DLH fought a faded shopworn version of Camacho at 147lbs in 1997. As stated before were looking at Hector at or near his peak. 130lbs and 135 up to about 1987. Camacho had pop at 130.
Why would you say he lost all his prime fights? He turned pro in 1981 and didn't lose for 10 years and even that one was disputed. He beat Ramirez, Rosario, Davis, Boza Edwards, Limon among others. He actually made Howard Davis look slow which is hard to do. The same Davis that got a draw with Meldrick Taylor.
I didn't add on he missed the boat and lost out on many big fights against prime guys. He was skilled and could have been great. He questioned himself after Rosario. Ramirez was good but Camacho had the speed to beat him and the confidence at that point in I think 1984.. Rosario? Davis? A little past his prime. Yeah he drew with Taylor a year before but was knocked out in one by McGirt a year later . Boza? Not really an established lightweight. He drew with Terrance Alli in the fight prior to Hector. Limon and 130? Could have beaten mostly anyone at 130 I admit that.. I would have loved had he stayed there and seen him fight Chavez and Mayweather. I think Mayweather had a bad style for Hector. That straight right down the middle.. I think Hector would have won, but Mayweather had something good about him.
Rosario made Camacho look very bad and nerly knocked him out while Chavez completely dominated Rosario and Camacho, Haugen was also destroyed by Chavez.
In some ways, yes. The best thing about Hector was his speed. His ring IQ was good, not as high as some other fighters, and maybe it caught up with him as he got older. Also the drugs probably messed up his best years. He was lucky to fight Howard Davis jr. in 1987, instead of 1983, that could have been a loss for him.
I never liked him. Still dont. But I do not think he was overrated. He was tearing people up in his prime then something changed within him after the Rosario fight. Maybe he realized that he could be hurt bad and that changed him up. But I do not think he was overrated. He would have beaten so many guys in the last 20 + yrs it's not even funny
He was slightly overrated because in essence he was always going to be just below the true elite/world beaters between 130-147....the guys who beat him as he became over the hill.....were elites ......he would never have beaten them even in his prime........nor Whittaker or Arguello at 135 or Nelson at 130 or pryor at 140 imho. He managed to beat guys like Ramirez, Rosario. Pazienze and Haughan and Howard Davis......these guys were a level below.
During his relatively short prime (1982-1987) he was a fairly complete fighter. - Exceptional hand and foot speed -Great defense - Decent punching power (the punches you don't see coming often inflict the most damage) - Fearless aggression when needed (At least until the 5th round of the Rosario fight). -Intuitive ring intelligence - Charismatic personality I really don't judge him on his big name wins against Mancini , Duran and Leonard when both he and his opponents were out of their primes. I suppose you could overrated him if you take those wins out of context.
Camacho didn't look bad against Rosario. It was a tough fight that he got hurt and came through it to win. His style seemed to change after that fight but he beat an excellent fighter who was also a champion.
I partly agree though Camacho probably dominates Nelson at 130 and would have been a favorite over Arguello. That would have been a bad style matchup for Alexis. Whitaker/Camacho? At their bests? Like watching paint dry but its still a tossup
Camacho didn`t throw or landed even nearly as many punches on Rosario as Chavez did and he was much easier to hit against Edwin than Chavez was despite all his movement.