Hector Camacho

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Name: Hector Camacho
Alias: Macho
Birth Name: Héctor Luís Camacho Matías
Hometown: New York, New York, USA
Birthplace: Bayamon, Puerto Rico
Died: 2012-11-24 (Age:50)
Stance: Southpaw
Height: 169cm
Reach: 175cm
Pro Boxer: Record
Amateur Boxer: Record

Amateur Career

  • Amateur Record: 96-4
  • Started boxing at La Sombra Sporting Club in New York.
  • 1978 New York Golden Gloves Flyweight Sub-Novice Champion.
  • 1979 New York Golden Gloves Bantamweight Open Champion, defeating Paul DeVorce of the Yonkers, New York.
  • 1979 Intercity Golden Gloves 119-Pound Champion, defeating Jesse Torres of Aurora, Illinois.
  • 1980 New York Golden Gloves Bantamweight Open Champion, defeating Tyrone Jackson of Harlem, New York.
  • 1980 Intercity Golden Gloves 125-Pound Champion, defeating Orlando Johnson of Chicago, Illinois.


Preceded by:
Carmelo Negron 		New York Daily News Golden Gloves
Open Bantamweight Champion
1979-1980 		Succeeded by:
Tyrone Jackson
Preceded by:
Wayne Lynumn 		Intercity Golden Gloves
119-Pound Champion
1979 		Succeeded by:
Wayne Lynumn
Preceded by:
Jose Antonetti 		Intercity Golden Gloves
125-Pound Champion
1980 		Succeeded by:
Charlie Brown


Professional Career

  • Defeated Rafael "Bazooka" Limon by a fifth-round TKO on August 7, 1983, to win the vacant WBC Super Featherweight Title.
  • Defeated Jose Luis Ramirez by a lopsided twelve-round unanimous decision on August 10, 1985, to win the WBC Lightweight Title.
  • Defeated Edwin Rosario by a twelve-round split decision on June 13, 1986, to successfully defend the WBC Lightweight Title for the first time. Camacho was hurt badly in the fifth and eleventh rounds. Many say Camacho was never the same after this fight. “He seemed to lose his nerve,” Boxing broadcaster and journalist Steve Farhood said. “He was never the same. What he became was something we never thought he’d be in his prime. He became a survivor in the ring." Boxing trainer and commentator Teddy Atlas agrees. “Rosario hurt him in that fight,” Atlas said. “From that point on I think that he changed his approach to how he fought in the ring. He was Hector Camacho the very defensive minded fighter."
  • Defeated Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini by a twelve-round split decision on March 6, 1989 to win the inaugural vacant WBO Junior Welterweight Title.
  • Suffered his first defeat against Greg Haugen, losing the WBO title by a twelve-round split decision on February 23, 1991.
  • Defeated Haugen by a twelve-round split decision on May 18, 1991, to avenge his first loss and regain the WBO title.
  • Challenged Julio Cesar Chavez for the WBC Super Lightweight Title on September 12, 1992, and lost by a lopsided twelve-round unanimous decision.
  • Challenged Felix Trinidad for the IBF Welterweight Title on January 29, 1994, and lost by a lopsided twelve-round unanimous decision.
  • Defeated 45-year-old Roberto Duran by a twelve-round unanimous decision on June 22, 1996.
  • Sent Sugar Ray Leonard into permanent retirement with a fifth-round TKO on March 1, 1997. Leonard was 40-years-old and had not fought in six years.
  • In his last major fight, Camacho challenged Oscar De La Hoya for the WBC Welterweight Title on September 13, 1997, and lost by a lopsided twelve-round unanimous decision.
  • Camacho and his son, Hector Camacho Jr., fought on the same card on February 3, 2001, in Miami Beach, Florida. Camacho Sr. defeated Troy Lowry by a ten-round unanimous decision, and Camacho Jr. defeated Rocky Martinez by a twelve-round unanimous decision.
  • Defeated Roberto Duran for a second time on July 14, 2001, winning by a twelve-round unanimous decision. It was the 50-year-old Duran's last fight.
  • Camacho, whose professional career lasted from 1980 to 2010, won major and minor titles in seven weight divisions. At the time of his death in 2012, he was planning a comeback.
  • Camacho has a record of 9-4 (2 KOs) in world title fights.
  • Camacho has a record of 10-4-2 (2 KOs) against former world champions:

