Hector "Macho" Camacho Dies After Shooting
Former boxer dies days after shooting attack.
Nov. 24, 2012— -- Four days after being shot in the face, former boxer Hector "Macho" Camacho has passed away.
Camacho, who was 50, had been in coma since Tuesday, when he was shot in a parking lot outside Azuquita establishment in the town of Bayamón in Puerto Rico. His friend Alberto "Yamil" Mojica Moreno was killed instantly in the attack. Ten bags of cocaine were found in their car.
On Wednesday, doctors at Centro Medico hospital in San Juan had declaired Camacho brain dead, and had been kept on life support machines while his family made a decision whether to donate the organs.
Dr. Ernesto Torres, Director of Centro Medico, told reporters on Saturday that Camacho's official death took place on Thursday, November 22nd
On Saturday at 1:40 am, Camacho suffered a second cardiac arrest, and his heart stopped beating. None of his organs will be able to be donated.
Read about the life and times of Hector "Macho" Camacho
His former manager Ismael Leandry told members of the media outside the hospital that he considered Camacho like his "son" and that his greatest quality "was not all the the fights he won, or how he represented Puerto Rico, but something greater than that, what few people have: being loyal to his friends."
Camacho's mother, María Matías had flown to the island from New York City earlier this week, as well as his sisters and son, Hector Jr, also a boxer. They had not made public statements at press time.
Born in Bayamón and raised in New York City's Spanish Harlem, Camacho became one of the most popular fighters of the 80s and 90s, winning world titles in the Super Featherweight, Lightweight, and Light Welterweight divisions.
Camacho put up some dominant performances during his 30-year career, in which he won 88 fights, and only lost six.
He knocked out Sugar Ray Leonard, and twice defeated Panamanian Roberto Durán, but also lost highly publicized bouts with Julio Cesar Chavez, and Oscar de la Hoya, who defeated Camacho in 1997.
He was known for his flamboyant style inside and outside the ring.
Read about Macho Camacho's crazy costumes and forays into reality TV
Later in life, Camacho became famous for his erratic conduct and run-ins with the law. In 2007, he pledged guilty to a burglary attempt in Missisipppi in 2005 while being under the influence of drugs. He was sentenced to seven years in jail but was put in probation and served only one year. In 2011, he survived unscathed a shooting in Puerto Rico, and earlier this year, was involved in child abuse charges in Central Florida.
Camacho's fans however, will recall his confidence in the ring, and his wild boxing outfits and entrances.
Just as his life was troubled, Camacho stayed in the limelight by participating in the first edition of "Mira Quien Baila" dancing reality show in 2010 on Univision, and this year had started a web series "Es Macho Time!" on Youtube Channel Nuevon.
Police in Puerto Rico are still investigating the incidents that led to the shooting of Macho Camacho.