Is Hector Camacho great or not????

The guy became a caricature late in his career which kind of disguised the fact that he was completely awesome in his prime.....I can't believe Julio cesar or Sanchez could live with the Macho man the night he made Limon look like a complete novice!!!!

Twelve years at the very highest level.......Three weight World champion......79-6 record.......Prime Rosario (who went on to win two titles at different weights), Ramirez, Davis jr, Mancini, Pazienza (who went on to win two titles), Haugen ......and chuck in Duran and Leonard for good measure though in the winter of their careers....

Only ever beaten by Hall of famers until he was over 40!!! (Haugen was disputed and avenged but he was still two time light champ)

Wonderfully skilled operator who had great footwork and the fastest hands I've ever seen....

Given the fact Mosley and the like are proclaimed great with little objection...

Shouldn't Hector be too????????

I think he should be.........................Hector is great for me!!!!

HELL NO.

The biggest clown boxing has ever known.

wHAT TIME IS IT?

ITS CRAPACHO TIME!

Don't expect anything better from you...

Watch Rosario and Limon and don't make stupid statements..

'Crapacho Time'

Go away....

Very good but not quite great for me, what seperates Mosley for instance is his win(s) over De La Hoya, those victories made him great without which he falls into the same category of very good. Had very good handspeed but had a tendency to beat the good fighters he fought but not the great ones.

Limon? not the most technical of fighters was he TRUSS?

Camacho was good but never great. He was quick and clever but bounced around the divisions without holding 1 down and being recognised as the best of the best.

He was the best of the best after Rosario destroyed Bramble!!!!!!!!!

He was the best jr light in 84.....

I kind of disagree a little ghost... I thought Dela hoya won twice and I thought Forrest should've counted more against him than it did..

Cheers for the mature observation though and upgrading the thread..

Camacho was a great fighter. The problem was that Rosario's ;eft hook made him more cautious. He reminds me of Naz but with more pezazz.

I read he once got arrested for driving whilst having sex. Great guy Certainly wasn't humble.

Has anyone seen Duran Camacho 1?

Great point about Rosario's left hook.....He certainly was gunshy after that.....Still showed his spirit by coming back into the fight!!!

Had a much under-rated heart did Hector...

What about the time his Manager took all his clothes off him so he couldn't go out partying in the Atlantic city hotel/casino in the early hours whilst in training for the Mancini fight...

Hector gets in the lift and enters the lobby naked before his frantic Manager drags him back upstairs and gives him his clothes back..

What a character!!

Absolutely phenomenal talent, and I don't say that lightly. We really shouldn't be having this debate, because with all those gifts he was blessed with, Camacho should have strolled in to 'great' territory. But he didn't, and so we are.

The Camacho of 1983-1986 could have been anything he wanted to be, but Rosario buried that version of the 'Macho Man' with that left hook. I think, to this day, that Hector must thank his lucky stars that it was a twelve rounder rather than fifteen, because he was hanging on for dear life towards the end and, if he'd had that extra nine minutes, there's little doubt in my mind that Rosario would have turned the tide.

After that, Camacho seemed more intent on just avoiding punches than landing his own, made even more frustrating by the fact that he actually had a fantastic chin! His performances against Chavez and Haugen were incredibly gun shy.

I don't think a career can be deemed 'great' when the fighter in question only hinted at that for three out of the twenty-odd years it lasted. As I was saying about Toney at 168 lb the other day, Camacho, I think, started to show signs of greatness, but never really followed it up. Incredibly annoying to think what might have been - his gloves were a blur, his footwork fantastic, and that double jab was something else.

I tend to disregard the second fight because of the drug issue but had him edging the first fight by the smallest of margins. Having ability is all well and good but you do need to prove it at some point which Mosley did to a degree but Camacho didn't quite and the manner of defeat in his biggest fight doesn't help, seemed terrified of Chavez.

Would agree with one thing that Onetwo said and that is that he was never really the top man in any division.

He had great talent though and longevity with some highly rated names on record...

Thing is there would be names with his kind of record that have attained greatness no doubt!!

Is he paying for under-achieving is the question??..though achieving a gread deal in the process!!

Still some interesting replies....cheers.

Thats the main point ghosty. He never established himself at any weight to be regarded as a great

As Truss said he had remarkable longevity. His record more than stands on its own.. So what that he lost to Chavez. Chavez was a great fighter. BHop lost to Calzaghe yet some say he is a top 25 ATG. Calzaghe certainly was no Chavez.