Nino Benvenuti

Nino Benvenuti
Benvenuti in 2010
Born
Giovanni Benvenuti

(1938-04-26) 26 April 1938 (age 86)
NationalityItalian
Other namesNino
Statistics
Weight class
Weight(s)79.5 kg (175 lb)
Height1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights90
Wins82
Wins by KO35
Losses7
Draws1
Medal record
Men's amateur boxing
Representing  Italy
Olympics
Gold medal – first place 1960 Rome Welterweight
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 1957 Prague Light middleweight
Gold medal – first place 1959 Lucerne Light middleweight

Giovanni "Nino" Benvenuti (born 26 April 1938) is an Italian former professional boxer and actor. He held world titles in two weight classes, having held the undisputed super-welterweight championship from June 1965 to June 1966 and the undisputed middleweight championship twice, from April to September 1967, and from March 1968 to November 1970. As an amateur welterweight boxer he won the Italian title in 1956–60, the European title in 1957 and 1959, and an Olympic gold medal in 1960, receiving the Val Barker trophy for boxing style. In 1961, having an amateur record of 120-0, he turned professional and won world titles in the light-middleweight division and twice in the middleweight division.[1] Near the end of his boxing career he appeared in two Italian films, Sundance and the Kid (1969) and then in Mark Shoots First (1975).[2]

Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992. He currently ranks No.32 in BoxRec's ranking of the greatest pound for pound boxers of all time.[3] In 1968, Benvenuti was voted Fighter of the Year by The Ring magazine. In 2011, The Ring magazine ranked him as seventh on their list of the "10 best middleweight title holders of the last 50 years."[4]

  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Nino Benvenuti". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
  2. ^ Alive or Preferably Dead. IMDb
  3. ^ "BoxRec ratings: world, pound-for-pound, active and inactive". BoxRec. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  4. ^ "10: Best middleweight titleholders of the last 50 years". RingTV. Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved December 22, 2017.