Hector Camacho

It can be said that he has been dealt the unfairest hand ever by boxing critics and experts around the world.

Carrier of Muhammad Ali's flamboyance, style and grace, Camacho became a three time world champion, yet he always lacked the support of boxing writers.

Camacho was born in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, but his family moved to New York when he was a little kid. He ran into trouble there as a teen, getting into fights and landing in jail at 15. He also learned Boxing and Karate as a teenager, and since he was talented as a boxer, he chose that sport as a career.

It can be said that Camacho's flamboyant but good-hearted style brought a lot of fun to the sport of boxing but it also made him garner the hate of the same critics who, ironically, had loved Ali just a few years before. Ali and Camacho's style was adopted by Roy Jones Jr.,Jorge Paez and Naseem Hamed, just to name a few, and it brings a lot of excitement to their events.

After a stellar amateur career, Camacho began a quick rise through the professional rankings, first in the Featherweight and then in the Junior Lightweight division. He was so good from the start that the young fellow was sure he could beat World featherweight champions Salvador Sanchez and Eusebio Pedroza. However, Sanchez died when Camacho was still coming up in the ranks.

Up at Junior Lightweight, he defeated top contenders Irleis Cubanito Perez[?], Melvin Paul[?], John Montes[?] and Refugio Rojas[?] (Both Montes and Rojas lasted one round, and Rojas would later last seven in a world title challenge from Julio Cesar Chavez).

When World Junior Lightweight champion Bobby Chacon refused to go to Puerto Rico to defend his title against Camacho, the WBC declared the world championship vacant, and the man Chacon had taken the title from, Rafael Bazooka Limon, filled in for Chacon. It was the first time Camacho was in a ring with a former world champion, and he didn't show any lack of experience, dropping Limon in rounds one and three before the referee put a stop to the savage beating in round five.

His first defense also came in San Juan where he met fellow Puerto Rican Rafael Solis[?], whose family included former world bantamweight champion Julian Solis[?]. Camacho got tested in this fight for the first time, shaken in round three by a Solis uppercut, but he flattened Solis with a right to the chin in round five, laying him down the way a patient gets laid on a stretcher.

Next came a move to Lightweight, where he won the United States title with a twelve round decision of overmatched Roque Montoya[?]. By then Camacho was appearing on the covers of all the boxing magazines and making quite a few fans among teenaged girls.

His next fight made him a two time world champion. Fought on HBO, the channel that loved him for his display of power, speed and skills vs Solis, Camacho thoroughly outboxed the Mexican defending world champion, Jose Luis Ramirez in Las Vegas to win the world Lightweight championship. Camacho dropped Ramirez in round three and virtually swept the whole fight, the only round in doubt being round eleven.

What could have been a blessing, may have started Camacho's downfall instead. The two other reigning world champions in his division at that time, Livingstone Bramble[?] and Jimmy Paul[?] were reluctant to unify the crown with Camacho, and so he had to settle for a decision win over Freddie Roach[?] before his next fight of importance came along, ten months after beating Ramirez.

He met Edwin Rosario at the Madison Square Garden in New York, once again on HBO. In a wild slugfest, Camacho dominated rounds one to four, but had to hang on for dear life in rounds five and six. He swept the middle rounds with his skill and savvy, but Rosario came back during the eleventh and twelfth. It was a close decision, but Camacho's experience made the difference, and he retained the title with a split decision.

Camacho's personal life ran into trouble after the fight, being charged with possession of drugs. However, the charges were later lifted and Camacho could resume his boxing career.

Camacho then retained his title vs former World Junior Lightweight champion Cornelius-Boza Edwards[?] in Miami on a unanimous decision before going up in weight again. After a few fights there, he met former world lightweight champion Ray Boom Boom Mancini, who had a record of 29-3 with 23 knockouts, for the vacant WBO version of the world Junior Welterweight title. It was a good and interesting fight, but Camacho was the fresher of the two and ended up winning a unanimous twelve round decision, joining that exclusive group of world champion boxers who have become three time world champions.

Camacho next met Vinny Paz, winning on points again,, then the tough challenger Tony Baltazar, from Phoenix. Baltazar was another points victim on an HBO televised bout, but then Camacho lost his undefeated record and world championship to the former world Lightweight champion Greg Haugen[?]. However, as an unidentified substance was found on Haugen's urine, a rematch was ordered and Camacho regained the title, beating Haugen on a close but unanimous decision.

This set the table for his showdown with Julio Cesar Chavez, in Las Vegas in the year 1992. Camacho, dressed as Captain America coming into the bout, proved just as tough as any super hero, taking a beating, but answering back punch after punch. Still, his bravery wasn't enough and he lost a unanimous decision on HBO's Pay Per View leg that night.

Camacho has spent the last few years winning a handful of smaller organization titles, while getting a couple of shots at World titles. Among his notable wins since 1992 there are two over the great legend and future hall of famer Roberto Duran, beaten on points twice, once in Atlantic City and another time in Denver. He lost title tries for the world welterweight championship vs Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya , both by unanimous decisions, but he gave them both good fights before hearing the final bell. After each of those fights, he kept fighting and winning but seeing as title shots are now hard to come by for him, he seems to be currently semi-retired.

Camacho hasn't officially announced his retirement, but nowadays, he is more visible as a trainer of his son, Junior Welterweight prospect Hector Machito Camacho Jr..

Hector Macho Camacho is definitely a future member of the International Boxing Hall Of Fame.