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https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?as...e=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_DJRVNYKSVRA0D3Y2AP8P
Long overdue book on the man. Very detailed and gave plenty of insight into Macho's background as a person and a fighter. As closely as I followed Macho, i didn't know that it was Bobby Lee Velez who was mainly responsible for his developement as a well schooled boxer. I also never heard a whole lot about the Billy Giles (manager) breakup other than the "drowning in drugs" from Giles and vague complaints about money. It's revelatory in many ways about the behind the scenes character of the man, some things i knew and some I just suspected to be the case. I always thought Camacho was emotionally vulnerable, easy to wound by things the average fighter might overlook, his crying at a Duran presser and some of the other anecdotes bear this out, even though, Macho once cried on national TV and basically came across as an emotional wreck for us fans. The parts of Macho that were unknown were the stories like how he asked "are we just gonna leave her here?" to the mother of his girlfriend when he helped move her into college. It was a vignette showing not only Hector's caring and vulnerability but also his complete absence of how the world outside his own operated. Another interesting part was how he reacted to his first loss. After the Haugen fight, with a multimillion Chavez match on the line Hector blows it against a fighter not really in his league. After what we hear about how hurt he got by criticism from the fans or the media, he dealt with it all very well. His cornermen were actually more upset than he was. That can be seen two ways, 1. He dealt with a major loss very well and with grace. 2. He didn't care much about losing. Hard to read really but it's one of the two, one is good, the other isn't.
So, why knock off half a star? Couple minor things but they were key for me. Amy Camacho, Hector's ex-wife was not mentioned once in the book and some of the occurrences that landed Hector in jail and hastened his downward spiral are totally glossed over. Amy doesn't really say much about it in the recent docu either, she says "everyone called the police", which to me, meant she called the police and didn't want people blaming her for the beginning of the end for Camacho. Indeed, Macho left America after that final legal hurdle and went from the proverbial frying pan into the fire. Why omit Amy? Well, knowing how petty authors can be, maybe it was because he requested interviews and was denied. Maybe he spoke to her and was threatened with lawsuits. Who knows, but it was an important part of the story. I've known authors to take digs at people when they were trying to push their book, either towards people who wouldn't help them or even authors of previous books who they were trying to usurp.
The other curious omission was story that Hector got into a real fight with Teddy Atlas at a New York gym. It's a huge part of the Hector lore and not one that really has been reliably verified. Teddy has told his side but there's more. Giudice mentions how there wasn't enough cash on hand to bury Camacho, he mentions an old friend (Robert "Pee Wee" Rucker) but doesn't mention that Teddy Atlas also gave a significant amount when it was needed for a decent burial. Atlas always seems easy enough to get ahold of, why complete lack of a mention? Strange.
Finally, It seems that nearly no one mentions just how great they thought Hector was going to be from the start. Many knowledgable writers, trainers and boxing people thought that Hector was a sure fire All-Time-Great. The quotes are still out there with the likes of Harold Lederman saying when he first saw Camacho he got the feeling that he was a fighter who would never lose. There are the articles from the early 80's who asserted that the looming Mancini-Camacho bout would be a total mismatch in Hector's favor. It seems that all of these people just held it against Hector that he squandered a once in a generation talent and just won't forgive him for it because they turned out to be wrong when the drugs and the inactivity took root.
I never believe Biographies one hundred percent and of course they aren't zero percent truth either. People still living tend to exaggerate, minimize and completely make things up either to make a subject or themselves look better or worse. I'd give this book an eighty percent though and that's pretty good.
Still, a great book, I couldn't stop reading, had it done in a couple days. Hopefully, there will be more written by others.
Long overdue book on the man. Very detailed and gave plenty of insight into Macho's background as a person and a fighter. As closely as I followed Macho, i didn't know that it was Bobby Lee Velez who was mainly responsible for his developement as a well schooled boxer. I also never heard a whole lot about the Billy Giles (manager) breakup other than the "drowning in drugs" from Giles and vague complaints about money. It's revelatory in many ways about the behind the scenes character of the man, some things i knew and some I just suspected to be the case. I always thought Camacho was emotionally vulnerable, easy to wound by things the average fighter might overlook, his crying at a Duran presser and some of the other anecdotes bear this out, even though, Macho once cried on national TV and basically came across as an emotional wreck for us fans. The parts of Macho that were unknown were the stories like how he asked "are we just gonna leave her here?" to the mother of his girlfriend when he helped move her into college. It was a vignette showing not only Hector's caring and vulnerability but also his complete absence of how the world outside his own operated. Another interesting part was how he reacted to his first loss. After the Haugen fight, with a multimillion Chavez match on the line Hector blows it against a fighter not really in his league. After what we hear about how hurt he got by criticism from the fans or the media, he dealt with it all very well. His cornermen were actually more upset than he was. That can be seen two ways, 1. He dealt with a major loss very well and with grace. 2. He didn't care much about losing. Hard to read really but it's one of the two, one is good, the other isn't.
So, why knock off half a star? Couple minor things but they were key for me. Amy Camacho, Hector's ex-wife was not mentioned once in the book and some of the occurrences that landed Hector in jail and hastened his downward spiral are totally glossed over. Amy doesn't really say much about it in the recent docu either, she says "everyone called the police", which to me, meant she called the police and didn't want people blaming her for the beginning of the end for Camacho. Indeed, Macho left America after that final legal hurdle and went from the proverbial frying pan into the fire. Why omit Amy? Well, knowing how petty authors can be, maybe it was because he requested interviews and was denied. Maybe he spoke to her and was threatened with lawsuits. Who knows, but it was an important part of the story. I've known authors to take digs at people when they were trying to push their book, either towards people who wouldn't help them or even authors of previous books who they were trying to usurp.
The other curious omission was story that Hector got into a real fight with Teddy Atlas at a New York gym. It's a huge part of the Hector lore and not one that really has been reliably verified. Teddy has told his side but there's more. Giudice mentions how there wasn't enough cash on hand to bury Camacho, he mentions an old friend (Robert "Pee Wee" Rucker) but doesn't mention that Teddy Atlas also gave a significant amount when it was needed for a decent burial. Atlas always seems easy enough to get ahold of, why complete lack of a mention? Strange.
Finally, It seems that nearly no one mentions just how great they thought Hector was going to be from the start. Many knowledgable writers, trainers and boxing people thought that Hector was a sure fire All-Time-Great. The quotes are still out there with the likes of Harold Lederman saying when he first saw Camacho he got the feeling that he was a fighter who would never lose. There are the articles from the early 80's who asserted that the looming Mancini-Camacho bout would be a total mismatch in Hector's favor. It seems that all of these people just held it against Hector that he squandered a once in a generation talent and just won't forgive him for it because they turned out to be wrong when the drugs and the inactivity took root.
I never believe Biographies one hundred percent and of course they aren't zero percent truth either. People still living tend to exaggerate, minimize and completely make things up either to make a subject or themselves look better or worse. I'd give this book an eighty percent though and that's pretty good.
Still, a great book, I couldn't stop reading, had it done in a couple days. Hopefully, there will be more written by others.
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Plus. Was Camacho a contributor? Could be like the movie, book, life of Antwan Fisher all by Antwan Fisher... You know they are only going to put out or emblish the story a bit to be one-sided in favor of those involved...
