Hector "macho" Camacho, What If!

Of course he was back to his best vs a feather fisted over the hill Howard Davis :rofl

POWER

Rosario = 10
Davis = 5

Comprehendo?

:yep

 

May have won titles in 3 division up to 140, but if he fights a Rosario, or like-Rosario type opponent, may face that first loss.

 

This looks pretty much like an "hen vs egg" argument...

Perhaps Camacho's self-confidence and will power was cracked by Rosario; or perhpas there was not much self-confidence to start with and Rosario just exposed him. At the end the outcome is the same:

Whatever the case, Camacho was a different fighter after crossing paths with Rosario, and yep, taking drugs didn't help, per sure

 

It is my opinion, which seems to be common, that getting hit by Rosario changed Camacho's outlook on life and his chosen profession. He earned my respect, finally, when he stood in and took his beating against Chavez. I didn't think he had it in him.

 

People should see Camacho's match against Irleis Perez before discussing how Rosario affected him. Early in that match, Cubanito buckled him in the corner with body shots. For the remainder of the bout, Hector resorted to unloading a few quick jabs before rushing in to clinch an opponent who appeared to be much bigger and stronger. At the time, my subjective opinion was that Perez had won. This was over three years before Rosario.

Camacho's probably entering Canastota on the first ballot, and if not for a dubious penalty against Haugen, he'd have reached 40-0 after turning 30 as a champion in three divisions.

What If? Competing in 88 bouts until age 48 without ever getting stopped is insane. But I think he'd have accrued well over 100 wins, and I think he might have been able to decision JCC. There's no way he defeats DLH or Trinidad with the youth advantages of over a decade they had on him, but his W-L numbers might have looked more like Loi's 115-3. (Having mentioned that, I do want to add that I believe Duran won their first bout, just as I think Cubanito should have been credited with his first defeat.)

 

I'd forgotten about the Perez fight. Don't see how he could have beaten Chavez, not at 140. A fight at 130 would have been something special, and I think Chavez would have won.

 

Why did Camacho decide to beat the sh!t out of SRL?

 

Because SRL was shot. Whatever reason, I love Camacho for that.

 

I think by far the biggest ingredient missing in his game was the lack of elite management. Say Arum gets behind the guy 100% and he's the house fighter. And He makes sure Hector is trained by an Angie Dundee. You would not have had the Perez and especially a dangerous guy like Rosario matches. Insert some slow plodders or catchers or guys that cannot handle a southpaw instead. So the warts are not exposed.

And if Camacho would bother to listen to his trainer, that extra refinement and polishing would be something. And, he'd hold his weight at 130 or 135. He can certainly be a stylistic nightmare for lots of guys and a house fighter isn't the guy getting screwed on decisions. With that great Camacho chin, it would have been a long time before he lost a decision and I'm certain the opponent selection is like an old lightweight version Bobby Chacon in there instead of a guy like Edwin Rosario. That would have changed a lot of things and his career was pretty good w/o that type management.

 

A couple of reasons & the 1st is basicly that Hector felt that Leonard was always having snide little digs at him mixed in with flattery back in the early 80's when Leonard was guest commentator for whatever TV channel was showing Hectors fights. I recall one time Camacho screamed at Leonard that he'd whip him at any weight, get back in here muther****er ect ect.

He really hated Leonard who would haunt ringside during his faux retirements & it can across as though Leonard was jealous of all the limelight that likes of Hector were getting. But when Leonard picked Camacho it was down to the fact that Leonard just hated the fact that Duran was still getting great ink after his showing against Camacho & Leonard being Leonard hated it & wanted a 4th fight with Roberto so it was all about the SRL ego in wanting to do better than Duran did & Camacho must have thought that his his xmasses had arrived in one hit & yer could see the spite & glee in the way Camacho went about demolishing Leonard as pay back for all the subtle barbs & critisicisms that SRL dished out when Hector was the new rising star & thats it in a nutshell:smoke

 

he's still a great anyway you break it down.
he was skillfull, talented and exciting - so he had some losses, so he might have given the occassional poor showing, but he fought a long and busy career with many more fights than most of his generation, so to not always be perfect and get beat by some great fighters is quite normal too.

I think he is a deserving great!

 

:good

Chavez would have ALWAYS beaten Camacho, no matter the weight class. At 130lbs being the most cpmpetitive, and i could see him giving him the same type of beating he gave him at 140lbs if they fought at 135lbs.

Chavez style was just all wrong for Camacho.

 

Well, I don't disagree... but Camacho did have a good chin. Down just a few times and never stopped in 88 pro fights. Sure, he ran a lot but when he did get hit hard he took it well most of the time. IMO, he went undefeated for 10 1/2 years and 41 fights... the Haugen loss was B.S.. He was boring but a very good fighter.

He was dominated by Chavez, Trinidad, and DeLaHoya but he was competitive in the other 85 pro fights he was in. In his defense he was pretty well past his prime vs. Trinidad and DeLaHoya... and undersized.

He struggled with Rosario, Mancini, and even Haugen x2 but so did plenty of other guys. He knocked out Limon in 5 and an old Ray Leonard in 5 (he was also old). He easily outpointed J.L. Ramirez, Boza-Edwards, Howard Davis, Pazienza, Baltazar, and an old Duran x2 (he was also old).

 

Many had Duran winning the first.

 

All of this is true.