Monday, September 27, 2010

Louie Burke vs Hector Camacho 1985



By Randy De La O

On January 19, 1985 my cousin Louie Burke fought Hector Camacho at the Imperial Ballroom in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Larry Hazzard was the referee. I remember this fight well. It's hard to believe it's been a little over twenty five years. As was typical of the fights back then it was being televised during the afternoon and it was free.

I have never been a fan of Camacho, he's not my type of fighter,in or out of the ring, but there was no question that Louie had his hands full that day and there is no question that he was fighting an exceptional fighter in Camacho. Camacho started quick and it was an uphill battle for Louie and despite getting a golf ball sized mouse and his left eye cut, Louie, ever the warrior, fought a valiant fight and was actually gaining some ground in the last round. Louie, not the type of fighter to fight going backwards continued to press the action during the fight and willingly traded punches with Camacho in the center of the ring.

Due to problems with his left eye the fight was stopped after the fifth round.

5 comments:

brian said...

Your cousin's a pretty tough guy...I had my ups and downs with Camacho.First,I thought he was just a flashy,overrated guy;that
changed when he shut out Greg Coverson(a few fights before this)at 130.Coverson who was from Detroit(Camacho spent a lot of time training in Detroit),won a big fight against Davey Lee Armstrong just before this-and I think Camacho dropped him three times-and barely got touched.Camacho was much more of a fighter when he fought Louie Burke;that changed after his war with Edwin Rosario.I remember Bobby Czyz referring to Camacho's style as "vacating the premises".I
give him a lot of credit for heart
for the one-sided beating he took
from Julio Cesar Chavez...and I
still think he got a gift decision in the first Duran fight..

Randy De La O said...

Yeah, I thought Furan won too. I also thought Duran won the first fight with Panzienza.

After the Rosario fight, Camacho became somewhat inconsistent but I'll give him credit for the Chavez fight (begrudgingly). Camacho was a tough nut to crack.

Louie had a huge heart. He's a damned good trainer too.

brian said...

Likewise-on Duran-Pazienza I-I don't know what the judges were looking at;they weren't looking at
Pazienza's face.I think they just wanted to get rid of Duran.

Randy De La O said...

You're probably right.

Oops, I meant to say Duran, not Furan.

mongoose said...

Hey Randy...your cousin did have heart, after all he is a fighter. I was there, in fact I fought the opener. I fought this tough kid named Ronnie Rentz & I won by decision. It was my professional debut. Sadly to say we were fron that era before people were able to record fights so easily. Only world class fighters & main events were televised & recorded. So i don't have any of my pro fights nor amatuer fights recorded. Do you think your cousin would know anybody that has that show recorded in it's entirely. I know it's a longshot...but it's the only hope I have.

fingers crossed,
-John "the mongoose" Skerret

Carl Weathers 1948 2024

Very sad news. Carl Weathers has passed away. I do not yet know the circumstances.  He was, literally,  the other ha...