SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Family and friends of former boxing champion Hector “Macho” Camacho kept a somber vigil Friday at the hospital in Puerto Rico where he remains on life support.

Doctors in San Juan have said Camacho is clinically brain dead from a shooting earlier this week in his hometown of Bayamon. But relatives and friends told The Associated Press they are still wrestling with whether to remove him from life support.

Camacho’s oldest son, Hector Camacho Jr., told reporters: “My father is a boxer and we’re going to let him fight for his life. The doctors have said a lot of things, but he is alive, he’s in the fight.”

Aida Camacho, one of the boxer’s aunts, said the family could decide by late Friday whether to donate his organs.

Gov. Luis Fortuno said he lamented what he called a sudden loss.

“Macho will always be remembered for his spontaneity and charisma in and out of the ring,” he said.

Camacho was shot Tuesday night as he sat in a car with a friend, 49-year-old Adrian Mojica Moreno, who was killed in the attack. Police said they found nine small bags of cocaine in the friend’s pocket, and a 10th bag open inside the car.

Police have made no arrests and continue to interview potential witnesses. Camacho Jr. lamented the violence that has consumed Puerto Rico, a U.S. island territory of nearly 4 million people that reported a record 1,117 homicides last year.

 


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