article by Nicola Pucci
The name of Nicolino Locche arouses curiosity, when leafing through the boxing encyclopedia which recounts the exploits of its most successful champions. Because if it’s true that he had Sardinian blood in his veinssixth child of Felipe and Nicolina who from Villasor, on the outskirts of Cagliari, went to seek their fortune on the other side of the Atlantic after the war, saw the light in Tunuyán, on 2 September 1939, in Argentina and in that province of Mendoza which at the end of a truly uncommon career will elect him an honorary citizen. Why by dint of throwing blows, but above all by knowing how to dodge them, he will be able to climb to the roof of the world.
Yes, because Nicolino, who entered the gym for the first time at 8 years old and started boxing at 9 under the careful guidance of Francisco Mora Bermudez, said “Paco“, who will be his coach and manager for his entire career, and who as an amateur lost only 5 matches against 122 victories, turning professional in 1958, for his defensive skills and extraordinary reflexes, with the sometimes millimetric movement of his torso, with the sudden twisting of his neck, with the way of bending his arms, which allowed him to escape the blows delivered by his opponents, he deserved the nickname of “the untouchable“. And never was a label more appropriate, indeed on the day that will proclaim him super lightweight world championrising to the rank of hero as, among Argentine boxers, only Carlos Monzon was able to do.
Locche’s boxing activity progressed gradually, with the Argentine lightweight title in 1961 defeating Jaime Gine on points after 12 tight rounds and, in 1963, the South American title beating, always by verdict of the judges and others Luna Park from Buenos Aires, the Brazilian Sebastião Nascimento, who surrendered in 15 equally hard-fought rounds. What if with Abel Laudonio he gives life to a challenge in two acts which sees him succumb at the national level and instead establish himself at a continental levelDecember 18, 1965 defeats Hugo Rambaldi, taking the title of Argentine lightweight champion for the last time.
In truth Locche’s competitive path never emigrates beyond its homeland bordersalso crossing gloves with boxers of the caliber of the Panamanian Ismael Laguna and the Puerto Rican Carlos Ortiz, holders of the lightweight title, the Italian Sandro Lopopolo, in turn reigning super lightweight world champion, the Americans Langston Morgan and Eddie Perkins and the Mexican Alfredo Urbina, all forced to surrender to his boxing made more of sacrifices than attacks, and then, on 12 December 1968, it was time to leave the country for the first time, with the WBA super lightweight world title up for grabs, at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan of Tokyo, to the feared and very strong Paul Takeshi Fuji, of Hawaiian origins, boxer known for his aggression. A true warrior of the ring.
And in the presence of over 10,000 enthusiasts, astonished by the spectacle that unfolds before their eyes, Locche doesn’t really deviate from his boxing creedthat is to say “first don’t take them“, and if with the fist, certainly not the kind to make the opponents tremble, it still offends the face of the Japanese-American, here it is evading Fuji’s blows with moves like a ring dancer is an art in which the Argentine is so skilled as to exasperate the title holder to the point of forcing him, exhausted, to retire in the tenth round.
Nicolino Locche climbs to the top of the world, and it won’t really be the last time either, because he then defends the title five timesalways at the arena of Luna Park of Buenos Aires and always winning all matches on points in fifteen rounds. He defeats one after the other the Venezuelan, former world champion, Carlos Hernandez (who had beaten Perkins himself), the future opponents of Bruno Arcari, the Brazilian João Henrique and the Spanish Domingo Barrera Corpas, the American Adolph Pruitt de Colombian Antonio Cervantes, future WBA world champion. It will then be the turn of Panamanian Alfonso Frazer, on 10 March 1972 in front of the public friend of the New Panama Gym, knock him off the throne, beating him on points, just as a last attempt to regain the world championship belt will fail against Cervantes himself, who on March 17, 1973al Maestranza César Girón of Maracay, Venezuela, he will inflict on him the only defeat before the limit in his career, a knockout in the ninth round.
Beaten in the ring, like Even cigarette smoke will defeat himindispensable life companions even at ringside, between one shot and another, in defiance of the health rules that would impose an athlete’s regime, decreeing his death at the age of 66 due to pulmonary complications.
Nothing but virtues and vices by Nicolino Locchea professional boxer, who better than anyone else expressed the concept that “the best offense is defense“.
2024-06-23 11:52:00
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