The Tragic Death of a Champion: Hector Camacho

By: Ignacio Esteban

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Hector Camacho was a Puerto Rican professional boxer from 1980-2010 who was a world champion in three different weight classes using his fast hands and quick feet. Camacho was raised by his mother in the housing projects in Spanish Harlem in New York City and won three New York Golden Gloves Championships as an amateur. He would develop a cocaine and alcohol addiction that would impact his family and his professional career. Camacho would have numerous issues with local law enforcement and was even shot at in February 2011 while inside his BMW X5 SUV near a housing project in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

On November 20, 2012, Hector Camacho was shot in the jaw while sitting in a car in Bayamón, Puerto Rico by individuals in a passing SUV. Camacho’s friend also died in the ambush. Allegedly, nine small bags of cocaine were found in his friend’s pocket at the time of shooting. It would take almost ten years for arrests to be made in this double homicide by local authorities. Hector “Macho” Camacho rose from poverty to world champion while dealing with his drug addiction and other vices that led to his tragic murder. This is the rise and fall of a great boxing champion Hector “Macho” Camacho the likes the world will never see again.