violent, brain damaged, drug and alcohol addicted - quite likely leading to mental illness very early on. The chances are that he'd have become deeply troubled without boxing being involved. That said the relative trimmings that came with his chosen profession, as well as the favor this gained him in his home country of Venezuela may have worked against him, in terms of negative reinforcement for a while.

He'd suffered the brain damage in a motorcycle accident before his pro career had even begun, which is why he soon wasn't able get a license to box in the US. This was also a source of frustration to him, which might have been a trigger/stressor, or at least one of them, and he was quite probably already an alcoholic and drug user before his pro career began as well.

I seem to recall reading that certain senior players in Venezuela had eventually recognized that something needed to be done. Arrangements had been made for him to be seen by mental health experts in Cuba. However, Valero missed the flight.
The tragedy occurred soon after.

 

Often, especially with football players, CTE is discussed but not mentioned is their use of steroids/PEDs and heavy use of drugs/alcohol.

Probably no way to do a scientific study on the effects of being hit in the head repeatedly without ever using any drugs (including PEDs) or alcohol. Or in what amounts or to what degree those play a part in some of the bad endings, because a lot of CTE sufferers were documented to have problems with drugs/alcohol and many of them definitely used steroids/PEDs.