Remembering Hector Camacho

[JimStinson]

As I write this the former 4 time Boxing World Champion remains on life support after having been shot in the face a couple nights ago as he sat in his car. His longtime friend who was with him was killed.
With no brain activity the family has made the difficult decision to pull the plug to the machine that is keeping him alive and today unless there is a miracle Camacho will pass away.

He was one of those boxers you either loved or hated. After one of the most storied amateur careers ever. (He won three Golden Gloves) He turned pro and racked up an impressive if not legendary record on his way to winning four World Titles. Known for his defense, footwork and ability to avoid being hit and his flashy manner. He had his critics. In a sport known as "The sweet Science" where the goal is to hit and not get hit. Camacho was very , very good at it. He became one of the most dominant fighters of the 1980's.

In the 1980's and 90's I arranged and completed almost 200 private autograph signing sessions. With Hector Camacho being one of them.

It remains to this day one of the strangest private signings I've ever done.

After being introduced by a mutual friend and following a long series of phone conversations Hector invited me to his home which was then a mini mansion located in the middle of no where WAY out on an Indian reservation near the south Florida everglades. We agreed on a price I would pay him and he was to sign 500 items. I was in the middle of a three day baseball card show in Orlando and the plan was for me to arrive Sunday afternoon, after the show.

On Saturday I called to confirm having just spoken to him the week prior and he calmly told me he was leaving the country the following morning. With dozens of advance orders and over $1,000 already invested in advertising and the photos which he was to sign I closed my booth at the show and began the six hour drive south.

When I finally found the house which located on about an acre of land surrounded by a 12 foot security fence with an eight foot statue of what by my best guess was a naked Roman soilder painted in gold, outside the gate. I suspected I was in the right place. There was not another house in sight for miles.

I rang the bell and a voice came on the intercom. Who was I and why was I there the voice wanted to know , I explained that I had spoken to Hector earlier in the day and the gate slowly began to open. Inside the compound there were three or four very nice cars and about a half dozen guys milling around. As I exited my car and stood among them trying to explain what I was there for , Camacho emerged on the balcony clad only in a leopard skin loin cloth , Like the Tarzan of the Everglades. He said he would be right down and after what seemed like an hour he strode over to where we were all standing. One of the men had a large firearm tucked in the waistband of his pants and Camacho's first act was to grab the gun and aim it into the air and fire off a few VERY LOUD rounds. Met by uproarious laughter by everyone except me as he turned and asked innocently "What do you want?"

I explained what I was there for again and that we had just spoken that morning but he seemed oblivious to any of it. He invited me to an office set off from the garage we sat down and he asked me again to explain why I had all of those photos of him. I explained we had spoke already and discussed all of it in detail or else I wouldn't be there. He shook his head. "You want me to sign ALL those photos ?" he asked. he seemed to think I wanted him to do it for free and kept shaking his head. When finally I told him I was paying him (which we had already discussed a dozen times or more on the phone) He lit up. OK he said , No problem. He waved off the guys who had been standing around outside and we went upstairs to his living room. It was an odd sight , The furnishings of the house were colorful, garish and loud. About a dozen long haired small white dogs roamed from room to room. His mother greeted me politely by the entry way as we sat on the sofa he switched on the TV and he began to sign the photos in bursts , 10 here , 10 there and then become engrossed in the TV show. or playing with one of the dogs. His girlfriend or wife I'm not sure what came in the room and asked him what he was doing , he told her "I'm signing autographs", she looked at me and back at him "So Many ???" she said. He ignored her.
After about an hour he vanished to leave me seated alone in the living room surrounded by small white dogs, and the box of photos I had brought. He had signed maybe 50 photos. I waited , finally I got up to look for him walking carefully through the house, remembering the incident outside that had greeted me upon my arrival. I finally found him in the kitchen eating a bowl of cereal , he looked up and smiled "Are you still here ?" he said "I thought you left" I reminded him of the task at hand he finished his cereal and we returned to the living room. I would like to say we talked about boxing and we did , but whatever it was I don;t remember because every time the subject came up he would stop signing , discuss it and then start changing channels on the TV, and then kick back oblivious to what it was that had brought me there in the first place. Finally a signing session that should have taken 3 hours was completed 7 hours later. He was ready to dissapear again into the maze of rooms when I asked him if he could have someone open the gate for me. He laughed. He yelled out the window to someone downstairs and the gate started to open. I turned around to thank him and he was already gone. I made my way downstairs past the dogs, through the now vacant yard and into my car , I drove past the Statue of the Roman soilder painted in gold and the gates began to close again. It wasn't until I was miles away that I realized I had forgotten to take a photo of him signing. In fact in all of the over 200 private signings I was to do his was to be one of only two in which I did not take a photo. The other being a signing in Tennessee State prison with Big John Tate in which in was prohibited to take photos.
It was I recalled such a chore to keep him focused on signing and in one place with a pen, that taking photos had completely slipped my mind.
It took a few years to sell all of the photos he had signed and a few years later I happened to run into him in Las Vegas. He didn't remember me but nodded his head politely as if he did. He was eyeing a pretty woman that worked in the gift shop. I smiled to myself when about an hour later I passed the gift shop and there was a "closed" sign hanging on the door.
I guess when you are young and handsome and rich and the champion of the world , well you can make things like that happen. Luck just seems to follow you where ever you go. Until a couple evenings ago. RIP
_____________________________
stinsonsports.com

[HRBAKER]

Great narrative Jim.
You have met some characters!

