Héctor Camacho

Héctor Camacho

Héctor Luís Camacho Matías was a Puerto Rican professional boxer and entertainer. He was known for his quickness in the ring and flamboyant style. Camacho was shot and seriously wounded while sitting in a car outside a bar in his native Bayamón on November 20, 2012. He died four days later; after he was declared clinically brain dead, his mother requested the doctors remove him from life support.

About Héctor Camacho in brief

Summary Héctor CamachoHéctor Luís Camacho Matías was a Puerto Rican professional boxer and entertainer. He was known for his quickness in the ring and flamboyant style. As an amateur, Camacho won three New York Golden Gloves Championships. Camacho was shot and seriously wounded while sitting in a car outside a bar in his native Bayamón on November 20, 2012. He died four days later; after he was declared clinically brain dead, his mother requested the doctors remove him from life support. His remains were transported to New York for burial at request of his mother. He is survived by his wife, two sons, a daughter, and a son-in-law. His nickname, ‘Macho’, came as a result of a co-worker at a factory who couldn’t pronounce his last name. He also appeared on a variety of Spanish-language reality television shows including Univision’s’ dancing show Mira Quien Baila and a weekly segment on the popular show El Gordo y La Flaca, named \”Macho News\”. Camacho had many notable fights against some of the biggest names in boxing, including Roberto Durán, Sugar Ray Leonard, Julio César Chávez, Félix Trinidad, and Oscar De La Hoya, among others. In 2005, he was arrested for burglary, a charge to which he would later plead guilty. In 2011 he was shot at three times by would-be carjackers in San Juan, but was uninjured. In late 2012, Camachos was awaiting trial in Florida on charges of physical abuse of one of his sons.

He had a stellar amateur career, having a hundred fights under his belt, with 96 wins, and 4 losses. He won the 1978 112 lb Sub-Novice Championship, 1979 118 lbs Open Championship, and 1980 119 lb Open Championship. In 1980 he won Intercity Golden Gloves, defeating Orlando Johnson of Chicago. After a quick rise through the professional rankings in the featherweight and junior-lightweight division, he claimed world titles in the lightweight and featherweight division. In 1983, he beat world champions Salvador Sánchez and Eusebio Pedroza. In 1985, he defeated the top contenders Irleis Perez, Melvin Perez, and Paul Refugio Rojas. When the Puerto Rico Junior Lightweight champion, Bobby Chacón, refused to defend his world championship against the World Boxing Council, he declared the title vacant. He went on to win the WBO junior welterweight title twice between 1989 and 1992. In 1987, he won the WBC super featherweight title from 1983 to 1984. In 1989, he became the first Puerto Rican boxer to win three world championships in three different weight classes. In 1991, he also became the third Puerto Rican to win a world title in the junior-junior-heavyweight division in the light-middleweight category. In 1992, he lost to the world champion in the middleweight division against the top contender, John Montes.