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 Chilean border. It has 49,132 inhabitants, and is the head town ...

, 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

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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 othe ...

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

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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 List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

, and

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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

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

References

External links

*
ibhof.com

ESPNDEPORTES_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

Boxing career

Professional boxing record

See also

References

External links