Nino Benvenuti
Titles: Middleweight champion 1967 and 1968-1970
Record: 82-7-1
Born: April 26, 1938 in Trieste, Italy
Years active: 1961-1971
Nickname: None
Movie star handsome Nino Benvenuti was a Olympic gold medalist in 1960
and beat out Muhammad Ali for the best fighter award. As a pro he won his
first 65 fights and quickly established himself as a middleweight contender.
Benvenuti was a smooth boxer who had both a good chin and very good stamina.
He also had the bad luck of being a middleweight at the same time as a
fighter named Carlos Monzon was peaking. When he did not receive a title
shot at the middleweight crown he dropped down in weight to gain the world
jr. middleweight title over countryman Sandro Mazzinghi. But making weight
was too much and he lost the title in his first defense to Ki Soo Kim,
in Seoul Korea, he would not let the defeat hold him down for long. Nino
came back at middleweight and beat Emile Griffith for the world middleweight
title. His 3 fight series of fights with Emile Griffith illustrated what
two excellent boxers could accomplish in the ring. Like Griffith Benvenuti
was not a knockout artist, but a quick, clever boxer. Benvenuti came away
winning 2 of the 3 bouts, all went to the scorecards. Benvenuti then lost
his crown to all-time great Carlos Monzon via knockout and fared even worse
in the rematch. A smart man Nino called it a career and retired. He was by
far Italy's best boxer in the opinion of most. In retirement he built a
successful business, before in 1996 he turned his back on material rewards
to become a volunteer in a Mother Theresa's hospice in Calcutta.
Giovanni "Nino" Benvenuti
Career record: 82 W, 7 L, 1 D (35 K.O's)
1961
20 Jan Ben Ali Allala Italy W 6
10 Feb Nicola Sanmartino Italy KO 3
27 Feb Ben Ali Allala Italy KO 1
14 Mar Sahib Mousri Italy KO3
7 Apr Nick Maric Italy W 6
21 Apr Pierre Mondino Italy W 6
3 May Daniel Brunet Italy W D.Q 3
16 May Michel Francois Italy KO 4
7 Jun Henri Cabeldue Italy W 6
17 Jun Marc Desforneax Italy W 6
2 Oct Retmia Mahrez Italy KO 3
1 Nov Angelo Brisci Italy KO 1
9 Nov Jesse Jones Italy W D.Q 6
20 Dec Giuseppe Catalano Italy W 8
1962
19 Jan George Aldridge Italy KO6
19 Feb Jose Riquelme Italy W 8
8 Mar Manfred Haas Italy W 8
17 Mar Gianni Lommi Italy KO 5
1 Apr Jim Hegerle Italy KO 4
1 Jun Jean Ruellet Italy W 8
22 Jun Heini Freytag Italy W 8
12 Jul Gino Rossi Italy W 10
2 Aug Mahmout Le Noir Italy W 8
30 Aug Giuseppe Gentiletti Italy KO 2
28 Sep Diego Infantes Italy W 8
18 Oct Daniel Leullier Italy W 10
30 Nov Isaac Logart Italy W 10
26 Dec Giampaolo Melis Italy KO 2
1963
1 Mar Tomasso Truppi Italy KO 11
(Italian Middleweight Championship)
5 Apr Georges Estatoff Italy KO 6
24 Apr Jean Ruellet Italy W 10
23 May Jimmy Beecham Italy W 10
7 Jun Tony Montano Italy W 10
31 Aug Francesco Fiori Italy KO 3
(Italian Middleweight Championship)
16 Sep Willy Niederau Italy KO 6
27 Sep Victor Zalazar Italy KO 2
18 Oct Gaspar Ortega Italy W 10
7 Nov Jackie Cailleau Italy W 10
15 Nov Lou Gutierrez Italy KO 7
13 Dec Teddy Wright Italy W 10
1964
28 Feb G. Memo Ayon Italy KO 5
18 Mar Michel Diouf Italy W 10
10 Apr Sugar Boy Nando Italy W 10
28 May Jimmy Beecham Italy KO 2
30 Jul Fabio Bettini Italy W 12
(Italian Middleweight Championship)
18 Sep Denny Moyer Italy W 10
9 Oct Abrao De Souza Italy W D.Q.7
27 Nov Aristeo Chavaria Italy KO 4
19 Dec Juan Duran Italy W 10
1965
22 Jan Art Hernandez Italy KO 3
12 Feb Tommaso Truppi Italy KO 5
26 Feb Mick Lehaly Italy W 10
18 Mar Dick Knight Italy KO 6
2 Apr Rip Randall Italy W 10
30 Apr Milo Calhoun Italy W 10
18 Jun Sandro Mazzinghi Italy KO 6
(Won World Junior Middleweight Title)
15 Aug Danile Leullier Italy KO 7
15 Oct Luis Folledo Italy KO6
(Won European Middleweight Title)
5 Nov Johnny Torres Italy W D.Q 7
15 Nov James Shelton Italy W 10
17 Dec Sandro Mazzinghi Italy W 15
(Retained World Junior Middleweight Title)
1966
4 Feb Don Fullmer Italy W 12
11 Mar Clarence James Italy W 10
14 May Jupp Elze Germany KO 14
25 Jun Ki-Soo Kim Korea L 15
(Lost World Junior Middleweight Title)
23 Sep Harry Scott Italy W 10
21 Nov Pascal Di Benedetto Italy KO 11
2 Dec Ferd Hernandez Italy W 10
23 Dec Renato Moares Italy KO 9
1967
19 Jan Manfred Graus Italy KO 2
3 Mar Milo Calhoun Italy W 10
17 Apr Emile Griffith USA W 15
(Won World Middleweight Title)
29 Sep Emile Griffith USA L 15
(Lost World Middleweight Title)
1968
19 Jan Charley Austin Italy W 10
4 Mar Emile Griffith USA W 15
(Won World Middleweight Title)
7 Jun Yoshiaki Akasaka Italy KO 2
5 Jul Jimmny Ramos Italy KO 4
17 Sep Art Hernandez Canada W 10
14 Oct Doyle Baird USA D 10
14 Dec Don Fullmer Italy W 15
(Retained World Middleweight Title)
1969
26 May Dick Tiger USA L 10
4 Oct Fraser Scott Italy W D.Q 7
(Retained World Middleweight Title)
22 Nov Luis Rodriguez Italy KO 11
(Retained World Middleweight Title)
1970
13 Mar Tom Bethea Austria KO by 8
23 May Tom Bethea Yugoslavia KO 8
(Retained World Middleweight Title)
12 Sep Doyle Baird Italy KO 10
7 Nov Carlos Monzon Italy KO by 12
(Lost World Middleweight Title)
1971
17 Mar Jose Chirino Italy L 10
8 May Carlos Monzon Monte Carlo KO by 3
(For World Middleweight Title)