Boxer Hector Camacho Taken Off Life Support

Boxer Hector "Macho" Camacho has died after being taken off life support, doctors have confirmed.

The 50-year-old was declared clinically brain dead on Thursday after being shot in his hometown of Bayamon in Puerto Rico earlier in the week.

Dr Ernesto Torres said Camacho went into cardiac arrest in the early hours of Saturday. He was then taken off life support and died shortly after.

His mother Maria Matias had indicated he would be allowed to die after three of his sons had arrived in Puerto Rico to see him for a final time.

"I lost my son three days ago. He's alive only because of a machine. My son is not alive. My son is only alive for the people who love him," she had said.

However, his eldest son, Hector Jr, said he wanted to keep his father alive.

The former world champion was shot as he sat in a car with a friend, 49-year-old Adrian Mojica Moreno, who was also killed in the attack.

Police spokesman Alex Diaz said officers found nine small bags of cocaine in the friend's pocket and a 10th bag open inside the car.

Police reported no arrests and investigators continue to interview potential witnesses.

Preparations have already begun for a memorial and a funeral Mass.

Camacho fought professionally for three decades, from his humble debut against David Brown at New York's Felt Forum in 1980 to an equally forgettable swansong against Sal Duran in Kissimmee, Florida, in 2010.

In between, he fought some of the sport's biggest stars, including Sugar Ray Leonard, Felix Trinidad, Oscar De La Hoya and Roberto Duran.

After his career reached its prime, Camacho was plagued by drug, alcohol and other problems.

In 2007 he was sentenced to seven years in prison for the burglary of a computer store in Mississippi. While arresting him on the burglary charge in January 2005, police also found the drug ecstasy.

A judge eventually suspended all but one year of the sentence and gave Camacho probation but he ended up serving two weeks in jail after violating that probation.

Camacho's ex-wife Amy obtained a restraining order against him in 1998, alleging he threatened her and one of their children.

The couple, who had two children at the time, later divorced.