Camacho Rocked but Wins Split Decision : Champion in Serious Trouble Twice; Tyson Victor on Undercard

Unbeaten Hector (Macho) Camacho escaped serious trouble in the fifth and 11th rounds Friday night and retained his World Boxing Council lightweight championship with a 12-round split decision over Edwin Rosario at Madison Square Garden.

It was a controversial ending to the fight, with many in the crowd of 10,615 voicing their displeasure.

Camacho needed all his considerable boxing skill to keep the title as Rosario, a former WBC lightweight champion, applied pressure and scored with booming rights to the head.

It looked as if Rosario might regain the title when, 50 seconds into the fifth round, he hurt Camacho with a right-left combination to the head. He scored several more hard punches, but the challenger from Puerto Rico couldn’t put together a winning combination.

In the 11th round, Camacho’s legs turned to rubber again when Rosario landed two more thunderous rights. But again, Rosario couldn’t finish the job.

Judge Luis Rivera scored it 114-113 for Rosario, while judges Tony Castellano and Stewart Kirschenbaum eached scored it 115-113 for the champion from New York.

Three other fighters also stayed unbeaten on the undercard.

Heavyweight Mike Tyson, 217, of Catskill, N.Y., ran his record to 22-0 with 20 knockouts when he stopped Reggie Gross, 218, of Baltimore, in the first round.

Julio Cesar Chavez, 130, of Mexico, knocked down Refugio Rojas three times and stopped him in the seventh round to retain the WBC super-featherweight title. Chavez is now 48-0 with 43 knockouts.

And Matthew Hilton, 153 1/2, a junior-middleweight contender from Canada, ran his record to 23-0 with a 10-round decision over Cheto Ramos, 154, of Dallas.

Camacho, who raised his record to 30-0 with 16 knockouts, never worked harder for a victory.

“It’s a dangerous fight,” Camacho had said before the bout. “But he won’t lay a glove on me.”

Rosario (23-2) did more than lay a glove on the champion. He hurt Camacho badly.

After his fifth-round escape, Camacho, who weighed 135, used his hand and foot speed to outbox Rosario in four of the next five rounds.

At the start of the 11th, Rosario was bleeding from a cut below the right eye, and his punches seemed to have lost their snap. But suddenly, he hurt Camacho again.

Rosario, 134 pounds, took the fight to Camacho in the 12th round and seemed to have the best of it.

It was the second defense of the 135-pound title for Camacho, who held the WBC super-featherweight title before relinquishing it to campaign as a lightweight.