Nino Benvenuti has died. A legend of Italian sports, world middleweight champion of boxing and gold medalist in Rome '60, he had celebrated his 87th birthday less than a month earlier and had been ill for some time. Born in Isola d'Istria on April 26, 1938, he had started boxing in the early 1950s. A rise that led him over the course of his career to become one of the most famous boxers (Italian and otherwise) of all time.
In addition to the 1960 Olympic title at welterweight and the world middleweight champion between 1967 and 1970 (a time when his confrontations with Emile Griffith made history not only in sports but also in Italian society at the time), Benvenuti also won the European Championships in 1957 in Prague and 1959 in Lucerne, both at super welterweight. In total, his career saw 90 fights, of which 82 were won (35 by knockout), 1 drawn and 7 lost (2 by knockout) .
Benvenuti's professional debut took place in Trieste on January 20, 1961, beating Tunisian Ben Ali Allala for the first of 65 consecutive victories (a positive streak that lasted until 1966). His last fight was on May 8, 1971, against another boxing legend, Carlos Monzón . Among the many challenges in his career, we remember the epic ones with another Italian: Sandro Mazzinghi.
The CONI has placed the flags at half-mast at Palazzo H as a sign of mourning for the death of
Welcome: «A champion who made Italy great» . In addition, from 4:30 pm tomorrow until Thursday the funeral chapel will be set up in the Salone d'Onore. «Ciao Nino», the greeting of the president Giovanni Malagò. «Your deeds, your smile, your class will remain an everlasting trademark. You were an extraordinary champion, you will remain a legend, a Myth forever».
(Online Union)