Ex-boxing champ Camacho fights for life after shooting

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Hector "Macho" Camacho's family tried to decide Wednesday whether he should be removed from life support after a shooting in his hometown left the former boxing champ clinging to life.

Doctors at the Centro Medico trauma center found that Camacho had irregular and intermittent brain activity late Wednesday, said Dr. Ernesto Torres, the center's director.

"We can't declare him brain dead," he said. "We're going to ask the people of Puerto Rico to keep praying."

Torres said doctors will conduct additional tests today but warned the prognosis remains dire.

"The changes have been more negative than positive," he said, adding that Camacho does not have enough blood coursing through his brain.

Doctors initially had said Camacho was in critical but stable condition and expected to survive after he was shot Tuesday night in Bayamon. But his condition worsened, and his heart stopped at one point, Torres said.

Camacho, 50, was shot as he and a friend sat in a car parked outside a bar. 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 mother, Maria Matias, who flew in Wednesday from New York, will lead the discussion about whether he should be removed from life support, said Ismael Leandry, a longtime friend and former manager who was at the hospital.

"We just have to wait to see if Macho gets better. It's a hard battle," Leandry said as he joined friends and family outside the emergency room.

"His mother came, and she is devastated," Torres said. "She knows the prognosis is not at all favorable."

A godson, Widniel Adorno, said the family has discussed the possibility of organ donation, but no decision has been made.

Camacho's friend, 49-year-old Adrian Mojica Moreno, was killed in the attack. Police said two assailants fled in an SUV, but no arrests had been made and no motive had been disclosed.

Doctors initially said the bullet passed through Camacho's jaw and lodged in his shoulder. Torres said the bullet damaged three of the four main arteries in his neck and fractured two vertebrae, which could leave him paralyzed if he were to survive.

Steve Tannenbaum, who has represented Camacho in the past, had been told earlier by friends at the hospital that the boxer would make it.

Friends and family members waited anxiously at the hospital, recalling Camacho's high-energy personality and his powerful skills in the ring.

"He was like a little brother who was always getting into trouble," said former featherweight champion Juan Laporte, a fellow Puerto Rican who grew up and trained with Camacho in New York.

Camacho has been considered one of the more controversial figures in boxing, but also popular among fans and those who worked in the sport.

"The Macho Man was a promoter's dream," promoter Don King said. "He excited boxing fans around the world with his inimitable style. He was a nice, amiable guy away from the ring."

"What a tragedy this is," King said. "I'm very sorry for Hector and his family. My prayers go out to him."

The fighter's last title bout came against then-welterweight champion Oscar De La Hoya on Sept. 13, 1997, at the Thomas & Mack Center, a loss by unanimous decision. Camacho last fought in May 2010, losing to Saul Duran.

Tannenbaum said they were looking at a possible bout in 2013. "We were talking comeback even though he is 50. I felt he was capable of it."

Camacho was born in Bayamon, one of the cities that make up the San Juan metropolitan area.

He left Puerto Rico as a child and grew up mostly in New York's Harlem neighborhood. He later earned the nickname "The Harlem Heckler."

Camacho went on to win super lightweight, lightweight and junior welterweight world titles in the 1980s.

He fought other high-profile bouts in his career against Felix Trinidad, Julio Cesar Chavez and Sugar Ray Leonard. Camacho knocked out Leonard in 1997, ending what was that former champ's final comeback attempt.

Camacho's record is 79-6-3.

In recent years, he has divided his time between Puerto Rico and Florida, appearing regularly on Spanish-language television as well as on a reality show called "Es Macho Time!" on YouTube.

In San Juan, Camacho had been living in the beach community of Isla Verde, where he would pose for photos with tourists who recognized him on the street, said former pro boxer Victor "Luvi" Callejas, a neighbor and friend.

"We all know what Macho Camacho has done, but in the last couple of months he hasn't been in any trouble," Callejas said. "He has been taking it easy. He's been upbeat."

Drug, alcohol and other problems have trailed Camacho since the prime of his boxing career.

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 found the drug ecstasy.

A judge eventually suspended all but one year of the sentence and gave Camacho probation. He wound up serving two weeks in jail after violating that probation.

His wife also filed domestic abuse complaints against him twice before their divorce several years ago.