Macho Time: The Meteoric Rise and Tragic Fall of Hector Camacho

by Christian Giudice, Carlos Acevedo Narrated by Timothy Andrés Pabon

Overview

Raised in 1970s Spanish Harlem, Hector Camacho lived a life as fast as his fists flew in the ring. Handsome, flamboyant, and outspoken, Camacho electrified the boxing scene of the 1980s and, shouting his mantra "Macho Time!", beat some of the greatest fighters of his generation.



His fast-lane life caught up with him eventually-and tragically-when he was shot dead outside a nightclub in Puerto Rico at the age of fifty. Macho Time is written by Christian Giudice, author of Hands of Stone, the definitive biography of Roberto Duran, which was made into the motion picture of the same name starring Robert De Niro.



Macho Time will be the first biography of Hector Camacho Sr., who lived a life as fast as his fists flew in the ring. Camacho's son, Hector Camacho Jr., also a professional boxer, has worked closely with author Christian Giudice to give him unprecedented access and insight into this complex man, who was tragically murdered in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 2012.

Editorial Reviews

APRIL 2021 - AudioFile

The rags-to-riches-to-rags story of Hector “Macho” Camacho is characterized by the boxing champ’s reckless living and poor behavior out of the ring. But in the squared circle, he was fearless. Timothy Andrés Pabon narrates with clear diction and beautiful pronunciation of Spanish names, which are important to the story. He imparts the right amount of emotion and helps paint a picture of a champ who remains defined by his selfish lifestyle. The narration puts the listener in the ring as Pabon represents the boxer and those around him with just the right touch. A son of the boxer, for instance, has an understandably frustrated tone when he talks about being perplexed by his father’s actions at times, while “Macho” himself comes across as brash. Boxing fans will like this dive into Camacho’s life. M.B. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

Publishers Weekly

08/24/2020

Sportswriter Giudice (A Fire Burns Within) takes an affecting warts-and-all look at the life of boxer Hector “Macho” Camacho (1962–2012), who survived a difficult childhood to become a world champion before his lifelong struggle with addiction led to his murder at the age of 50. Camacho was born in Puerto Rico; his mother took the children to New York to escape their abusive father, but he followed them. Before he was five, Camacho began to hit his father to protect his mother. Camacho’s prowess as a young street fighter (“Macho was always Macho... lovable, crazy, always crazy,” according to his sister) led to his becoming a promising boxing prospect as a teen, and a three-time Golden Gloves champion. His talents, which included “blazing hand and foot speed,” brought him success in the ring, though Giudice notes he made “a career of integrating illegal tactics into his game plan,” such as lunging before glove touch and spinning opponents. Despite lucrative paydays and celebrity, Camacho never overcame his drug addiction or saved his winnings, and he periodically ran into legal trouble, including imprisonment at Rikers for joyriding. And when he was found shot to death in a parked car, the car also held ten bags of cocaine. Giudice’s take on the complicated fighter will move even those who’ve never tuned into a boxing match. (Oct.)

From the Publisher

Hector ‘Macho’ Camacho…survived a difficult childhood to become a world champion before his lifelong struggle with addiction led to his murder at the age of 50. Giudice’s take on the complicated fighter will move even those who’ve never tuned into a boxing match.”—Publishers Weekly

“The first full-length biography of the legendary boxer…with a penchant for flamboyant outfits and behavior that won him both fans and foes. Giudice writes with sensitivity about Camacho's lifelong struggle with drugs and excessive partying that robbed him of a chance at true greatness…Boxing fans who remember the ascendant days of lighter-weight fighters such as Roberto Durán, Sugar Ray Leonard, Julio César Chávez, and Oscar De La Hoya will want to read.”—Library Journal

“Camacho’s ring exploits are only part of his story…Giudice does a solid job of reporting…Entertaining and as thorough a biography as we’re likely to see of this manchild who could have been a great fighter but became a cautionary tale instead.”—Thomas Hauser, Boxing News

