Hector Camacho Shot, in Critical Condition
Three-division world champion Hector “Macho” Camacho was shot in the face tonight in a drive-by shooting in his hometown of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, where he is in critical condition. The 50-year-old Camacho was hit when a gunman opened fired on a Ford Mustang the boxer was sitting in with a friend; unfortunately, Camacho’s companion, the driver of the car, did not survive. One suspect is in custody.
As is common in such situations, confusion ensued on Twitter when Carlos Suarez Jr. of BoricuaBoxing tweeted the following information two hours ago:
BREAKING NEWS: I have confirmation that HECTOR “Macho” CAMACHO has indeed passed away from gun shot wounds suffered earlier… R.I.P. #MACHO
Suarez Jr. updated his feed an hour ago:
BREAKING NEWS: Hector “Macho” Camacho is ALIVE and fighting for his life!
Suarez Jr. added that he was in direct contact with Camacho’s family members at Centro Medico, the trauma center in San Juan where the boxer was being treated for his injuries.[[MORE]]
Dr. Ernesto Torres, the director of Centro Medico announced that the boxer could end up paralyzed from the attack; the bullet entered Camacho’s jaw before traveling through his body and fracturing two vertebrae. The famed boxer may never walk again.
Camacho’s final title bout occurred in 1997, against Oscar De La Hoya; he lost by unanimous decision and his career faded as he struggled with drugs, alcohol, burglary charges (which led to a suspended prison sentence and one year of probation) as well as a proclivity towards domestic violence. Earlier this year, he was charged with child abuse after “allegedly slamming his teenage son to the ground and stomping on him”.
Camacho had a career record of 79-6-3 (38 KOs) but his outrageous outfits, theatricality and flamboyant personality often overshadowed his considerable prowess in the ring, where he fought Felix Trinidad, Julio Cesar Chavez, and perhaps most famously, knocked out Sugar Ray Leonard, thus ending Lenoard’s final shot at a comeback. As he fights for his life in a San Juan hospital, Camacho will need every ounce of the determination and power that once made him a champion in the ring.