Former world boxing champion Hector “Macho” Camacho went into cardiac arrest Wednesday morning but was stabilized by doctors after being shot in the face Tuesday outside of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

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“The situation with ‘Macho’ is very delicate,” Centro Medico director Dr. Ernesto Torres told reporters during a 7 a.m. media briefing on Wednesday. “The prognosis is not good.”

Camacho shot in the face as he sat in a car outside the Puerto Rican capital Tuesday, and doctors said he was in critical but stable condition after suffering cardiac arrest at 4:15 a.m. on Wednesday.

“He went into cardiac arrest. The doctors were able to get his heart started again with the medicine and we are maintaining his blood pressure and pulse stable medically right now to see whether during this morning, afternoon or evening we see a positive change,” Torres said.

Camacho was rushed to the trauma center in San Juan, and was in critical but stable condition, Tuesday night, but Torres cautioned that there was decreased brain activity in the former champ overnight.

“We will maintain him in this way we are maintaining him medically, and we will wait to see how he responds,” said Torres. “He is a strong guy. The prognosis could change if he improves. The neurosurgeons are not intervening further at this point.”

Another man in the car, whose relationship to the 50-year-old Camacho wasn’t immediately known, died in the attack in which at least one gunman opened fire on their vehicle in the city of Bayamon, according to a statement from police.

The bullet apparently struck him in the jaw but exited his head and lodged in his right shoulder and fractured two vertebrae, Torres said. The doctor said the boxer, who was trailed by drug and alcohol problems during a career that included some high-profile bouts, could be paralyzed from the shooting.

“Camacho’s condition is extremely delicate,” he told Telenoticias on Tuesday night. “His physical condition will help him but we will see.”

No arrests have been made in the shooting, police said.

 

ESPN