by James Slater – Whenever one looks up BoxRec to see what fights are upcoming, and the name Hector Camacho appears, it’s natural to assume it is Hector Camacho Junior that is in line to fight soon. After all, “Macho” Camacho, Junior’s father, has long since been retired, right? Well, actually no, he hasn’t.
It’s not likely too many fans are all that interested or aware of it, but 47-year-old Camacho actually fought last May, holding Ramon Campas to an eight-round draw in Florida.. And now, according to the indispensable BoxRec.com, Camacho Senior, now a middleweight, will fight again, in Denmark on March 26th. In what will be the former outstanding fighter’s second fight in almost three years, the southpaw from Puerto Rico will face local fighter Allan Vester for the vacant WBF 160-pound bauble.
32-year-old Vester, 28-6-1(5) has been far from active himself; not having boxed since September of 2008. Back then, fighting as a light-middleweight (a number of Vester’s more recent fights have taken place as low as welterweight), the Dane won a four-round UD over an unknown fighter, Pascal Kilmaru Bruno – this win being the third points win in succession for Vester, who had previously been halted inside three-rounds by Northern Ireland’s Eamonn Magee. Stopped in each of his six pro defeats (by Zab Judah on one occasion), Vester, with all due respect, is the calibre of fighter Camacho would have handled easily in his prime years. But what can we expect now, with Camacho, 79-5-3(38) being way past his best?
It’s tough to see why “Macho,” the former super-featherweight, lightweight and light-welterweight titlist, wishes to fight on at his current age. Perhaps the once-slick southpaw needs money, or maybe, like so many other formerly great fighters, he is simply bored? Making a prediction for this fight is also pretty tough, because we don’t know what Vester, a good fighter back in the ’90s, has left any more than we know what kind of condition Camacho is in these days.
It’s unlikely too many fans, outside of Denmark, will even get to see this fight – if they actually wanted to, that is. Camacho, if he has anything at all left, will probably get himself a points win; although saying that, the veteran did manage to get himself a stoppage win over one Perry Ballard, down at 152-pounds in July of 2008. Vester’s punch-resistance is clearly not all that great, so maybe the old “Macho” will leave Denmark with his 39th KO win.
What a win will lead to, however, we can only guess. For the record, Camacho, always a fine defensive boxer, has yet to be stopped a single time in almost thirty years of pro fighting. Despite the fact that, quite amazingly, Vester has a stoppage win over the teak-tough Emanuel Augustus (way back in 1999, down at 140-pounds) Camacho doesn’t figure to lose this distinction in March.