Hector camacho - Was He a Great Fighter?

Not in the traditional sense. He probably surprised a lot of people by developing into such an old school style veteran. When he started he looked like he could be a superstar, then when he lost focus and found his level he could well have burned out and just become an opponent or casualty of the sport. In fact he made a lot of money, fought some big fights and was never stopped. So a surprisingly tough survivor who avoided a career nose dive though skill and experience...and careful matchmaking! His early fights are fun and he can be a joy to watch. Not sure if he if HOF but should be, however not really for any of his big name victories, more for the points outlined above.

 

No, but had he stayed focused, could have been. And the thing is, IMHO, Edwin Rosario could have been better had he stayed on point.

 

Irony.

He seemed so perversely afraid of getting hit hard as a lightweight, yet as his career went along and his reflexes and legs could no longer keep him out of trouble he discovered he could actually take a lot of punishment. Going the distance with Chavez, Tito and Oscar......that takes some doing.

 

Apparently after the Vinny Pazienza bout he didn't prepare properly again for anyone else.

 

Some of the fastest hands I've seen. Really fun character for the sport. Had he stayed on the right path probably could have done more. Great or not depends on how you rate his early career run at 130-135-140.

 

Great fighter at his best but an underachiever.

In his prime he was complete, supremely gifted with dazzling hand speed and fast feet. As others said, the fastest hands you'll see along with Meldrick Taylor. At 130 he was hard to beat, very aggressive, and almost untouchable. He was also successful at 135, save for one hard fight against Rosario who was the closest to beat him in his prime. His fight against Rosario changed him for the worst and it made him from an aggressive speedster to a runner scared to get hit. His level of competition during his prime wasn't the greatest although he did beat Rosario, Ramirez, and a past prime Mancini. It wasn't until he moved up further that he faced better opponents such as Chavez, Trinidad, ODLH but by then he already lost that killer instinct and drive that made him a force at 130. Substance abuse and lack of dedication led to him spiraling down.

Still, even with all his faults he managed to show toughness and was never stopped once in his career.

 

Yes he was a great fighter for me,devastated when he died

 

I found him to be entertaining, and I remember when SRL cherry picked him as an easy comeback opponent, Hector whupped his a$$.

 

He was a borderline great. Meaning it's not crazy or unusual to say he was or wasn't. Cotto would be an example from similar weights that I consider borderline.

 

of course he was, an absolutely near flawless beautiful Boxer & Champion, proven dozen's of times over...

what more would a fighter have to do or have to be, if the Hector Camacho's of boxing aren't considered great???

a GREAT in my book without question.

 

The seeds of greatness were there. His talent was undeniable, but as said, he underachieved. He was a bit of a headcase, I think.

 

I was going to agree with this and say you could argue him into the bottom tier of "great" or argue against it. After a small bit of thought it's a no from me.

His promise early on was exceptional and for a while his performances in the ring supporter said promise. He slaughtered Bazooka Limon, who one can was very stylistically suited and at the advanced career stage to make him a perfect dance partner for Macho to shine against but the flipside is he looked truly brilliant beating Limon and made him look like a low level sparring partner. After a middling defense he was off to lightweight. A defense against Chacon or unification vs Roger Mayweather would have been nice currency for later on but admittedly unifications were hard to come by in those days and Chacon was after Mancini so no luck there. From memory Camacho also complained about making 130 so it was a good move.

His performance winning the 135 title vs Ramirez, who had defeated Rosario, who was soon to give Camacho HELL, was one of the great exhibitions of the 80's, basically flawless. You could throw up 20 great performances of the 80's and actually include it. Macho's high water point. Incredibly his career went downhill from there and he never again reached the heights. No-one could have predicted it.


A very tight somewhat controversial decision over Rosario where he was hurt twice and ran a lot morphed into a Camacho that was never the dominant force he had been, at times, again. His wins over Boza Edwards and Davis Jr are probably criticised a bit too much based on expectations of the day. His peak however, was gone. He was struggling heavily to get past, or even not get past the likes of Mancini, and Haugen. Much more was expected of him and he simply wasn't delivering. He's a little like Nunn in that respect, enormous early promise that fizzled and leveled out well below what was expected. I don't think it was a lack of talent so much as determination, drugs, dedication and the like, both mental and physical factors.

By the time he fought Chavez in 92 his legs were not what they'd been and he could barely win a round. He hung around forever and didn't get much of anything done and the victory over Leonard was just a match between two old has beens in reality.

So Camacho misses out for me, confidently. He simply didn't get enough done in a much too short peak that petered out into a looooooooooooong almost meaningless back stretch. It was a huge shame.

If someone said, i think inside the ring he performed at a great level for a short time i would agree. For me he joins the countless names that fall into the "very good" category.

 

This comment is completely insane. You couldn't be more wrong or less well thought-out. He is obviously great. It's unquestionable, unarguable and doubtless. This is a classic example of why I never post here anymore and likely won't again.