Flamboyant boxer Hector 'Macho' Camacho dies

Hector "Macho" Camacho, 50, a former three-division boxing champion who had 88 pro fights against a who's who of legendary opponents stretching from Ray Mancini (whom he defeated in 1989) to Oscar De La Hoya (who beat him by decision in 1997), died Saturday.

Mr. Camacho, who was shot in the head four days earlier while in a car outside a bar in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, was taken off life support after going into cardiac arrest early Saturday at a local trauma center. Another man in the car, who had nine bags of cocaine on him, was also shot, and died at the scene.

Known for wearing outlandish trunks, including a leopard loin cloth and others adorned with lights or tassels, Mr. Camacho understood the importance of selling a fight and employing some mental warfare.

Before fighting Mancini, he said: "I never did nothing to the character. How can he dislike a good-looking guy like me? It's jealousy. He can't even be in the same room with me because he knows he can't beat me mouth-to-mouth."

Mr. Camacho's theatrics were combined with an admirable desire to take on the best opponents possible. He faced the likes of Sugar Ray Leonard, Freddie Roach, Rafael "Bazooka" Limon, Felix Trinidad, Roberto Duran, and Julio Cesar Chavez Sr.

He was born in Bayamon on May 24, 1962, and moved to New York with his family. His career launched after he admitted to stealing cars in Spanish Harlem as a youth and was sent to jail in Rikers Island. There, he boxed other inmates and was so good, he took it up as a vocation, finishing with a pro record of 79-6-3.

The flash wasn't a mask to toughness. He was never knocked out.

His grit was unmistakable to those who saw his 1992 beating in Las Vegas at the hands of Chavez, Mexico's greatest fighter who was at his peak when he pummeled him with body shots en route to a unanimous decision. He was on his feet the whole time.