Former world boxing champion Hector "Macho" Camacho was critically ill in hospital today after being shot in his native Puerto Rico.
Doctors and his family were deciding whether to take him off life support after his condition worsened.
Doctors had said Camacho was expected to survive after he was shot in the face while sitting in a car in his home town of Bayamon.
His condition worsened overnight and his heart stopped at one point, said Dr. Ernesto Torres, director of the Centro Medico trauma centre in San Juan.
"He's battling minute to minute. This is the most important fight of his life," he said.
Dr Torres said that two specialists will examine the boxer to determine his level of brain activity.
The specialists will then consult with other doctors and Camacho's mother to discuss whether he should be removed from life support, said Ismael Leandry, a long-time friend and former manager.
"We just have to wait to see if 'Macho' gets better. It's a hard battle," he said.
The 50-year-old Camacho was outside a bar in a parked car with a friend when he was shot. The friend, whose name has not been released, was killed. No arrests have been made and no motive has been disclosed.
Camacho was taken to Centro Medico, where doctors initially said he was fortunate that the bullet passed through his head and lodged in his shoulder.
Dr Torres did warn, however, that the boxer, who was trailed by drug and alcohol problems during a career that included some high-profile bouts, could be paralysed from the shooting.
Camacho has been considered one of the more controversial figures in boxing.
The fighter's last title bout came against then-welterweight champion Oscar De La Hoya in 1997, a loss by unanimous decision. He last fought in May 2010, losing to Saul Duran.
Camacho was born in Bayamon, one of the cities that make up the San Juan metropolitan area. He won super lightweight, lightweight and junior welterweight world titles in the 1980s.
Camacho has fought other high-profile bouts in his career against Felix Trinidad, Julio Cesar Chavez and Sugar Ray Leonard. Camacho knocked out Leonard in 1997, ending what was that former champ's final comeback attempt.
Camacho has a career record of 79-5-3, with his most recent fight coming in 2009.
He was sentenced in 2007 to seven years in prison for the burglary of a computer store in Mississippi. While arresting him on the burglary charge in January 2005, police also found the drug ecstasy.
A judge eventually suspended all but one year of the sentence and gave Camacho probation. He wound up serving two weeks in jail after violating that probation.
Twice his wife filed domestic abuse complaints against him, and she filed for divorce several years ago.
Doctors and his family were deciding whether to take him off life support after his condition worsened.
Doctors had said Camacho was expected to survive after he was shot in the face while sitting in a car in his home town of Bayamon.
His condition worsened overnight and his heart stopped at one point, said Dr. Ernesto Torres, director of the Centro Medico trauma centre in San Juan.
"He's battling minute to minute. This is the most important fight of his life," he said.
Dr Torres said that two specialists will examine the boxer to determine his level of brain activity.
The specialists will then consult with other doctors and Camacho's mother to discuss whether he should be removed from life support, said Ismael Leandry, a long-time friend and former manager.
"We just have to wait to see if 'Macho' gets better. It's a hard battle," he said.
The 50-year-old Camacho was outside a bar in a parked car with a friend when he was shot. The friend, whose name has not been released, was killed. No arrests have been made and no motive has been disclosed.
Camacho was taken to Centro Medico, where doctors initially said he was fortunate that the bullet passed through his head and lodged in his shoulder.
Dr Torres did warn, however, that the boxer, who was trailed by drug and alcohol problems during a career that included some high-profile bouts, could be paralysed from the shooting.
Camacho has been considered one of the more controversial figures in boxing.
The fighter's last title bout came against then-welterweight champion Oscar De La Hoya in 1997, a loss by unanimous decision. He last fought in May 2010, losing to Saul Duran.
Camacho was born in Bayamon, one of the cities that make up the San Juan metropolitan area. He won super lightweight, lightweight and junior welterweight world titles in the 1980s.
Camacho has fought other high-profile bouts in his career against Felix Trinidad, Julio Cesar Chavez and Sugar Ray Leonard. Camacho knocked out Leonard in 1997, ending what was that former champ's final comeback attempt.
Camacho has a career record of 79-5-3, with his most recent fight coming in 2009.
He was sentenced in 2007 to seven years in prison for the burglary of a computer store in Mississippi. While arresting him on the burglary charge in January 2005, police also found the drug ecstasy.
A judge eventually suspended all but one year of the sentence and gave Camacho probation. He wound up serving two weeks in jail after violating that probation.
Twice his wife filed domestic abuse complaints against him, and she filed for divorce several years ago.
