How did people feel about Camacho after he defeated Mancini in '89? How meaningful was this win, and what was the public's perception of Hector at that time?
He wasn't much more than a sideshow by that time. Nothing was thought about it that I can remember. Mancini had been out a long time, Camacho was heavilt favored going in because of that and the styles aspect. The fact that it went to a close decision probably hurts his overall standing.
I felt horrible after he beat Mancini, mostly because I felt Ray took it to Hector all night long and scored it 116-112 Mancini same as the 3rd judge....I still see no way Hector could have even earned a draw let alone a win in that fight. I don't think the win was that meaningful at the time...I guess it was nice as hector won a title in a 3rd weight division from that perspective. My perception of him was that he was a pretty boy like SRL who would earn decisions (Rosario...but this was worse) on the card that he never earned in the ring!
Mancini generally earned more respect in defeat than Camacho did in victory. For me, Mancini coming straight out of retirement and fighting Camacho even-up certified that he was a legit good fighter, and not just a "media creation" as others had made him out to be. Conversely, I felt Camacho had been exposed as the overrated one, and this was one of series of fights (Rosario, Haugen, Chavez, Tito) that exposed him.
I had Mancini winning the fight. Camacho fought a very negative fight. It didn't really change my perception of Camacho because that's how he had fought for several years.
It was an interesting match-up but I think it was regarded as being two big-name has-beens by that point. People didn't forgive Camacho for the Rosario fight, and I think a lot of people had figured out how overrated Mancini was by that point.
Dissapointing performance by Camacho... Mancini was already past it and gave Camacho all he wanted...Camacho should have been able to comfortably beat Mancini at this time,,Camacho was already in the underachieving part of his career at this time, still very good but no longer elite. He was on his bike most of the night and Mancini outhustled him in many rounds.. Dont remember how i scored it,but i remember thinking it could have gone either way.
