Hector Camacho vs Rafael Limon

Hector Camacho won the vacant World Boxing Council super-featherweight championship by stopping Rafael “Bazooka” Limon in the fifth round at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on 7 August 1983. Camacho, an unbeaten 21-year-old southpaw, weighed the division limit of 130 pounds, while Limon was one pound lighter. Referee Richard Steele intervened at 2 minutes 52 seconds of the fifth after the experienced Mexican had been knocked down twice in the round and was unable to protect himself from a further attack.

The title had been declared vacant after Bobby Chacon, who had regained it from Limon in December 1982, failed to agree terms for a compulsory defence against Camacho. Promoter Don King offered Chacon a reported guarantee of $450,000, while the Californian sought $1 million. Camacho, ranked first by the WBC, was then matched with the third-ranked Limon. The Puerto Rican received $150,000 and Limon $50,000. Although Camacho entered with only 21 professional bouts behind him, he was favoured because of his speed, youth and sharp southpaw punching. Limon had fought more than 60 times and had twice held the championship, but his long career had included a succession of severe contests.

Camacho began at a pace which immediately disturbed the older man. At the opening bell he sprang from his corner and drove Limon backwards, almost running into him during the first rush. Once the initial excitement had passed, Camacho settled into more disciplined work. He moved around Limon’s lead foot, struck with a quick right jab and sent the straight left between the Mexican’s wide punches. Limon attempted to answer with the long, looping blows which had served him throughout his career, but Camacho was generally out of range by the time they arrived. The first round belonged plainly to the Puerto Rican, who was both the aggressor and the more accurate boxer.

Limon continued to advance in the second, apparently prepared to concede the early rounds while waiting for Camacho’s pace to diminish. This had often been his method. He had endured difficult beginnings against other opponents before drawing them into hard contests in the later stages. Camacho, however, gave him few opportunities to work. He stepped in with two or three punches, altered his position and attacked again before Limon could set his feet. Judge Dimas Hernandez scored the round 10–8 despite the absence of a knockdown, while judges Moises Sister and Hector Chaumont marked it 10–9. Limon remained composed, but he was being struck too frequently and was unable to slow the younger man.

The first knockdown came near the end of the third round. Camacho had scored principally with his right hand before suddenly sending a straight left to Limon’s cheek. The punch arrived before the Mexican could complete his own attack and dropped him to the canvas. Limon rose and reached the bell, but the knockdown confirmed that Camacho carried sufficient power to damage a man noted for his toughness. All three judges scored the round 10–8. Camacho was not simply collecting points through movement; he was beating Limon to the punch and making him pay whenever his slow attacks left him exposed.

Limon tried to impose himself more firmly in the fourth, but the difference in speed remained considerable. Camacho used the jab to bring the Mexican’s hands forward and then drove the left through the opening. Near the end of the round another left hand shook Limon, after which a series of rights sent him stumbling heavily against the ropes. The ropes kept him upright, but his legs were unsteady, and his defence had begun to loosen. After four rounds Hernandez had Camacho ahead 40–34, while Sister and Chaumont each scored it 40–35. Limon had not won a round on any official card and appeared increasingly unlikely to reach the stage at which his greater experience might become useful.

Camacho brought the contest to an end in the fifth by varying his attack and striking more heavily to the body. Two punches downstairs bent Limon forward and sent him down in the centre of the ring. The Mexican rose, but he had little time to recover. Camacho closed upon him, drove him backwards and put him down again, this time through the ropes near his own corner. Limon again regained his feet, showing the resistance which had marked his championship career, but he was badly shaken. Camacho attacked immediately with both hands, and when Limon could no longer answer effectively, Steele stepped between them. The stoppage was properly timed. Limon had been comprehensively outboxed, dropped three times during the contest and was taking clean punches without offering a useful reply.

The victory gave Camacho his first world championship in his twenty-second professional contest. He had controlled every round, using speed of hand and foot without sacrificing balance or punching force. His straight left produced the first knockdown, his body attack created the decisive openings in the fifth, and his movement prevented Limon from turning the match into the prolonged physical contest he required. Limon’s reputation and experience had given the match its interest, but neither was sufficient against a younger fighter operating at a much faster pace. Camacho left the stadium as champion after a performance in which the result had been beyond serious doubt from the opening round.

I look at Hector Camacho against Rafael Limon as the night people saw the complete young “Macho”, before caution and survival became a bigger part of his boxing. Limon was no ordinary former champion. He had been through four brutal meetings with Bobby Chacon and had lost their great 1982 title fight only after 15 punishing rounds. But those contests had taken plenty out of him, and against a 21-year-old Camacho he looked slow from the opening bell.

Camacho was brilliant. He was not running or stealing rounds; he was stepping into range, punching sharply and leaving before Limon could set those wide, looping shots. The right jab and straight left were arriving too quickly, and the knockdown late in the third showed that Camacho carried real authority at 130 pounds. Limon kept coming because that was his nature, but toughness is no substitute for timing when the other man can see every punch coming.

By the fifth, Camacho had broken him up with speed, accuracy and body work. He dropped Limon twice in the round, the second knockdown sending him through the ropes, before Richard Steele stopped it at 2:52. Camacho had won every completed round on all three official cards.

For me, this was Camacho at his finest: confident, aggressive and technically sharp. Limon was worn but still respected, and Camacho treated him like an old champion should be treated—he gave him no time, no rhythm and no chance.