Camacho Says He’s Ready For Fight With De La Hoya

Last time for Hector Camacho it was Ray Leonard, who was trying to recapture past glory. This time, it will be Oscar De La Hoya, whose best fights are thought to be in the future.

This time, Camacho is cast in the role of the fading veteran. “I think he’s slower than he used to be,” said the 24-year-old De La Hoya, who will defend the WBC welterweight title against Camacho tonight in Las Vegas. “My goal is to take him out, probably in the seventh round.”

Fading veteran, however, is not a role the 35-year-old Camacho will willingly accept.

“He hasn’t seen the Macho Man he’s going to see Saturday night,” said Camacho, who has not been knocked out while posting a 64-3-1 record and winning the WBC super lightweight and lightweight titles during the 1980s and holding the WBO junior welterweight title from 1989-91.

“I’ve got my quickness and sharpness back,” Camacho said. “Last fight, I was sluggish.”

Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson, whose last heavyweight championship bout ended with a bite instead of a punch, will meet face-to-face Sept. 20 at the behest of Muhammad Ali, the day after the conclusion of the Ali Cup amateur tournament in Louisville, Ky.

The Holyfield and Tyson camps issued statements saying the fighters looked forward to the meeting and that the tribute to amateur boxing, linked to Ali, was the appropriate setting.

Unbeaten WBC lightweight champion Stevie Johnston successfully defended his title, taking a unanimous 12-round decision over Saul Duran in Las Vegas. Johnston, 24, of Denver, won despite a right eye that was swollen shut by the end of the bout.

Robin Reid was released from the hospital in Widnes, England, after collapsing from exhaustion following his WBC super-middleweight title defense.