Was he a young Ray Leonard? Did he remind the old-timers of Willie Pep? Or was he a new brand of fighter who was about to take over the sport?
In this day and age, we have a tendency to exaggerate a young prospect?s worth. It may not be the norm to brand a developing fighter as ?the next great one,? but it is easy to become enamored with the rapid growth of a young fighter. Putting young fighters blessed with talent on a pedestal is nothing new. But rarely do they become the fighters we expect them to; there are too many variables both inside and out that affect young fighters. Yet, in the early 1980s, a young boxer embodied all of the qualities that we look for in a fighter destined for greatness. In many ways, he was a sure thing. That fighter was Hector ?Macho? Camacho. As the accolades piled up in the early years of his career, one thing was clear?they were all true. Camacho deserved every single one of them.
Fans got a glimpse into the making of the young superstar on July 11, 1982 when Camacho faced Louie ?Golden? Loy at the Felt Forum in NY. In the midst of a blistering set of events that had unfolded in mere seconds in the seventh round, poor Loy found himself bouncing off the bottom rope with referee Tony Perez standing over him and saving him from any further punishment. A tough guy, Loy was not a bad fighter, but he wasn?t in Camacho?s league. Nevertheless, Loy, 15-0-1, was facing an irrepressible force. Judging by the downtrodden look on Loy?s face earlier in the round when Camacho spun him around, shielded the referee with his back, nailed the defenseless Loy with an unimpeded right hook, and then walked away like a child about to get scolded, it was clear that victory was no longer obtainable. But that?s what Camacho did back then to good and great fighters?he stripped them of their confidence and identities and molded them to exactly whom he wanted them to be.
Loy had no choice but to acquiesce.
The same could be said about Filipino fighter, Johnny Sato. After Camacho defeated Loy in July 1982, he returned on August 28 to face Sato at the Sands Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, NJ. At the time, Camacho was being groomed as a CBS darling, replete with good looks and matching charm. Legendary boxers and respected analysts were salivating over his God-given talents. Working alongside the broadcast team of Gil Clancy and Tim Ryan, Sugar Ray Leonard did not back away from claiming Camacho had the skill and charisma to follow in his footsteps; likewise, Clancy gushed that ?Camacho could out-Ali, Ali,? when addressing the similarities between the fighters. What it boiled down to was that Camacho was doing things in the ring that 20-year-olds were not supposed to be doing, and, it appeared, that he was accomplishing these complex tasks with relative ease. The 130-pound weight class was not rife with great talent, in fact, a lot of the fighters at 130 pounds were veterans on the tail end of their careers. Eventually Camacho would zero in on WBC champion Bobby Chacon.
If Loy was resolute and fearless, Sato, ranked sixth by the WBC at 130, proved predictable and easy fodder for Camacho. Despite being outclassed, Sato, 18-8, was able to fend off Camacho with a big straight left when the Puerto Rican got careless in the third round. Early in the fourth round, Camacho landed a short left that forced Sato into escape mode, and then followed up with his two patented right hooks that sent Sato down. Referee Larry Hazzard counted Sato out and the fight was over.
Although Camacho was several fights from a title shot, he was clearly on a path to stardom. Those that tried to bully him quickly discovered how strong?and dirty?he was. Others like Sato who tried to get inside recognized the peril in attempting to wade through six- and seven-punch combinations. And those who tried to stay on the outside and create space had no chance to overcome Camacho?s speed and movement. What people were witnessing was a tantalizing blend of speed and boxing intellect that was hard for them to identify. Was he a young Ray Leonard? Did he remind the old-timers of Willie Pep? Or was he a new brand of fighter who was about to take over the sport? Only time would tell, but at the moment, this young phenom was making all the right moves.
