Nicolino Locche (September 2, 1939 – September 7, 2005) was an Argentine boxer from
Tunuyán
Tunuyán is a city in the west of the province of Mendoza, Argentina, located on the western shore of the Tunuyán River, south from the provincial capital Mendoza and east of the Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a cou ...
,
Mendoza who held the World Junior Welterweight title from 1968 to 1972. Locche is often cited as one of the finest defensive boxers of all time and was inducted into the
International Boxing Hall of Fame
The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The I ...
in 2003.
Boxing career
Locche was known as ''"El Intocable"'' ("''The Untouchable''") due to his defensive mastery, and became the
Lineal and
WBA Light Welterweight
Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing Professional boxing
In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...
Champion in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
on December 12, 1968, after defeating
Paul Takeshi Fuji by technical knockout after Fuji refused to start the 10th round out of frustration because of exhaustion and his inability to connect punches on "The Untouchable," according to the Argentine boxing commentators' recount of the bout (Dotora, 2004).
Locche became an idol in Argentina and routinely sold out the
Luna Park, Buenos Aires
Estadio Luna Park (commonly known as Luna Park) is a multi-purpose arena in Buenos Aires. Located at the corner of Avenida Corrientes and Avenida Bouchard; in the San Nicolás neighborhood. Initially, the arena primarily hosted boxing and other ...
every time he fought at the well known boxing arena. His boxing style made him a legend. He possessed uncanny reflexes, standing in front of his opponents with his hands lowered at his sides, behind his back or even resting on his knees as he slipped, bobbed and weaved to avoid his opponent's punches.
Numerous Argentine sources also cite the fact that Locche's approach towards submitting himself to traditional boxing training and discipline was sometimes lackadaisical. For example, Locche was a known habitual cigarette smoker throughout most if not all of his boxing career and his adherence to the strict dietary requirements of his trade was often quite flexible. It was not unusual to see his seconds crowd around him during the 1 minute break between rounds where he would be puffing furiously on a cigarette.
Locche defended his title six times, against Carlos Hernandez,
João Henrique, Adolph Pruitt,
Antonio Cervantes
Antonio Cervantes (born December 23, 1945) is a Colombian boxing trainer and former professional boxer who competed from 1961 to 1983. He held the WBA and ''The Ring'' light welterweight title twice between 1972 and 1980.
In 2002, Cervantes ...
and Domingo Barrera Corpas, before losing it to
Alfonso Frazier in
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...
on March 10, 1972. Locche failed to regain the World Champion belt in a rematch with Cervantes (a.k.a., Kid Pambelé) and retired in 1975.
He was champion of
Mendoza,
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, and
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
n lightweight and Jr. welterweight. Locche turned professional at the age of 19 and amassed a record of 117-4-14 (14 draws). Therefore, holding an overall record of 234-9-14. He was inducted to the
International Boxing Hall of Fame
The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The I ...
in 2003.
The Ring has retroactively certified him as
lineal Junior Welterweight champion from 1968 to 1972.
Locche died in
Las Heras in 2005, of heart failure.
Professional boxing record
See also
*
List of light welterweight boxing champions
This is a chronological List of World Super Lightweight/Light Welterweight/Junior Welterweight Boxing Champions, as recognized by four of the better-known sanctioning organizations:
* The World Boxing Association (WBA), founded in 1921 as the Nati ...
*
List of WBA world champions
This is a list of WBA world champions, showing every world champion certified by the World Boxing Association (WBA). The list also includes champions certified by the National Boxing Association (NBA), the predecessor to the WBA.
Boxers who won t ...
References
External links
*
ibhof.comESPNDEPORTES_Argentina* Articles from Argentina
* Article from Urugua
El Observador
{{DEFAULTSORT:Locche, Nicolino
1939 births
2005 deaths
Argentine people of Italian descent
Argentine people of Sardinian descent
International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees
Light-welterweight boxers
Sportspeople from Mendoza Province
World boxing champions
Argentine male boxers