Nino Benvenuti

Nino Benvenuti
Nino Benvenuti in 2010
Statistics
Real name	Giovanni Benvenuti
Nickname(s)	Nino
Rated at	Middleweight
Nationality	Italian
Born	26 April 1938 (1938-04-26) Isola d'Istria, Italy
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	90
Wins	82
Wins by KO	35
Losses	7
Draws	1
No contests	0

Olympic medal record
Men's Boxing
Gold	1960 Rome	Welterweight

Giovanni Benvenuti (born 26 April 1938 in Isola d´Istria, Italy, today Izola, Slovenia), better known as Nino Benvenuti, is an Italian former boxer who is considered by many, including noted boxing writer Brian Doogan, to be the greatest boxer ever from Italy.

At the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, Benvenuti earned the Welterweight division's gold medal and the Val Barker trophy as the Games' best boxer. At the end of his amateur career he had a record of 120 wins and 1 loss.

In a brief acting career, he appeared in such films as Sundance and the Kid.

Amateur highlights

• 1956 Italian Welterweight Champion
• 1957 Italian Light Middleweight Champion
• 1957 European Light Middleweight Champion
• 1958 Italian Light Middleweight Champion
• 1959 Italian Light Middleweight Champion
• 1959 European Light Middleweight Champion
• 1960 Italian Light Middleweight Champion

• Won the Welterweight Gold Medal for Italy at the 1960 Olympics in Rome, Italy. Results were:
  • Defeated Jean Josselin (France) points
  • Defeated Ki-Soo Kim (South Korea) points
  • Defeated Chichman Mitzev (Bulgaria) points
  • Defeated Jimmy Lloyd (Great Britain) points
  • Defeated Yuri Radonyak (Soviet Union) points

Professional boxing career

On 20 January 1961, he made his professional boxing debut, beating Ben Ali Allala by decision in six rounds.

He won 29 fights in a row before challenging for the Italian Middleweight title, on 1 March 1963, in Rome against Tomasso Truppi. His winning streak extended to 30 when he knocked out Truppi in round eleven. His winning streak reached 46 wins in a row when he met former world Junior Middleweight champion Denny Moyer on 18 September 1964, beating Moyer on points in ten rounds.

After reaching 55 wins in a row, including a five-round knockout of Truppi in a rematch, he met world Jr. Middleweight champion Sandro Mazzinghi in Milan, on 18 June 1965. This was a fight the Italian public clamored for: both men were Italian, both men claimed to be the best in their division, and they had expressed desire to fight each other. Benvenuti became the world junior middleweight champion with a sixth-round knockout win. It was common, at that era, for world champions to fight for regional belts after winning the world title, so on 15 October 1965, he added the European belt at the Middleweight division, with a sixth-round knockout of Luis Folledo.

A rematch with Mazzinghi took place on 17 December 1965, and Benvenuti retained the world junior middleweight crown with a fifteen-round decision. After three non-title wins, including a twelve-round decision over Don Fullmer and a fourteen-round knockout in Germany of Jupp Elze (Benvenuti's first professional fight abroad), he travelled to South Korea, where he lost his world junior middleweight title against Ki-Soo Kim, who won by decision in fifteen rounds on 25 June 1966. Benvenuti deemed his first loss as a professional as an unjustified decision for the local boxer, and, frustrated by it, he decided to concentrate on the middleweight division instead.

On 17 April 1967, Benvenuti beat Emile Griffith by decision in fifteen rounds at New York City's Madison Square Garden, in what was the beginning of their trilogy of fights, to win the world Middleweight title. On a rematch at Shea Stadium on 29 September 1967, he lost by a decision in fifteen rounds, and the world middleweight title belt. In 1967, he wrote his autobiography, I, Benvenuti.

On 4 March 1968, Benvenuti and Griffith completed their trilogy, once again at Madison Square Garden, with Benvenuti knocking Griffith down in round nine and winning a fifteen-round decision to regain the world Middleweight title. On 14 December 1968, in San Remo, he and Fullmer met once again, and Benvenuti retained the world middleweight title with a fifteen-round decision. On 26 May 1969, Benvenuti was outpointed over ten rounds by world Light Heavyweight champion Dick Tiger in an over-the-weight, non-title match. On 4 October 1969, he retained the world Middleweight title with a seven-round disqualification win over American Fraser Scott in a foul-filled bout. On 22 November 1969, he beat former world Welterweight champion Luis Rodriguez by knockout in 11 rounds to, once again, retain his world Middleweight title.

This marked the beginning of a downfall period for Benvenuti: In his next fight, on 13 March 1970, he was knocked out in the eighth round of a non-title fight by unknown American Tom Bethea in Australia. While this upset defeat caused Bethea to get a world title shot at Benvenuti's title and Benvenuti avenged the defeat with an eighth-round knockout of Bethea himself, Benvenuti soon lost his title for the last time, being beaten by young Carlos Monzón by knockout in round twelve in Rome on 7 November 1970.

In 1971, after losing a ten-round decision to Jose Chirino, Benvenuti got a rematch with Monzon for the world Middleweight title. Benvenuti was once again beaten by Monzon, this time by knockout in round three on 8 May 1971, in Monte Carlo. He announced his retirement there, and never returned to boxing. Benvenuti had a record of 82 wins, 7 losses and 1 draw (tie) in 90 professional boxing bouts, with 35 wins by knockout. He is a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Retirement

Benvenuti became a successful businessman, show host and city counselor in Trieste. He opened a high-class restaurant and forged friendships with Monzon and Griffith, and he sent his son to take boxing classes with Griffith in New York. Monzon was a guest of honor at Benvenuti's television show several times, and, when he was accused of murdering his wife in 1988, Benvenuti became one of his most loyal supporters, visiting him in jail in Argentina several times, and clamoring for Monzon's freedom.

In 1995, Benvenuti caused sensation with the news that he was turning away from the material world and had travelled to Calcutta, India, to become a volunteer at Mother Teresa's hospice.

See also

• List of WBC world champions
• List of undisputed boxing champions

External links

• Professional boxing record for Nino Benvenuti from BoxRec
• (Italian) Official website

Sporting positions
Preceded by Sandro Mazzinghi	World Light Middleweight Champion 18 June 1965 – 25 June 1966	Succeeded by Ki-Soo Kim
Preceded by Emile Griffith	World Middleweight Champion 17 April 1967 – 29 June 1967	Succeeded by Emile Griffith
	World Middleweight Champion 4 March 1968 – 7 November 1970	Succeeded by Carlos Monzón
Preceded by Joe Frazier	Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year 1968	Succeeded by Jose Napoles