Hector “Macho” Camacho
“MACHO MAN” SHOT TO DEATH
San Francisco, CA– Having been hit with a number of deaths of people close to me in 2012, I all but shutdown when Emanuel Steward took the count as Cancer snatched him that October. Now it’s November 25, 2012 and Hector Camacho was declared dead after being shot a few days prior in his native Puerto Rico.
GOLDEN GLOVE WIN NOTED NATIONALLY
With this being a 3 part piece, we will get into the murder of Camacho later. Instead I’ll go into my own memories of the man I first named, “The Harlem Heckler,” a moniker Hector thought was ultra cool. My first glimpse was of Camacho the amateur as he won the New York Golden Gloves championship in impressive fashion. A pure boxer with fast hands and feet with an incredible gift for gab unseen since Muhammad Ali.
REALLY WAS “MACHO TIME” IN BOXING
Some of his early fights, this when Big Apple trainer Billy Giles guided the “Macho Man,” illustrated just how talented Hector was. He then brought in another trainer Jimmy Montoya, but he too was jettisoned. Although I’m sure Hector appeared on more than just ABC’s Wide World of Sports , I remember those appearances the most as the network did it’s best to portray Camacho as the “next big thing” in boxing.
LIMON WAY OVER THE HILL!
Running rampant through good guys like Louie Burke and John Montes, Camacho was ready for a title shot. When they propped up a bloated looking Bazooka Limon to face Camacho, years, and I mean years after his peak for the vacant WBC 130 lb. title, it was a gross mismatch.
CAMACHO LOVED COCAINE
After doing nothing really of note at 130, Camacho, who was already delving into the world of Colombian Dust (Cocaine) had dumped Giles by the time he fought Jose Luis Ramirez for the WBC 135 lb. (lightweight) title in Las Vegas at the Riviera Hotel in June 1985. In a 12 round clinic, Camacho pitched a shutout on my card as the slow as molasses Ramirez never landed a punch of significance.
HECTOR IN ALL HIS GLORY
Trying to get into Camacho’s post fight party with Hector Martinez, it was a date named Gina that got us in. Sure enough, the “Macho Man” appeared with his gaudy gold “Macho Man” license plate around his neck.
LIVE BY THE GRAM, DIE BY THE GRAM!
Looking back at his career, that fight was probably Camacho’s zenith, his peak. From that point forward, Cocaine could be a part of Hector’s life. And while he did have periods when he was clean, “Coke” as we know is no joke, yet it turned the life of the original “Macho Man” into just that, a joke.
CAMACHO LIKED TO BE A PRANKSTER!
One day myself, Wally Matthews, Michael Marley, Mike Katz, Dean Juipe, and some other writers were sitting poolside in Las Vegas awaiting Hector. All of a sudden we heard some racket and Camacho yelling, “It’s Macho Time” as he runs up to the pool and pushes an elderly woman in her wheel chair into the water!
WHAT THE BLANK WAS THAT?
Stunned as a group, it would be a minute or so before we realized that it was a stunt and that Camacho had just gotten one over on us!
WEDNESDAY IS PART II
As the big fight nears and we get nauseated by the hype, I’ll bring you another in a series of feature stories on the “Macho Man” Wednesday at RingTalk.com
Pedro Fernandez
Note: Mr. Fernandez is an award-winning writer, TV commentator, radio talk show host, former San Francisco Policeman and four-time Golden Gloves champion. Comments regarding this submission can be left below.
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HECTOR CAMACHO STORY PART I