Nicolino Locche

Jimmy Is back!!

Anyways guys I came across this boxer Nicolino Locche and apparently he is one of the best defensive fighters ever, How does he compare to the likes of Tony sweat pea etc? To be honest I've never heard of the chap or seen any footage.



Discuss........

Sorry for the "not comma"

He was very good at sliping punches off the ropes. Not much in terms of offence but very tricky to hit. Seen a bit of footage on him on youtube check it out.

Much closer to Toney than Sweet Pea in that respect, as Locche didn't really have any footwork - he was all upper body / head movement and reflexes. What with him campaigning almost exclusively in Argentina (and I don't think he ever boxed outside of South / Central America in his entire career, although I could be wrong there) and having a bit of a niche style that didn't catch on with everyone, there's not as much film of his as you'd expect from a great fighter of his era, but there's still a decent amount going and his clowing of future champion Antonio Cervantes in their first fight was remarkable.

Not sure if Locche is generally underrated or if it's more down to people just not feeling comfortable rating him as they don't know enough or haven't seen enough of him....Maybe more underappreciated than underrated? His record arguably entitles him to be included inside the top five Light-Welters in history (the most stacked division outside of the original eight along with Super-Featherweight) and as a defensive fighter he doesn't have that many equals, yet his profile is pretty low even compared to the likes of Whitaker and Starling, two other brilliant defensive fighters who are often labelled as 'underrated.'

Doesn't help that he missed out on a few fights against proper all-time greats in or around his division by just a couple of years here or there. Had he peaked or come to prominence a shade earlier, he could have faced off against Napoles before he (Napoles) made his new home at Wetler, and had he peaked a couple of years later there would have been another outstanding defender in Benitez emerging at 140, and who knows, maybe even a young Duran could have been tempted up to have a crack at the Light-Welter title, too. Those kind of fights could have defined him and established him as an undisputed all-time pound for pound great rather than just a truly great Light-Welter. The closest thing he has to something like that is his draw with Carlos Ortiz - which most felt Ortiz won.

But nevertheless, brilliant showman and a freak of nature in terms of body movement and reflexes.

Total fights 136
Wins 117
Wins by KO 14
Losses 4

Not a bad recoed tbh.

Shame Windy's not still around - Locche was one of his favourite all-time fighters and I'm pretty sure he'd have had some good pointers with regards to him, or some interesting stories to tell about Locche from back in the day. Think milky is a bit of a Locche fan as well....The floor is yours, milk man.

Anyway, have a stupendous Christmas, lads. Hope everyone has a cracking holiday season.

88Chris05 wrote:Much closer to Toney than Sweet Pea in that respect, as Locche didn't really have any footwork - he was all upper body / head movement and reflexes. What with him campaigning almost exclusively in Argentina (and I don't think he ever boxed outside of South / Central America in his entire career, although I could be wrong there) and having a bit of a niche style that didn't catch on with everyone, there's not as much film of his as you'd expect from a great fighter of his era, but there's still a decent amount going and his clowing of future champion Antonio Cervantes in their first fight was remarkable.

Not sure if Locche is generally underrated or if it's more down to people just not feeling comfortable rating him as they don't know enough or haven't seen enough of him....Maybe more underappreciated than underrated? His record arguably entitles him to be included inside the top five Light-Welters in history (the most stacked division outside of the original eight along with Super-Featherweight) and as a defensive fighter he doesn't have that many equals, yet his profile is pretty low even compared to the likes of Whitaker and Starling, two other brilliant defensive fighters who are often labelled as 'underrated.'

Doesn't help that he missed out on a few fights against proper all-time greats in or around his division by just a couple of years here or there. Had he peaked or come to prominence a shade earlier, he could have faced off against Napoles before he (Napoles) made his new home at Wetler, and had he peaked a couple of years later there would have been another outstanding defender in Benitez emerging at 140, and who knows, maybe even a young Duran could have been tempted up to have a crack at the Light-Welter title, too. Those kind of fights could have defined him and established him as an undisputed all-time pound for pound great rather than just a truly great Light-Welter. The closest thing he has to something like that is his draw with Carlos Ortiz - which most felt Ortiz won.

But nevertheless, brilliant showman and a freak of nature in terms of body movement and reflexes.

This pretty much sums it up, From the few fights i've seen on youtube - I might favour him over a very young Duran

KO-KING wrote:This pretty much sums it up, From the few fights i've seen on youtube - I might favour him over a very young Duran

Truss agrees with you there, mate. I just know it.

Joking aside, Duran-Locche at 140 is a cracking fight to ponder. Benitez showed you can stay close to Duran and still do a job on him if you can use his momentum against him and slips his shots inside without moving backwards....But Benitez was a bigger guy than Locche, for sure (I tend to think that Light-Middle was Benitez's most natural weight class) and had a natural strength advantage over Duran which Locche wouldn't.

Benitez also had a good whack on him which Locche can't boast. The main key to beating Duran, as history shows, is being cute defensively and making him lose patience, but at the same time guys like De Jesus and Benitez were able to get inside his head and deck / stun him with their own decent power. Can't see Locche doing that.

I think a young Duran has a bit too much for Locche and may stop him late on after a cracking fight. Think Locche might just have been able to beat Chavez, though, who was Duran-lite.

88Chris05 wrote:

KO-KING wrote:This pretty much sums it up, From the few fights i've seen on youtube - I might favour him over a very young Duran

Truss agrees with you there, mate. I just know it.

Joking aside, Duran-Locche at 140 is a cracking fight to ponder. Benitez showed you can stay close to Duran and still do a job on him if you can use his momentum against him and slips his shots inside without moving backwards....But Benitez was a bigger guy than Locche, for sure (I tend to think that Light-Middle was Benitez's most natural weight class) and had a natural strength advantage over Duran which Locche wouldn't.

Benitez also had a good whack on him which Locche can't boast. The main key to beating Duran, as history shows, is being cute defensively and making him lose patience, but at the same time guys like De Jesus and Benitez were able to get inside his head and deck / stun him with their own decent power. Can't see Locche doing that.

I think a young Duran has a bit too much for Locche and may stop him late on after a cracking fight. Think Locche might just have been able to beat Chavez, though, who was Duran-lite.

By young I was referring to the one Ken Buchanan fought - still a world class fighter, but Buchanan at times held his own in that fight - then again he was no bum either, The Chavez that sweet Pea fought seemed a bit slower than the prime version - or may be he was just that much slower that Whittikar. Am a Duran fan... so i'll agree with your breakdown of the fantasy Locche - duran matchup