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LEXINGTON, Mo. — The boxing world has lost one of its greats. After being declared brain dead on Thursday this week, family members of Hector Camachotook him off life support on Saturday.”He was one of the greatest fighters to ever live,” said Heath Todd from Lexington, Missouri.
Heath Todd started his boxing career at the age of 11. Idolizing fighters like Roberto Duran and Macho Camacho, Todd never dreamed he would be in the same ring with them. But he was.
Todd, who took on the name “The Heathen Todd” fought Duran on Oct. 18, 1994 in Bay St. Louis, Miss. Two years later he found himself in the ring with Camacho on Oct. 1, 1996 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.”I fought Camacho in the same eight-inch Reyes gloves,” he said. He has pictures to prove it. “Hector Macho Camacho was just a great fighter,” Todd said, who added it was a fight he would never forget.
“You couldn’t hit him if he didn’t want you to,” said Todd. “I was just doing my best. He hit me a lot more than I hit him.”
Before a knockout, Todd’s manager threw in the towel, stopping the fight.
For Todd, they are memories he will never forget and stories he loves to tell — about the time he went toe to toe with a boxing great.
Hector Macho Camacho was just 50 years old.
