1972 Lightweight champion Roberto Duran vs Lightwelterweight champion Nicolino Locche

[Joey Giardello]

Who takes it?

[PAC-BOY]

Duran all day

[mickey malone]

Hard to call.. Unusual in the sense that it matches an incredibly underrated ATG against one who tends to get labled as overrated, but tbh, i don't think Locche ever faced anyone of Duran's intensity, and intensity at it's upmost is what would be needed to break down a fighter of Locche's quality..
On the other hand, if the Duran who quit against Leonard turned up, then Locche would have made him look even silliar..
For those who don't know, Nicolino Lochhe is a top 10 defensive fighter of all time who was only ever stopped once in 136 contests which i believe was the 136th against a prime Antonio Cervantes.. During his prime, he was probably the best that ever lived at not getting hit.. His only minus was lack of power, which he more than made up for in boxing ability..
I don't think this fight is cut and dried by any means and Duran would have to hurt Locche in order to beat him, and i very much doubt Roberto would get to him early.. Imo, the only way Locche wins this is by making him quit or DC, and wins over Paul Fujii and Carlos Hernandez don't quite measure up to Buchanan and DeJesus..
I'd tip Duran, to break Nicolino down around the 13th or 14th rounds, but only if he's at his very very best..
Over 10 or 12?.. Well tbh, the less rounds there are, the more i'd go in favour of Locche..

[wmute]

In 72, Duran might have been raw enough for Locche to successfully use all his guile and get the nod. Duran always showed discomfort (I don't want to say he was in trouble with them because that would be bull****) with fighters who moved and refused to engage, and if a fighter could refuse to engage, that would be Locche. 72 Duran might be too crude.

[BennyST]

One of Locche's biggest problems was that, while he was defensively brilliant, he often won fights on that alone and not the fact that he hurt the other guy, or even won all the exchanges. In fact, while he is without a doubt one of the greatest defensive boxers ever, he was not that great a fighter all around. He was more or less ineffective against the best he fought, apart from Cervantes the first time and was nearly unable to mount any decent type of offense. In 130 plus fights he was able to only TKO/KO 14 opponents and they were less than stellar.

Against great fighters like Joe Brown, Carlos Ortiz etc he was only able to get a draw because he couldn't beat them as such because he wasn't ever able to do enough offensively. In these fights against genuinely great offensive fighters with solid defensive skills that were fast and could punch, he had a lot of trouble. He got flat out beaten, pretty easily, by Ortiz in a decision in Argentina that even Locche's fans booed. Because he couldn't do anything effective against these guys he just clinched the whole fight and still lost all the exchanges.

Edit: Sorry, it's not Brown I'm thinking of. I just checked his record and an old Brown lost a close decision to Locche.

I think a Duran fight would play out like these or maybe even like the second Cervantes fight. You had to at least be able to keep Duran semi honest with a hard punch to keep him off you and the one thing Locche had zero of was anything resembling power and he just couldn't be effective against guys like Duran. Against a slower, crude brawler in Fuji he was very good, but against someone that is faster than him and throws in combination and to the body I just don't think he would stand a chance of winning.

Actually, it's quite possible he would get the draw if it was in Argentina.

No, in all honesty, when guys like the great fighters Ismael Laguna, Joe Brown, Carlos Ortiz and the not as great, but still good fighters like Alfonso Frazier were able to beat him with relative certainty (though all but Frazier were given a draw, while Frazier won a solid decision) and even the hard punching Abel Laudonio beat him, I don't think Duran would have much trouble at all. Locche wasn't good at keeping fighters off him. He didn't run and move a lot. He just stood in front of you and let you throw and tried to move, slip etc. Against a strong guy that would throw hard, fast combo's all night and had the ability to get inside very quickly, he would have a lot of trouble IMO.

Other very good fighters like Jaime Gine, Manuel Sixto Alvarez and Vicente Milan Derado either beat him or got any number of draws in Argentina against him, which you can say is a loss in all reality.

He would frustrate and show his usual flashes of defensive brilliance but would be reduced to clinching and just trying to not get knocked out by the end and would lose an easy decision or get a draw if it was in Argentina.

