In what promises to be the biggest fight to hit El Paso in nearly a decade, Hector “Machito” Camacho Jr. and Luis Ramon “Yuri Boy” Campas held their first press conference at the El Camino Real Hotel in downtown El Paso to hype what is already being billed “Latin Invasion II: Revenge of the Son”, a PPV fight that will take place at the Dan Haskins Center at the campus of the University of Texas El Paso (UTEP) on October 30th. It was only four months ago that Campas fought Hector Camacho Sr., father of the current WBC Caribbean Boxing Federation (CABOFE) light middleweight champion, and although the fight ended in a draw, the animosity permeated long after the fight ended..
“This is a fight that makes sense for a lot of reasons,” commented promoter Zeferino Ramirez of Zeferino Entertainment (which is promoting the fight in association with Golden Boy Promotions), “there was a lot of bad blood (between Camacho Sr. and Campas). Basically Junior came to me and demanded the fight. He didn’t like the way things went and he didn’t like the way his father was treated.”
Although Campas was often jovial and light hearted, there was no question that both fighters were coming into the press conference with a chip on their shoulders.
“We had a few words,” added Campas’ manager Joe Diaz, “you can quote me on what I said before…no Puerto Rican can beat a Mexican warrior.”
However, Teddy Coleman (the manager of Hector Camacho Jr.) had a somewhat different take. “Joe Diaz is wrong, because this Puerto Rican out of Harlem New York will beat Campas on October 30th. He couldn’t handle his old man, who was forty-eight!”
A surprise came when promoter Ramirez called an “interested spectator” to the podium to give his take on the fight. Former world champion Fernando Vargas, who has been engaging in a war of words with Camacho Jr. since the latter’s last fight with Israel Cardona, came forward to offer his support to the veteran from Sonora, Mexico.
“If Hector Camacho fights the way he did against “Pito” Cardona, Yuri Boy Campas will eat him alive.”
Camacho didn’t take the slight lightly and fired back with a jab pointed at Vargas’ weight.
“Breaking news,” Camacho added sarcastically, “(That) boxer needs to go on a diet.”
Campas was polite and appreciative when he discussed his long and warm relationship with the city of El Paso, but even in his good nature he was unable to avoid taking shots at both the Camacho’s, calling the fight with Senior a “wrestling match” and poking fun at the younger Camacho on several occasions.
“It’s not going to be an easy fight,” added Campas.
Camacho Jr. was considerably more animated when he took the podium, throwing insults to both Campas and Vargas. “I’m not coming to dance, I’m coming to fight. He fought some top notch fighters: De la Hoya’s, the Trinidad’s, the Vargas’, the Santos ’…he got stopped, he lost but he never been knocked out. My goal is to knock his ass out.”
Camacho then took another jab at Vargas.
“I’ll finish Campas off, then fight the ‘Mexican Legend,’” Camacho said sarcastically, “He fought the best fighters…but as fast as he went up was as fast as he went down.”
It was a slight that Vargas did not going to take lightly. “He never went up!” Vargas shot back from the crowd (referring to Camacho Jr.)
Joe Diaz then jumped in on the attack on Camacho.
“If he doesn’t do the right thing in this fight, If I’m not happy (referring to Camacho) I have a canoe in Jersey City by the Hudson River…I got three or four days supply of food, and I’m going to show him the way to Puerto Rico.”
Rounding off the card is local super bantamweight superstar Antonio Escalante (21-2, 13 KO’s) fighting against the ever dangerous TBA. Hoping to land a title fight within three or four fights, manager Lester Billford indicated that this will be his first fight at 126 pounds in an attempt to gauge the viability of moving his young fighter up in weight. Escalante is a huge draw in El Paso and has an explosive style that will compliment the main event nicely.
“I know he is a big draw down here in El Paso,” Ramirez added, “and I have a feeling that this fight will not leave his fans disappointed. He is an exciting fighter, and I am sure he is looking to make a statement at this weight class.”
Tickets for the fight go on sale at the Don Haskins Center on Friday. They start at $25, with ringside seats going for $100. Also rounding off the card will be popular Mexican-American middleweight contender David Medina (20-2, 10 KO’s) against a TBA in an eight round fight. Also on the card will be popular Colorado based welterweight prospect Abel Perry (11-3, 3 KO’s) as he takes on local brawler Bobby Joe Valdez (9-6-2, 4 KO’s) in an eight round fight. Also on the undercard, undefeated super bantamweight prospect Sammy DiPace (6-0, 3 KO’s) comes down from nearby Las Cruces, New Mexico to take on a TBA in a four round fight. Undefeated female featherweight prospect Amanda Serrano (4-0, 3 KO’s) will also fight in a four round fight. Rounding off the card will be two or three more fights to be announced.