After a stellar amateur career, Hector Camacho began to quickly rise through the professional ranks….. first in the featherweight and then in the super featherweight division. He was so confident that he claimed he could beat world featherweight champions Salvador Sánchez and Eusebio Pedroza….however, Sánchez died while Camacho was still coming up in the ranks…..then In the super featherweight division, he defeated the top contenders Irleis Cubanito Perez, Melvin Paul, Refugio Rojas and John Montes….who he was training for in this video herewith…..as Montes was a really good club fighter who posted a career mark of 44 wins and 6 losses from 1979 to 1996.
When the World Junior Lightweight champion, Bobby Chacón, refused to go to Puerto Rico to defend his title against Camacho…. the WBC declared the world championship vacant…..when Camacho and Rafael Limón…..who had been defeated and lost the championship to Chacon…..fought him for the vacant title. It was the first time Camacho was in a ring with a former world champion….as he scored knockdowns on Limón in the 1st and 3rd rounds before the referee stopped the fight in the 5th round. Camacho also fought his first defense in San Juan….where he met Rafael Solis, a fellow Puerto Rican….when Camacho got tested in this fight for the first time….and was shaken in round three by a Solis uppercut. He knocked out Solis with a right to the chin in round five, and retained the title.
