SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Famed Puerto Rican boxer Hector “Macho” Camacho is clinically brain dead, doctors said Thursday, but family members disagreed on whether to take him off life support and two of the fighter’s aunts said that relatives had agreed to wait two more days.
Dr. Ernesto Torres said doctors had no more medical tests to perform on Camacho, who was shot in the face Tuesday night.
“We have done everything we could,” said Torres, who is director of the Centro Medico trauma center in San Juan. “We have to tell the people of Puerto Rico and the entire world that Macho Camacho has died, he is brain dead.”
Torres said at a news conference Thursday morning that Camacho’s father indicated he wanted the boxer taken off life support and his organs donated, but other relatives opposed the idea.
“This is a very difficult moment,” Torres said.
One of the fighter’s aunts, Aida Camacho, said Thursday evening that two of Camacho’s sisters had asked to have two more days to spend with him, and other family members had agreed even though they thought it was time to give in.
“I’m a person of a lot of faith, and I believe in miracles, but science has spoken,” she said.
Another aunt, Blanca Camacho, also said the family had agreed to the wishes of the two sisters from New York to hold off on ending life support. But, she added, “There’s nothing left here. He’s already dead.”
Most of Camacho’s relatives left the hospital by Thursday night without commenting.
About a dozen people stood vigil outside. One, Orvil Miller, a singer and actor, expressed sadness about Camacho’s fate and recalled his admiration for the fighter’s flamboyance.
“He had the combination of the skills of a boxer along with a great sense for entertainment,” Miller said.
The 50-year-old Camacho was shot as he and a friend sat in a Ford Mustang parked outside a bar Tuesday night. Police spokesman Alex Diaz said officers found nine small bags of cocaine in the friend’s pocket, and a 10th bag open inside the car. Camacho’s friend, identified as 49-year-old Adrian Mojica Moreno, was killed.
Doctors had initially said Camacho was expected to survive, but his condition worsened and his heart stopped briefly overnight Tuesday, Torres said. The bullet entered his jaw and lodged in his shoulder after tearing through several arteries in his neck, doctors said.
“That lack of oxygen greatly damaged Macho Camacho’s brain,” Torres said.
Camacho was born in Bayamon in the San Juan metropolitan area. He grew up mostly in New York’s Harlem neighborhood, earning the nickname “the Harlem Heckler.”
He won super lightweight, lightweight and junior welterweight world titles in the 1980s and fought high-profile bouts against Felix Trinidad, Julio Cesar Chavez and Sugar Ray Leonard. Camacho knocked out Leonard in 1997, ending the former champ’s final comeback attempt. Camacho had a career record of 79-6-3.
Auburn’s Greg “Mutt” Haugen handed Camacho his first loss, a 2-1 decision on Feb. 23, 1991, in Las Vegas that gave Haugen the WBO light welterweight title.
In recent years, Camacho divided his time between Puerto Rico and Florida.
Camacho had battles with drugs, alcohol and other problems. He was sentenced in 2007 to seven years in prison for the burglary of a computer store in Mississippi. While arresting him on the burglary charge in January 2005, police also found the drug Ecstasy.
A judge suspended all but one year of the sentence and gave Camacho probation. He served two weeks in jail, though, after violating that probation.
His wife filed domestic abuse complaints against him twice before their divorce several years ago.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION | Register here
We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, including why your comment may not be showing immediately after you submit it, be sure to visit the commenting FAQ.