[Exhibitman]

What a moonbat! Great story. Camacho had his issues [drugs, crime, spousal abuse] but he didn't deserve to go out that way.

[novakjr]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

What a moonbat! Great story. Camacho had his issues [drugs, crime, spousal abuse] but he didn't deserve to go out that way.

I have to disagree, to and extent it's deserving(maybe not deserving, but it definitely could've been expected), as his ending was most likely a direct result of his issues. It's just another lesson to be learned about living like a low life. He didn't have to live that way, he CHOSE to live that way..

I will say that it is a SAD ending though, for a tremendous athlete who lived a sad life...Hopefully one that can be used as an example for other athletes to use their opportunities to better themselves and those around them, rather than just settling for being the richest of the trash..

[drc]

One thing is his career was long and productive. His issues didn't cut short his career, like some athletes.

[Duluth Eskimo]

That is another great story Jim. He was an incredible showman and a great fighter, but I have to agree with Novakjr. When you live by the sword, no one should be surprised when you die by the sword. Never good to hear a storied champ go down like that though.

[Paulanthony]

A very interesting yet bizarrre meeting. A very skilled fighter and an avid fan of Hectors I never missed a fight . A very interesting very well written story. Thank you for sharing.

[Leon]

fyi I took the liberty of copying this to the main card page so more folks could read it. RIP Hector, you were a great fighter.

[chaddurbin]

sounds like a scene straight out of scarface, just missing the mountain of coke on the table.

[travrosty]

here you go!

[byrone]

You should release a book, similar to "Glory of Their Times", recounting your stories from the autograph circuit and private signings.

You have some very interesting stories worth sharing.

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by chaddurbin

sounds like a scene straight out of scarface, just missing the mountain of coke on the table.

It might have actually been there, but just in a different room...

[JimStinson]

I have heard that in Rome , when the Conqueror would return from battle that there was a slave who fanned him as the crowds cheered and it was the duty of the slave to whisper in his ear as a reminder "ALL GLORY IS FLEETING"
_____________________
stinsonsports.com

[johnmh71]

Originally Posted by byrone

You should release a book, similar to "Glory of Their Times", recounting your stories from the autograph circuit and private signings.

You have some very interesting stories worth sharing.

I completely agree. It would definately be interesting.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by JimStinson

I have heard that in Rome , when the Conqueror would return from battle that there was a slave who fanned him as the crowds cheered and it was the duty of the slave to whisper in his ear as a reminder "ALL GLORY IS FLEETING"
_____________________
stinsonsports.com

There is a great parody of that in History of the World Part I where the conquering general going to meet Caesar is told "remember thou art mortal" to which he replies "Blow it out your @$$."

I read your travelogue to my daughter last night while we were watching the HBO tribute to Camacho during the Berto-Guerrero fight and you had her laughing out loud with your description of the bizarre events.

[JimStinson]

Thats funny stuff the quote from "History of the World Part 1" never heard that one.

As a side note I remember the 1986 Bout when Edwin Rosario fought Hector Camacho for the title , In the 5th round Rosario "ROCKED" him and had him in the place that boxers call "The room with no windows and no doors" ,

Hector basically was out on his feet but fought on. It was the first time I ever saw him looping around the ring looking for something to hold onto, And remains today one of my favorite fights. Someone remarked to me after the fight that he came into the ring that night as "Macho Man" and left as "Hector". It was a highly controversal decision at the time, with most ringsiders believing Rosario had won.

A few years later I did a private signing in Puerto Rico with Edwin Rosario who was not the World's most friendly guy. Someone told him I was a boxing judge and he told me point blank he was robbed and asked me how I scored the fight....lol, I told him the truth I thought Camacho won on points. he made a gesture like he was spitting on the floor and kept signing. We didn't talk much after that.

Sadly Edwin Rosario too met an untimely death in 1997 from a heroin overdose.
_________________________
stinsonsports.com

[travrosty]

a short story about camacho from alex ramos at the retired boxing foundation he leads.



I will end this with my favorite Hector Camacho story: A couple of years ago, Hector called Alex to tell him that he took his red Farrari into the shop (10 years earlier!!!) and he could not remember where he took it. He asked Alex to help him find it. Alex found it, and it was hard to explain to Hector that if you leave your car at the shop for more than a year, the shop owner has the right to sell the vechicle to pay for the service charges. I was amazed at Alex who is the guy who doesn't miss a trick, and his ability to track that car down!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

(now if you have that kind of cash to forget about a ferrari and not be concerned about tracking it down immediately, and wait ten years, you must have some serious cash.)

[Wymers Auction]

I grew up enjoying Camacho. He was not for everyone, but he sure could fight.