Nino Benvenuti

IBHoF Bio

Name: Nino Benvenuti
Alias: Nino
Birth Name: Giovanni Benvenuti
Hometown: Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy
Birthplace: Izola, Slovenia
Died: 2025-05-20 (Age:87)
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 180cm
Reach: 191cm
Pro Boxer: Record
Amateur Boxer: Record

• Division: Middleweight
• Trainers: Libero Golinelli and Al Silvani
• Manager: Bruno Amaduzzi
• Nino Benvenuti Gallery

Amateur Career

• Some sources list his amateur record as 119-1, and some list it as 120-0.
• 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. His results were:
  • Jean Josselin (France) W 3
  • Ki-Soo Kim (South Korea) W 3
  • Chichman Mitzev (Bulgaria) W 3
  • Jimmy Lloyd (Great Britian) W 3
  • Yuri Radonyak (Soviet Union) W 3
• Won the Val Barker Trophy as the best boxer of the Olympic Games.

Professional Career

• Stopped Tommaso Truppi in eleven rounds to win the vacant Italian middleweight title in 1963.
• Stopped Sandro Mazzinghi in the six rounds to win the world light middleweight title in 1965.
• Lost the world light middleweight title to Ki-Soo Kim by a split decision in 1966. It was his first loss after 65 consecutive professional wins.
• Defeated Emile Griffith by a unanimous decision to win the world middleweight title in 1967 but lost it to Griffith by a majority decision later in the year.
• Defeated Griffith by a unanimous decision to regain the world middleweight title in 1968 and was named The Ring Fighter of the Year.
• Acted in the 1969 western Alive and Preferably Dead.
• Lost the world middleweight title to Carlos Monzon by a twelfth-round TKO in 1970.
• Retired in 1971 after being stopped in three rounds by Monzon in an attempt to regain the world middleweight title.

External Links

• Hickok Sports Biography
• Benvenuti IMDb page
• "Young, Gifted and Italian: Nino Benvenuti" by Mike Casey: [1]

Preceded by: Sandro Mazzinghi	WBA Light Middleweight Champion WBC Light Middleweight Champion 1965 Jun 18 – 1966 Jun 25	Succeeded by: Ki Soo Kim
Preceded by: Emile Griffith	WBA Middleweight Champion WBC Middleweight Champion 1967 Apr 17 – 1967 Sep 29	Succeeded by: Emile Griffith
Preceded by: Emile Griffith	WBA Middleweight Champion WBC Middleweight Champion 1968 Mar 4 – 1970 Nov 7	Succeeded by: Carlos Monzon