[sonnyboyx2]

Hard to call.. Unusual in the sense that it matches an incredibly underrated ATG against one who tends to get labled as overrated, but tbh, i don't think Locche ever faced anyone of Duran's intensity, and intensity at it's upmost is what would be needed to break down a fighter of Locche's quality..
On the other hand, if the Duran who quit against Leonard turned up, then Locche would have made him look even silliar..
For those who don't know, Nicolino Lochhe is a top 10 defensive fighter of all time who was only ever stopped once in 136 contests which i believe was the 136th against a prime Antonio Cervantes.. During his prime, he was probably the best that ever lived at not getting hit.. His only minus was lack of power, which he more than made up for in boxing ability..
I don't think this fight is cut and dried by any means and Duran would have to hurt Locche in order to beat him, and i very much doubt Roberto would get to him early.. Imo, the only way Locche wins this is by making him quit or DC, and wins over Paul Fujii and Carlos Hernandez don't quite measure up to Buchanan and DeJesus..
I'd tip Duran, to break Nicolino down around the 13th or 14th rounds, but only if he's at his very very best..
Over 10 or 12?.. Well tbh, the less rounds there are, the more i'd go in favour of Locche..

Duran of 1972 was totally different to Duran of 1980 who said "NO MAS".. Duran was very very fast on his feet and excellent at cutting off the ring, like you pointed out he was a completely different proposion to Fujii & Hernandez, he also carried bombs in both hands... Duran fought with fire in his belly and a fierce will to win.. This would be an incredible match-up but only in that "Could Locche last the distance".... maybe he could maybe he couldn`t, we will never know... yet i dont think he could win

[Silencers]

One of Locche's biggest problems was that, while he was defensively brilliant, he often won fights on that alone and not the fact that he hurt the other guy, or even won all the exchanges. In fact, while he is without a doubt one of the greatest defensive boxers ever, he was not that great a fighter all around. He was more or less ineffective against the best he fought, apart from Cervantes the first time and was nearly unable to mount any decent type of offense. In 130 plus fights he was able to only TKO/KO 14 opponents and they were less than stellar.

Against great fighters like Joe Brown, Carlos Ortiz etc he was only able to get a draw because he couldn't beat them as such because he wasn't ever able to do enough offensively. In these fights against genuinely great offensive fighters with solid defensive skills that were fast and could punch, he had a lot of trouble. He got flat out beaten, pretty easily, by Ortiz in a decision in Argentina that even Locche's fans booed. Because he couldn't do anything effective against these guys he just clinched the whole fight and still lost all the exchanges.

Edit: Sorry, it's not Brown I'm thinking of. I just checked his record and an old Brown lost a close decision to Locche.

I think a Duran fight would play out like these or maybe even like the second Cervantes fight. You had to at least be able to keep Duran semi honest with a hard punch to keep him off you and the one thing Locche had zero of was anything resembling power and he just couldn't be effective against guys like Duran. Against a slower, crude brawler in Fuji he was very good, but against someone that is faster than him and throws in combination and to the body I just don't think he would stand a chance of winning.

Actually, it's quite possible he would get the draw if it was in Argentina.

No, in all honesty, when guys like the great fighters Ismael Laguna, Joe Brown, Carlos Ortiz and the not as great, but still good fighters like Alfonso Frazier were able to beat him with relative certainty (though all but Frazier were given a draw, while Frazier won a solid decision) and even the hard punching Abel Laudonio beat him, I don't think Duran would have much trouble at all. Locche wasn't good at keeping fighters off him. He didn't run and move a lot. He just stood in front of you and let you throw and tried to move, slip etc. Against a strong guy that would throw hard, fast combo's all night and had the ability to get inside very quickly, he would have a lot of trouble IMO.

Other very good fighters like Jaime Gine, Manuel Sixto Alvarez and Vicente Milan Derado either beat him or got any number of draws in Argentina against him, which you can say is a loss in all reality.

He would frustrate and show his usual flashes of defensive brilliance but would be reduced to clinching and just trying to not get knocked out by the end and would lose an easy decision or get a draw if it was in Argentina.

I agree with this.

[TheGreatA]

One of Locche's biggest problems was that, while he was defensively brilliant, he often won fights on that alone and not the fact that he hurt the other guy, or even won all the exchanges. In fact, while he is without a doubt one of the greatest defensive boxers ever, he was not that great a fighter all around. He was more or less ineffective against the best he fought, apart from Cervantes the first time and was nearly unable to mount any decent type of offense. In 130 plus fights he was able to only TKO/KO 14 opponents and they were less than stellar.

