Hector Camacho: 1962—: Boxer Biography - Born To Fight, Car Theft And Prison, Lightning Speed, Won Titles, Later Career Wins And Losses
five life
Hector Camacho: 1962—: Boxer.
Starting out in life as a street fighter and car thief on the tough streets of New York's Spanish Harlem, Hector "Macho" Camacho became one of boxing's most flamboyant and entertaining showmen in the 1980s and 1990s. In his younger days, Camacho had phenomenal speed and quickness and, at five-foot five inches tall, won six titles in five different weight classes. Despite an impressive record of 76-4-2, Camacho's life has been burdened by consistent drug use and legal problems.
Additional Topics
Camacho was born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, on May 24, 1962. When he was three years old, his mother left his father and moved with Camacho and his older sister, Raquel, to Spanish Harlem in New York City. The family lived in a variety of public housing projects, often lacking heat and hot water. Camacho got in his first street fight when he was nine years old. Always a boisterous, daring chi…
By the time Camacho was 15, he had been expelled from six schools for fighting, and had graduated from stealing toys to stealing cars. In 1979 a botched car theft attempt led Camacho on a 30-block police chase that ended when an officer cornered him and cracked his head with the butt of his pistol. Camacho got stitches, spent a day at Rikers Island, and was put on probation. While still on probati…
When Camacho was 14 he began working with Robert Lee Velez, an ex-gang member who had also spent time in jail as a youth. Velez, then 38 years old, had become a butcher and moonlighted in his spare time as a boxing instructor. Impressed after seeing Camacho box, Velez began coaching him, turning the teenager from a slugger into a finesse boxer, and teaching him to use strategy along with his light…
In August of 1983 Camacho returned to Puerto Rico to face Rafael "Bazooka" Limon for the World Boxing Council (WBC) junior lightweight title. Fighting before a crowd of 10,000 in San Juan, 21-year-old Camacho destroyed 29-year-old veteran Limon, who was at the time ranked third, earning a technical knock out (TKO) in the fifth round. Camacho entered the ring in leopard-spotted trucks…
Greg Haugen handed Camacho his first professional loss in 1991, breaking Camacho's perfect 39-0 record. After losing the 12-round decision, Camacho briefly relinquished the junior welterweight title; however, in 1991 he went another 12 rounds with Haugen to regain the title. In September of 1992 Camacho faced Julio César Chávez, one of the greatest boxers in the lighter weight…
Camacho's impressive record in the ring (76-4-2, with 37 KOs) was nearly matched by his record outside the ring. A long-time abuser of drugs and alcohol, Camacho never seemed to mature either in looks or behavior, retaining both his boyish good looks and his boyish behavior. That behavior often distracted him from focusing on training or an upcoming bout, and brought him numerous legal prob…
Citing this material
Please include a link to this page if you have found this material useful for research or writing a related article. Content on this website is from high-quality, licensed material originally published in print form. You can always be sure you're reading unbiased, factual, and accurate information.
Highlight the text below, right-click, and select “copy”. Paste the link into your website, email, or any other HTML document.
User Comments