Hector Camacho Jr. seeks revenge against father’s rival

Hector Camacho Jr. has been thinking about the night of Sept. 12, 1992, for nearly three decades.

Now he wants to put it behind him.

Camacho, 42, will look to avenge his famous father’s loss to Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. when he meets the 58-year-old Saturday in Guadalajara, Mexico, in an exhibition fight.

Also on the card, former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva will box Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. The fight will count as an official pro bout.

“We’re professionals, and we’re both competitors,” Camacho Jr. said recently after a workout at Capetillo’s Boxing on Tropicana Avenue, just miles from the Thomas & Mack Center, where his father lost that legendary fight to Chavez Sr. “Nobody wants to look bad, and nobody wants to lose. I understand it’s an exhibition, but it’s personal. This is a legend, one of the best fighters ever, so the age doesn’t matter. He stays in the gym, stays working out. So that’s where we’re at.”

Camacho had a solid professional career of his own, but it came in spurts. He looked the part of a world champion in his early days before a controversial ending to a bout against Jesse James Leija in 2001 seemed to rob him of his passion to fight. He bounced around for a while, often fighting on cards alongside his father and usually winning but never fully regaining that spark.

“I could have been great,” Camacho Jr. said. “I say could have, but my goal was to make a name for myself. Once I had done that, boxing didn’t mean as much. I was a pretty good fighter. I’m still pretty good. I can definitely beat Chavez’s ass; you’ll see that.”

Camacho Sr. was murdered in 2012, an event that only further enhanced his son’s efforts to avenge his father’s loss to Chavez.

“This is like a dream come true,” he said of fighting Chavez. “1992. Sept. 12, when Chavez beat my father, that was a heartbreaker for me, the Camacho family and all of Puerto Rico. That’s a night I haven’t forgotten, and I never will. It’s why it’s important to me. I’ve wanted him since then. I’ve tried to get both father and son, but it never panned out. I’ll fight any Chavez. Jackie, Ricky, Robby, Bobby, whoever.”

While vengeance seems to be at the top of his mind, Camacho’s motives outside the ring tend to be far more docile. He has tried to use the sport, particularly in his later years, as a way to give back to the impoverished communities he lived in as a youth and a boxing community that often forgets those who don’t have great success.

“Boxing saves lives,” said Camacho, who converted to Islam as an adult and has largely eschewed his father’s partying lifestyle. “Most of these guys are uneducated and come from the bottom. I want to give back to the sport. Boxing is a sad sport. So many fighters die broke. There’s no retirement or 401K plan. So me coming back to the sport is to hopefully help out.”

While his last name has opened doors and expanded his popularity in the good times, it also caused issues. The added layers of expectations and pressure were expected when he became a pro, but the challenges in school and on the streets from those wanting to boast about besting “Macho’s” son were more problematic.

“It’s a blessing and a curse,” Camacho said. “No matter what I do, I”ll always be compared to my father.”

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.