Former Venezuelan boxing champion Antonio Cermeño kidnapped and killed

CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuelan boxing champion Antonio Cermeño has been abducted in Caracas and killed, local authorities said.

Cermeño was a World Boxing Association super bantamweight and featherweight champion in the late 1980s and ’90s.

Cermeño, 44, was kidnapped along with his family Monday in eastern Caracas and his body was found Tuesday along a highway in the northern state of Miranda.

President Nicolás Maduro sent a tweet lamenting his death.

Cermeño had been working as a trainer and took part in government programs to disarm the population in this country with rampant violent crime and promote sports as a way to keep young people away from street life.

Authorities did not say what the motive of the kidnapping might have been nor clarify what happened to the family members abducted along with him.

Civic organizations estimate an average of 65 people are killed violently each day in Venezuela, making it one of the most violent countries in Latin America.