Naked truth about Macho Camacho exposed in documentary

When asked to recall Hector Camacho, the subject of an engrossing documentary airing on Showtime, Marc Ratner invoked the adjectives and traits one normally associates with the former star-crossed boxing champion.

The charisma, the sequined costumes, the lightning-fast hands and feet, the forelock curl, the strange request to weigh in naked …

The former Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director broke into a hearty laugh. His positioning to the official scale placed him … how do I say this?

Let’s just go with directly in the line of fire.

“So I said ‘Macho, put your pants on,’” Ratner recalled.

Camacho’s tendency for dropping his guard, among other things, is mentioned by his former wife, Amy, in “Macho: The Hector Camacho Story” that debuted Friday night. It provides a moment of levity in what otherwise is a bittersweet remembrance of one of boxing’s most colorful characters during one of its most celebrated eras.

“He could fight, and he was very proud of his Puerto Rican heritage,” said Ratner, who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2016, the same year Camacho was honored posthumously.

The boxer’s 2012 death in the streets of his native Bayamon remains unsolved. Camacho and a friend were shot in the head as they sat in parked car near a strip mall. A packet of cocaine was found in the car.

Having fought his way out of the Spanish Harlem barrio in New York to become its ostentatious hero, Camacho retired from the ring in 2010 with a record of 79-6-3.

He fought eight times in Las Vegas, including ballyhooed bouts against fellow icons Julio Cesar Chavez, Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya during the down slope of a spectacular career. He took a savage beating against Chavez but earned respect for standing toe to toe with the great Mexican warrior.

But Camacho’s story, like so many in boxing, was destined to end sadly.

Unlike the fusillade of blows from Chavez at the Thomas & Mack Center, there was no coming back from drugs and other demons that the rigors of training camp helped him temporarily conquer.

The life and times of Camacho are aptly summed up in the documentary’s opening montage.

“He looks like a young child. He’s bubbly. He smiles a lot,” says Las Vegas resident Brent Musburger, looking sort of bubbly himself in a dated film clip. “But he’ll knock your head off if you’re not careful.”

The counterpunch comes a minute later from Teddy Atlas, the trainer who survived a rebellious New York upbringing of his own.

“Boxing sometimes can be too damn Shakespearean. You take a kid like this, where he came from, he gets to the top in one of the toughest businesses there is. But in the end, it’s almost as if the tragedy had to be.”

Around the horn

— Before he started careening down mountain tops at speeds approaching 100 mph, Shaquille Murray-Lawrence was best known for having the longest name in UNLV’s football history.

Now a running back for the Montreal Alouettes, Murray-Lawrence is one of three Canadian Football League regulars hoping to compete for Canada in the bobsled at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China.

After surviving his first run down the course in Whistler, the former Rebel born in Toronto told the Toronto Star it was “the longest 50 seconds of my life. But when it was over, I was like ‘Hey, man, I think I could do that again.’”

— When some Neanderthal took to Twitter to belittle Vanderbilt’s female football kicker Sarah Fuller, Detroit Lions offensive lineman Tyrone Crosby was among the first to belittle back, calling the man a clown.

“Sarah is an inspiration to so many,” responded the former Green Valley High and Oregon star. “Why’s it so difficult for you and others to support women breaking down barriers?”

o:o1

— It only took the cowboys at the COVID-displaced National Finals Rodeo one night to speak of Las Vegas in a positive way.

One of them anyway.

The one born in Henderson.

“The arena feels good and feels cool,” bareback rider Mason Clements said after tying for second place in the first go-round at Globe Life Field, home of baseball’s Texas Rangers. “It’s big, but I want to hear fans screaming and yelling like we hear in Las Vegas.”

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.