Notes

  • Camacho was a fast and slick southpaw with a flamboyant personality.
  • He won titles in multiple weight divisions and was never stopped in 88 professional fights.
  • Known for his large gold necklace that spelled out "Macho" in capital letters (his public image trademark), his forehead curlicue tuft of hair, and his colorful expression, "It's Macho Time!"
  • Camacho was a great entertainer and an electric showman who generated fan excitement in the ring and out. “He was a showman,” Teddy Atlas said. “A guy that understood he had to put fannies in the seat. He did it with his dress and appearances." Steve Farhood said, “He was one of the few boxers I ever met that was larger than life. When he walked into a room, all eyes went on the Macho Man. He was a handsome guy. He was an electric guy and he always had a mischievous smile on his face.”
  • In 1985, in the annual KO Magazine "Best Fighter" poll, Camacho was voted the second best fighter in the world. Marvin Hagler was #1 for the third straight year.
  • Earned a black belt in Karate.
  • Posed nude in Playgirl Magazine in 1985 and again in 2010.
  • Had a web series called "Es Macho Time!" on Youtube Channel Nuevon.

Minor & Regional Titles

  • NABF Super Featherweight Title (1981-82)
  • NABF Lightweight Title (1985)
  • IBC Welterweight Title (1995)
  • IBC Middleweight Title (1996-97)
  • IBC Junior Middleweight Title (1998)
  • NBA Super Middleweight Title (2001)
  • WBF International Super Welterweight Title (2008)
  • WBE Super Welterweight Title (2008)

Death & Funeral Ceremonies

  • On November 20, 2012, Camacho and a friend, Adrian Mojica Moreno, were shot while sitting in a parked car outside a bar in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. Police said two assailants fled in an SUV. Moreno was declared dead at the scene. Camacho was originally expected to survive, but his condition quickly deteriorated and he was put on life support. After being declared brain dead, he was taken off life support and died on November 24, 2012.
  • A family source told HuffPost Voces that Moreno, who had nine bags of cocaine in his pockets, was the intended target of the shooters.
  • The open casket wake for Camacho at the Puerto Rico Department of Sports and Recreation in Santurce included former Puerto Rican world champions Wilfred Benitez, Nelson Dieppa, Alfredo Escalera, Wilfredo Gomez, Juan Manuel López, Roman Martinez, John John Molina, Alex Sanchez, Samuel Serrano, Manny Siaca, Julian Solis, Felix Trinidad, and Wilfredo Vazquez, as well as McJoe Arroyo and McWilliams Arroyo, only the second set of twins in the history of boxing to qualify for the Olympics.
  • Hundreds of fans turned out for the public wake in New York City and watched as a carriage drawn by white horses carried Camacho's coffin through the streets of Spanish Harlem en route to St. Cecilia Church on East 106th Street. The street outside the Church was lined with over a thousand people from the "El Barrio" neighborhood who waited patiently to pay their respects.
  • Camacho was buried on December 1, 2012, at St. Raymond's Cemetery in the Throggs Neck section of the Bronx, not far from former World Welterweight Champion Benny Paret.

External Links


Preceded by:
Bobby Chacon
Stripped 		WBC Super Featherweight Champion
1983 Aug 7 – 1984
Vacated 		Succeeded by:
Julio Cesar Chavez
Preceded by:
Jose Luis Ramirez 		WBC Lightweight Champion
1985 Aug 10 – 1987
Vacated 		Succeeded by:
Jose Luis Ramirez
Preceded by:
Inaugural Champion 		WBO Light Welterweight Champion
1989 Mar 6 – 1991 Feb 23 		Succeeded by:
Greg Haugen
Preceded by:
Greg Haugen 		WBO Light Welterweight Champion
1991 May 18 – 1992
Vacated 		Succeeded by:
Carlos Gonzalez


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