BoxRec

I saw some of Nicolino Loccher fights at youtube and I tell you, I was very impressed. This guy never got the recognition he deserved. I wonder why? This guy was a hell of a master fighter. Make you miss by slipping punches being on the ropes and also in the middle of the ring. I have seen defensive masters like the greats Willie Pep, Pernell Whitaker and Wilfred Benitez and the underrated Chris Byrd and Jimmy Young. But none of them was better fighter, in terms of defense as this genius. He fought over 136 fights, winning 117 of them and lost only 4 and drew 14. He had only 14KOs, and that was the achilles' hill in his arsenal. Beat 7 world champions: Antonio Cervantes, Carlos "Morocho" Hernandez, Eddie Perkins, Sandro Lopopolo, Joe Brown, Paul Fuji, and Pedro Adigue. He drew with lightweight champions Ismael Laguna and Carlos Ortiz. He also beat LC Morgan, Jaime Gine, and Sebastiao Nascimiento.
Was Sout American Lightweight Champion and went 128 bouts without being stopped. He had an excellent chin...He was only stopped once in 136 bouts....Wow, what a resume. He is not in my list of the 100 greatest pound per pound fighters of all-time, but, after seeing some fights of him, I got to reconsider. I saw his fight with Fuji, for the World WBA Jr. Welterweight Title and he gave this Hawaiian the boxing lesson of his life. Fuji could not find him and was very frustrated. This got to be Locche's finest moment!

Have any of you guys seen this guy fight?
How would he fared in your opinion against these all-time greats:
Roberto Duran
Wilfred Benitez
Pernell Whitaker
Aaron Pryor
Duilio Loi
Julio Cesar Chavez
Manny Pacquiao
Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
Oscar De La Hoya
Shane Mosley?

A fading Loi COULD have hypothetically faced a "not ready for prime time" Nicolino.

I can't help but wonder how that would have turned out.

The best defensive master I've ever seen on film alongside Hilario Zapata. Locche was perhaps even more impressive, though, due to his lack of any notable physical attributes. Just supreme defensive awareness/technique. Check out his fight with Carlos Hernandez next. He gets clocked with a huge overhand right to the temple (and a short follow-up barrage) in the 2nd round and put on his ass, only to shake it off, get up and continue making a monkey of one of the better champions in the division's history. What poise and control he had, especially given his rather unhealthy way of living/training. The modern era equivalent of Young Griffo.

How would he fared in your opinion against these all-time greats:
Roberto Duran
Wilfred Benitez
Pernell Whitaker
Aaron Pryor
Duilio Loi
Julio Cesar Chavez
Manny Pacquiao
Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
Oscar De La Hoya
Shane Mosley?

Pick'em with Loi. He losses to the rest of them more often than not.

I think Locche would make a fool of Shane, personally.

I used to be a huge fan of his. And I should say Im still a fan. But ive recently had the opportunity to see a considerable amount of his footage not readily available and I must say he is much more impressive in the fights that are already well distributed. He had a tendency to fight down to his level of opposition, stall, and spoil. In short, against the right opponent he looked fantastic but a lot more he was really kind of maddening to watch because of his negative way of fighting and over reliance on defense.

Nicolino went undefeated in more than 50 fights twice. Something like 72 straight bouts without a loss. Incredible. Maybe because this master never fought in America or Europe might be the case for him that is not taken seriously in his accomplishments. He was WBA World Jr. Welterweight Champion for 4 years, making 5 title defenses. A true ATG.

klompton wrote:I used to be a huge fan of his. And I should say Im still a fan. But ive recently had the opportunity to see a considerable amount of his footage not readily available and I must say he is much more impressive in the fights that are already well distributed. He had a tendency to fight down to his level of opposition, stall, and spoil. In short, against the right opponent he looked fantastic but a lot more he was really kind of maddening to watch because of his negative way of fighting and over reliance on defense.

I haven't seen all that much footage of him but enough to know exactly what you mean. I can't hold him up to the same level as Pep because he was so much more inclined to be negative.