"In his new book from Hamilar Publications, experienced boxing writer Christian Giudice takes the reader along Camacho’s bumpy, exhilarating, but ultimately tragic ride from a shack in Bayamon, Puerto Rico to Spanish Harlem, to global stardom, to that Mustang passenger seat in San Juan, where shots pierced through the night of late November, 2012. Throughout this, the first comprehensive biography of Camacho’s life, Giudice speaks candidly about the boxer and the man in and out of the ring, via exclusive interviews with Sugar Ray Leonard, Freddie Roach, and Héctor Camacho Jr. Héctor Camacho’s story and persona is as magnetic in death as it was in life...Make time for Macho Time"—Jack Porter, The Sportsman

“In yet another skillful excavation of a dazzling Latino champion, Christian Giudice—the author of acclaimed biographies of Roberto Duran, Alexis Arguello and Wilfredo Gomez—follows Hector ‘Macho’ Camacho from his embattled childhood in Spanish Harlem, to the heights of his electrifying yet too-brief stardom and onto his abject end by hail of gunfire in a carful of cocaine. It is a compelling journey.”—Mark Kram Jr., author of Smokin’ Joe: The Life of Joe Frazier

“The bullets that eventually found Hector Camacho had shadowed him throughout his tempestuous life. In this penetrating biography, Christian Giudice reveals the showman, the artist, the clown and the assassin—the erratic family man and the pride of Spanish Harlem. The Macho Man was a blazing comet streaking across the sky, bringing brilliance and destruction, then disappearing all too soon.”—Mike Stanton, author of Unbeaten: Rocky Marciano’s Fight for Perfection in a Crooked World

“All of boxing’s dark romance is here. The raw material of Hector Camacho’s wild, sad yet sometimes stellar life expertly distilled and movingly told.”—Jon Hotten, author of The Years of the Locust: A True Story of Murder, Money and Mayhem in the Last Age of Boxing

“A tale of a fighter who, regardless of his talents and his achievements, struggled with his past…Giudice does a very good job of describing not only what Macho achieved in the ring, but also the wasted potential of his career…A fascinating story.”—FightPost

“Giudice doesn’t pull any punches with his latest book… The 320-page read is as hard hitting as one of the southpaw’s punches and as colorful as the leopard print boxing trunks he famously wore.”—Cherry Hill Courier-Post

Library Journal

08/28/2020

Veteran boxing writer Giudice (Hands of Stone: The Life and Legend of Roberto Duran) chronicles of life of Hector "Macho" Camacho Sr. (1962–2012); the first full-length biography of the legendary boxer. Born in Puerto Rico but raised in Spanish Harlem, Camacho was fighting before he turned ten, took to the gym in hopes of becoming the next Bruce Lee, and emerged instead as the quicksilver winner of world boxing titles in three weight divisions, with a penchant for flamboyant outfits and behavior that won him both fans and foes. Giudice writes with sensitivity about Camacho's lifelong struggle with drugs and excessive partying that robbed him of a chance at true greatness and culminated in his murder as he sat in a car filled with bags of cocaine. The focus here is mostly on Camacho's career; his volatile relationship with his wife and sons, two of whom also pursed a career in boxing, aren't given much attention. VERDICT Giudice riffs on an old story here, but boxing fans who remember the ascendant days of lighter-weight fighters such as Roberto Durán, Sugar Ray Leonard, Julio César Chávez, and Oscar De La Hoya will want to read.—Jim Burns, formerly with Jacksonville P.L., FL

APRIL 2021 - AudioFile

The rags-to-riches-to-rags story of Hector “Macho” Camacho is characterized by the boxing champ’s reckless living and poor behavior out of the ring. But in the squared circle, he was fearless. Timothy Andrés Pabon narrates with clear diction and beautiful pronunciation of Spanish names, which are important to the story. He imparts the right amount of emotion and helps paint a picture of a champ who remains defined by his selfish lifestyle. The narration puts the listener in the ring as Pabon represents the boxer and those around him with just the right touch. A son of the boxer, for instance, has an understandably frustrated tone when he talks about being perplexed by his father’s actions at times, while “Macho” himself comes across as brash. Boxing fans will like this dive into Camacho’s life. M.B. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172855177
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	12/15/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged

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