Against great fighters like Joe Brown, Carlos Ortiz etc he was only able to get a draw because he couldn't beat them as such because he wasn't ever able to do enough offensively. In these fights against genuinely great offensive fighters with solid defensive skills that were fast and could punch, he had a lot of trouble. He got flat out beaten, pretty easily, by Ortiz in a decision in Argentina that even Locche's fans booed. Because he couldn't do anything effective against these guys he just clinched the whole fight and still lost all the exchanges.

Edit: Sorry, it's not Brown I'm thinking of. I just checked his record and an old Brown lost a close decision to Locche.

I think a Duran fight would play out like these or maybe even like the second Cervantes fight. You had to at least be able to keep Duran semi honest with a hard punch to keep him off you and the one thing Locche had zero of was anything resembling power and he just couldn't be effective against guys like Duran. Against a slower, crude brawler in Fuji he was very good, but against someone that is faster than him and throws in combination and to the body I just don't think he would stand a chance of winning.

Actually, it's quite possible he would get the draw if it was in Argentina.

No, in all honesty, when guys like the great fighters Ismael Laguna, Joe Brown, Carlos Ortiz and the not as great, but still good fighters like Alfonso Frazier were able to beat him with relative certainty (though all but Frazier were given a draw, while Frazier won a solid decision) and even the hard punching Abel Laudonio beat him, I don't think Duran would have much trouble at all. Locche wasn't good at keeping fighters off him. He didn't run and move a lot. He just stood in front of you and let you throw and tried to move, slip etc. Against a strong guy that would throw hard, fast combo's all night and had the ability to get inside very quickly, he would have a lot of trouble IMO.

Other very good fighters like Jaime Gine, Manuel Sixto Alvarez and Vicente Milan Derado either beat him or got any number of draws in Argentina against him, which you can say is a loss in all reality.

He would frustrate and show his usual flashes of defensive brilliance but would be reduced to clinching and just trying to not get knocked out by the end and would lose an easy decision or get a draw if it was in Argentina.

I have to disagree slightly. While Locche was mostly all defense, I wouldn't say he was ineffective against very good/great fighters.

The Ortiz fight was controversial but on film it seems like a close fight and Locche certainly gave Carlos plenty of trouble, see signature. Ortiz did not seem to have a problem with the draw decision.

Joe Brown was old at the time Locche beat him, but the underrated Eddie Perkins was close to his best. Locche also drew with Ismael Laguna. Against Antonio Cervantes, a hall of famer and a future long-reigning champion, Locche won every single round on the scorecards. Locche also beat plenty of solid/good contenders and title holders at the weight, most of whose names are now forgotten but who were the very best in the division at the time.

In just his 11th professional fight, Locche beat 69-0 Jaime Gine. Before ever getting a title shot at 29 years of age and 100+ professional bouts, Locche had beaten all-time light welterweight Eddie Perkins, former champ Sandro Lopopolo, the underrated Alfredo Urbina, welterweight contender Everaldo Azevedo and drawn with lightweight champions Carlos Ortiz and Ismael Laguna.

Yet he still went into the title fight against Takeshi Fuji as an underdog. Fuji had a reputation as a puncher and had knocked out most of his opponents. He was good as long as he could find something to hit but against Locche he didn't. A frustrated and beaten Fuji quit after 10 rounds. Locche went onto defend his title against former champ Carlos Hernandez, unbeaten Joao Henrique, top contender Adolph Pruitt, future HOFer Antonio Cervantes.

He lost his title to Alfonso 'Peppermint' Frazier and failed to regain it against Antonio Cervantes, but in Locche's defense he was over 33 years of age and did very little training for those fights. At age 37 he was still able to beat top ranked contender Emiliano Villa, who had beaten the man who had beaten him Alfonso Frazer. Locche retired not long after this win, unbeaten in his last 7 bouts.

[TheGreatA]

Locche was also tough as nails as well as a great defensive fighter so I'm not too sure if even Duran could stop him. Against southpaw Domingo Corpas, Locche badly injured his left arm much like Danny Williams vs Mark Potter (if you've ever seen that fight) and was horribly cut but he rallied in the late rounds to seal a decision win with only one arm and impaired vision.

[The_Demon]

Duran late stoppage.just too much for locche