Intro:

The family of Hector "Macho" Camacho were trying to decide on Wednesday whether he should be removed from life support after a shooting in his Puerto Rican hometown left the former boxing champion clinging to life.

Script:

Doctors in San Juan have said that former champion boxer Hector "Macho" Camacho has irregular and intermittent brain activity.

Doctors had initially though Camacho was in a critical, but stable condition after he was shot on Tuesday night in the city of Bayamon.

However his condition worsened overnight and his heart stopped at one point.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Dr. Ernesto Torres, Centro Medico trauma center, director:
"We ask God that he's able to come out of this, but he will most probably be paralysed down one half of his body. One of the positive things is that he is strong. He is a good athlete."

The 50-year-old was shot as he and a friend sat in a Ford Mustang parked outside a bar.

A police spokesman said officers found nine small bags of cocaine in the friend's pocket, and a tenth bag open inside the car.

Camacho's mother, who flew in from New York on Wednesday, will lead the discussion about whether he should be removed from life support.