Family, fans and fellow boxers said goodbye on Tuesday to Hector “Macho” Camacho at a memorial and wake for the slain former world champion fighter known for his flamboyance in and out of the ring.
Hundreds of people took pictures and filed past Camacho’s open casket, displayed inside a gymnasium decked out for the occasion with black carpet and curtains. The boxer wore white, along with a large gold crucifix and a necklace spelling out his nickname, “Macho,” in capital letters.
First up were members of his immediate family, including his mother, Maria Matias, who wept and caressed her son’s face in the coffin, which was draped in a Puerto Rican flag. “They killed him,” she wailed at one point.
Camacho was shot November 20 while sitting in a parked car with a friend outside a bar in Bayamon, his hometown. The friend died at the scene and the boxer three days later after doctors removed him from life support. Police have said they have suspects but have not yet arrested anyone for the shooting.
After the family came a cross-section of Puerto Rican society that included parents with children in strollers, the elderly, road crew workers in neon safety vests, US soldiers in uniform and a who’s who of Puerto Rican boxers.
As the service began, hundreds of people stood and clapped for nearly a minute. “What time is it?” someone in the crowd yelled. “It’s Macho time!” the crowd responded.