Let's anaylse Niccolino Locche

I'll defo post that vid in a minute. You already know i have him in my mind as the man with the best defence ever, which is of course debatable. I know you stated before today that he could use lateral movement, and i don't doubt that, but the footage we have him where he hardly does, and employs his defence to perfection is simply breathtaking. He's schooling Cervantes in their rematch at times before he gets cut and Cervantes gets on top of him (likely Locche past his best in fairness).

The way he can cling to his man and move the head up and down to dodge straight shots is just insane, the way he seems to have a forcefield around his torso impresses me even more.

 

The best footage available of him by far is against Fuji. That would probably be the fight to watch to get the best idea of his abilities. That said, he seemed to have more bounce in his step against Ortiz in the small HL of the fight on Youtube, and was a tad more slender. So it's likely that Locche at his best was better than anything we've actually seen on film, though he looked about as good as it gets against Fuji.

As to the question, I just think he had an innate ring radar. His reaction time was phenomenal. He saw punches coming well before they were within landing distance, and was often able to counter off of a miss just as quicly. It was like he saw things in slow motion and took the perfect opening every time.

Not only that, but it appears from contemporary accounts and the limited footage available that he knew a plethora of crafty little tricks that opponents just didn't know how to deal with. Even Ortiz looked befuddled at times in the footage of their fight. The guy was just a master craftsman, simple as.

 

I can't find the clip of him and Ortiz by the way.

 

Locche shut out a future hall of famer on the scorecards and made a durable opponent quit for not being able to hit him.

I'd say that the first Cervantes fight was his last great performance. The fight against Fuji was a clinic and likely his best completely filmed performance. Can't imagine the frustration Fuji was going through, he was throwing everything from every angle and hardly landed a punch.

I'd like to see more of his fights against Carlos Ortiz and Ismael Laguna, both great fighters in their own right. Not sure if his fight against Eddie Perkins was ever filmed.

Locche vs Carlos Hernandez sounds like an exciting fight. He also proved he was tough against Domingo Corpas, when he suffered numerous injuries and went the 15 round distance.

Locche fights Carlos Ortiz:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP5w-d8U73s

Locche wins the title:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsRX6r19ws0

Locche the untouchable:

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

A short HL I made of him:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ct2jCu7y9Y
3:20

 

Thanks GreatA, and nice music in your one. In the Ortiz one, all i can say is the great Carlos Ortiz looks very pissed off there.

That 'the intouchable' one, i think about 3 and a half mins in, listen to that crowd, it's like a football match.

 

Yeah it's your one.

 

On that vid i mentioned above, when i first discovered it for myself, i just kept playing that bit over and over again, it's some special **** that.

 

He's one of the best at sensing an opponent's intention. Has great presence of mind in there. He keys off of not a punch, but the intention of a punch, a shoulder turn, a foot movement, also the pattern his guy has shown him in the course of the fight...

One thing I notice about Locche and all the guys that are great at this, was they look off sometimes, almost away, seeming into space, but what they're doing is getting a full view of their guy, so they won't miss the intention of their guy's movement. Beyond speed and footwork, the guys that were best at this had a very clear, keen instinct.

 

Wasn't one of the things that made Willie Pep so good was, aware of his opponent's keying off his intention, he'd give them one indication, then another, and when they committed he'd go with something else?

 

Jesus Christ. That display in the 15th round vs Cervantes was somethin else. And Cervantes was a GREAT fighter.

Locche was special.