Boxer Hector Camacho may be taken off life support

PanARMENIAN.Net - Hector "Macho" Camacho will be taken off life support, his mother said Friday, Nov 23 night, indicating she would have doctors do that Saturday. It was a decision the former championship boxer's eldest son opposed, according to The Associated Press.

The boxer's mother, Maria Matias, told reporters outside the hospital where Camacho lay unconscious since being shot in the face that she had decided doctors should remove life support, but only after three of his sons arrived in Puerto Rico early Saturday and had a chance to see him a last time.

"I lost my son three days ago. He's alive only because of a machine," Matias said. "My son is not alive. My son is only alive for the people who love him," she added.

The three other sons were expected to arrive from the U.S. mainland around midnight Friday. "Until they arrive, we will not disconnect the machine," Matias said.

Another news conference was scheduled for Saturday morning at Centro Medico, the main trauma center for San Juan.

The former champion's mother has the final say in the matter, but his eldest son, Hector Jr., said he wants to keep his father alive.

"He's going to fight until the end. My father is a boxer," the son said.

Doctors have said Camacho is clinically brain dead from a shooting Tuesday night in his hometown of Bayamon. But relatives and friends told the AP they were still wrestling with whether to remove him from life support.

Camacho was shot as he sat in a car with a friend, 49-year-old Adrian Mojica Moreno, who was killed in the attack. Police spokesman Alex Diaz said officers found nine small bags of cocaine in the friend's pocket and a 10th bag open inside the car.

Police reported no arrests and said investigators continued to interview potential witnesses. Capt. Rafael Rosa told reporters Friday that they are tracking down several leads, but added that very few witnesses were cooperating. He declined to say whether police had identified any suspects.

Hector Camacho Jr. lamented the violence that grips Puerto Rico, a U.S. island territory of nearly 4 million people that reported a record 1,117 homicides last year.