Who was better: Nicolino Locche or Willie Pastrano?

Locche is the greater fighter but not the better pure boxer in the sense that Locche did so much with his awkward offense and reflex-based defense but Pastrano could box masterclass orthodox. I may get hell for saying it but I say Pastrano is a better boxer. Locche's career makes him the greater fighter. The win over Kid really speaks volumes.

 

I love Willie, but I gotta go with Locche. The skills he posessed were unparalleled, and would've allowed him to hold his own with any fighter that's ever lived at or around his weight.

 

Effin' around with a young ATG like he's at a good-natured exhibition. It's hard not to like him. Talk about confidence.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LEKHMUCh8k[/ame]

 

I'll go with the Sardinian.

 

Either way, you've got two Italians, ey, Pete? :good

 

Indeed. I said the Sardinian to distinguish - I don't believe Willie parents were from that part of Italy. I could be wrong, though.

 

Locche.

 

Man. I don't know why I'm even trying to answer this one..I love Willie Pastrano..he's not in the ranks of the greatest champions of course, but that was to an extent his own fault..being a legendary womanizer and somewhat...uh..less than dedicated to his profession..he was nonetheless, when inspired, most typically vs Harold Johnson for the title in '63...a brilliant, fast and artistic classic dancing master/defensive boxer..relying on those great legs of his and that beautiful..laser accurate left jab..he could be great..and he was so underrated, but like I said it was his own fault. Locche is a favorite of mine too..I can watch films of his fights and can be just in awe of him..I guess that's what I enjoy and appreciate the most about this sport..is the artistic side of it. Locche was of course the more successful and proven champion of the two. Both displayed that artistic side of the sport, only in different ways, which is another aspect of boxing that's so fascinating to me..even defensive boxing alone is multifaceted..Willie relied on footwork and mobility and a fast, accurate jab, and Locche showcased the upper body's role in evading punches and making the opponent look foolish. Both were beautiful practitioners of defensive boxing, but overall, Locche was the greater of the two for the sake of the longevity of his title reign.

 

This nails it on the head about what I was saying about watching Locche and being entertained and awed at the same time. Lochhe wasn't just avoiding punishment by showcasing reflexes alone and just running around real fast like Jones did with his freakish gifts...Locche was articulating his defense through subtle upper body moves via slipping and ducking with split second precision. Face it..all defensive artistry is dependent on natural gifts to an extent, and when a fighter gets older, if he loses those reflexes and there isn't an underpinning of basic fundamentals, then he's doomed. Head moves like slipping and ducking were gifts that were only gradually lost by Locche..he had a great chin as well, and you never saw, in his last days, anyone knocking him cold as what happened to Jones..I guess Nico knew when to get out of the game when the genie finally went back into the bottle.

 

The master of pure textbook defensive boxing or the master of unorthodox, showboating defence

Its got to be the freak

Locche

 

Id definitely take Locche this isnt a hard one.

 

I won't "rate" either man..I'll just say that both are favorite fighters of mine and I delight in watching them at their best making their opposition look inept and clumsy..it's like appreciating two different artists.

 

Just fantastic! I'd trade all the Mike Tyson knockouts in the world for that 15th round display of boxing artistry.

 

Locche's rematch with Cervantes shouldn't have been stopped, and certainly would never have been at Luna Park. (Their complete rematch has been on youtube for a few years now. Form your own conclusions.) Somewhat overlooked is the fact that Locche never lost again.

At the tail end of his career, three fights from the finish in 1976, he beat Emiliano Villa over ten. Yet, four months later, it was former Olympian Villa, not Locche, who became the first to challenge Benitez for Nico's old WBA JWW Title. Even in 1976, Locche was a superb mechanic, and we lost out an an all time duel of defensive wizardly when Villa got the first shot at El Radar instead. (Prior to Locche, Villa had only been beaten by mutual conqueror Peppermint Frazer. Immediately after Benitez, Duran beat him up, in one of El Cholo's non title outings at 140, and in 1980, an undefeated Kalule in mid reign turned him back in a title bid at 154. The Villa win showed that Locche remained a top competitor at retirement.)