Former junior lightweight contender Eloy Perez dead at 31

In another somber boxing story, former junior lightweight title contender Eloy Perez (23-1-2, 7 KOs) has reportedly died this month, just before his 32nd birthday. Perez, who grew up in as an undocumented immigrant in Washington state, was deported back to Mexico in 2016 after spending over a year in a Tacoma immigration detention center following a DUI charge.

According to a report from The Olympian, Perez’s sister, Emma, claims that Eloy was murdered, denying a rumor that he had committed suicide and saying that she’s still waiting to see a formal police report of the incident.

“He loved life,” she said. “He loved doing anything for anybody and he never wanted to disappoint anybody.”

Perez is perhaps best known to the boxing world for his 2012 junior light title fight against Adrien Broner, a fight where he was obviously much smaller than Broner and ended up getting stopped in four rounds. Perez would test positive for cocaine immediately following that loss, was released by his management team, and never fought again professionally.

The circumstances surrounding Perez’s death are obviously unclear at this moment, but we’ll follow up as more information is released. In the meanwhile we extend our condolences to his family and loved ones.