As the somber news of the passing of three-division world boxing champion Hector “Macho” Camacho circulated, a few of his colleagues and comrades reflected on the rose that emerged through the cracks in the sidewalk within the concrete jungle of Spanish Harlem.
Last Tuesday night, Nov. 20, Camacho’s childhood friend Adrian Mojica-Moreno, 49, died instantly and the 50-year-old boxer was seriously injured while sitting in an adjacent passenger seat, after their black Ford Mustang was ambushed just outside a bar in his birth-town of Bayamon, Puerto Rico.
The popular pugilist was rushed to a local hospital, where he was listed in critical, but stable, condition. The director of the Centro Medico trauma center in San Juan, Dr. Ernesto Torres, said, “A bullet apparently struck Camacho in the left side of his jaw, tore through three of four main arteries in his neck, affecting blood flow to the brain, exited his head, then lodged in his right shoulder, while fracturing two vertebrae.”
Initially, doctors predicted the swift southpaw would survive, but his condition unexpectedly worsened after he suffered a heart attack last Wednesday at 4:15 a.m.
“There has not been any improvement, his heart has stopped working,” Torres said. “We can give him medicine and his heart will pump again. There is brain activity, but very low. He is a strong guy. We can maintain him several days like this to see if there is an improvement. Macho’s situation is very delicate. The prognosis is very poor.”
Then on Thursday, doctors declared Camacho clinically brain dead, and relatives began arranging memorial services.
“We have done everything we could,” Torres announced. “We have to tell the people of Puerto Rico, and the entire world, that Macho Camacho has died. He is brain dead.”
Eventually his relatives agreed it was the end of the road, and after he suffered a second heart attack, the plug was pulled early Saturday morning. He completed his transition at 1:40 a.m.
Afterward, many reflected on the mischievous Macho Man who combined astute ring savvy, urban-bred killer instinct, rapid-fire precision punching, wickedly fast hands and feet, a concrete chin and deft defense, with magnetic charisma to complete the package.
Golden Boy CEO Oscar de la Hoya commented: “I felt frustration because he’s one of our own, so it hurts. This one really hurts. It hurts in your soul.”
Coming of age in Spanish Harlem’s James Weldon Johnson Houses, a public housing project, he’d go on to capture three consecutive pairs of NY Golden Gloves prior to turning pro in 1980.
“He was a smart guy,” recalls Billy Giles a.k.a. “Thrill,” the young prodigy’s former manager/trainer. “You could tell him something, and he could see the picture in his head, and from there he’d do his thing.”
Ringside judge Harold Lederman recalls the first time he witnessed the Puerto Rican phenom live in 1982.
“My eyes almost popped out of my head. He had speed, power, movement, a vicious right hand for a southpaw, and he was so good that he became one of only two fighters who I thought might never lose a fight after turning pro–the other was Mike Tyson.”
Camacho captured three world titles.
Another three-division champ, Iran “The Blade” Barkley, mentioned the camaraderie he, Hector, Davey Moore and Pee Wee Rucker shared before remembering his fallen friend.
“Camacho was a flashy guy who stood his ground. He was a jokester, but when you made him mad, he was serious, he’d jump on you and beat your butt. If you got smart with him, he’d put you in check.”
Boxing trainer Tumbler Davis reflects: “Camacho was the first one to come into the ring with the costumes and masks. Roy Jones and others followed. He was a successful southpaw who inspired others to fight lefty. Nobody was fighting southpaw before Camacho.”
Thrill shares a similar sentiment, recalling that in the 1980s, “There were only two superstars in the state of New York–Tyson and Camacho. They were above boxing–they were personalities. This kid was born to be one.”
During the 1980s and ’90s, few boxers were as flamboyantly appealing as the Harlem Heckler. He added showmanship to boxing. People often tuned in to see his ring attire as well as his performances. Few, if any, were as talented or adept at self-promotion, and he played an important role in popularizing the sport with his bad boy persona.
A Bayamon police report suggests that the former world champion was shot as a result of a low-level drug deal gone sour. Some speculate that Camacho was not the intended target and ended up getting hit with a stray. Police say two men fled the scene in a gray SUV. Nine packets of cocaine were found in the driver’s pocket and another opened inside the car.
Thrill mentioned others who positively contributed to Camacho’s career: Bobby McQuillar, Harold Weston, Rob Lee and Tony Tompkins, “People who really stood up for him.” He then recalled the disappointment of mega-bouts that fell through with Ray Mancini, Aaron Pryor and Roger Mayweather, before proclaiming, “He was the only guy that could carry boxing after Leonard stepped down.”
In closing: “This shouldn’t of happened … this kid should’ve been in movies after he finished fighting. I’m so mad that I never got to say thank you for working with him, and I loved him as a brother, and I was proud for what he accomplished.”
People will celebrate his life.
The Macho Man was expected to be taken on Thursday to New York City, which will be his final resting place.
Services are scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday at Ortiz Funeral Home, 204 E. 116th St., Harlem. Call 212-722-3512 for more information.