Late Tuesday night, former boxing champion Hector "Macho" Camacho was shot in the face and neck while in his hometown of Bayamon, Puerto Rico.
After being pronounced brain dead on Thursday, his family finally made the decision to take him off life support early Saturday morning.
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| Photo by: Richard Harbus |
Camacho's family moved to a Spanish Harlem neighborhood in New York City when he was just a child. He ran into trouble at a young age, being jailed for the first time at 15. His boxing career began in his teens as an outlet for his aggression, and he soon decided to pursue the sport as a career.
"Macho" would win three Golden Gloves as an amateur before turning pro. He quickly rose through the ranks in the featherweight, junior lightweight, and lightweight divisions, and won four WBC Championships along the way.
Camacho also went up against some of the best boxers in the world, including -- Sugar Ray Leonard, Oscar De La Hoya, Felix Trinidad, and Julio Cesar Chavez.
His overall professional record was 79-6-3.
Unfortunately, Camacho's former life of crime would continue to rear its head during the later years of his life, as drug and alcohol abuse would forever haunt him.
In 2007, Camacho was arrested for burglary and drug possession. However, he would only serve two weeks of a 7-year sentence. In 2011, he was shot in an attempted carjacking in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Camacho was also accused of child abuse in April of 2012, and a trial was pending at the time of his death.
The details of the shooting are still foggy. All that is known is that Camacho was shot while in the passenger seat of a Ford Mustang as it sat parked outside of a bar. The driver of the car, a childhood friend of Camacho's, was killed in the shooting as well. Also, several small packets of cocaine were found in the vehicle.
So far, no suspects have been arrested.
Always thought Camacho was a little overrated, but I was still saddened when I heard this.
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