40 Fun Facts About Nino Benvenuti

How did up to 18 million Italians follow Nino Benvenuti's 1967 world title win in America as it happened?

On the radio, because the authorities chose not to show the fight live on television so the country would get some sleep. Whole families stayed up through the night to listen anyway.

Which American rival, beaten twice by Nino Benvenuti in world title fights, later became godfather to his son?

Emile Griffith was asked to be godfather in 1980, years after their three bruising fights. When the American later fell on hard times, his old rival helped him with money.

Which future heavyweight legend did Nino Benvenuti pip to the best-boxer award at the 1960 Olympics?

Cassius Clay, the future Muhammad Ali, won light heavyweight gold at the same Games but lost out on the prize for the best stylist. Both men went on to become Hall of Fame world champions.

What kind of character did Nino Benvenuti play in a popular series of 1960s Italian television adverts?

A secret agent named 00SIS was his role, the code name taken from the drinks firm whose brandy he was selling. The sketches ran on Carosello, Italy's television advertising show.

What freak mishap halted Nino Benvenuti's 1966 world title defence in Asia for several minutes?

The ropes gave way late in the fight, and the long repair gave the local challenger a breather. He went on to take a split decision that ended the Italian's unbeaten professional run.

Nino Benvenuti's Olympic gold medal case held a handwritten dedication from which American track legend?

Jesse Owens, the sprinter who won four golds in Berlin in 1936, signed the note inside the presentation case. The Italian was 22 when he collected the medal in front of a home crowd.

How did the teenage Nino Benvenuti travel from his Istrian home town to his boxing academy in the city?

By bicycle, pedalling the whole distance every time he trained. He had started boxing at 13 in a small gym set up in the family home, pushed by a father who had boxed in his own youth.

At which famous arena did Nino Benvenuti win the world middleweight title in April 1967?

Madison Square Garden saw him outpoint the champion over fifteen rounds, cheered on by six charter flights of travelling Italian fans. The bout was voted Fight of the Year.

Which Argentine, who took Nino Benvenuti's world title in 1970, did the Italian later visit in prison?

Carlos Monzón became a close friend after their two fights and was a guest on his old opponent's television show. The Italian stood by him in jail and was a pallbearer at his funeral in 1995.

Nino Benvenuti returned to cinema in a 2008 biopic about which Italian former world heavyweight champion?

Primo Carnera was the subject, and the old middleweight both advised the film-makers and took a small part. Four decades earlier he had helped carry the giant's coffin at his funeral.

In which weight class did Nino Benvenuti win his 1960 Olympic gold after shedding four kilos?

Welterweight was a tactical choice: his coach had him drop down from the class above to steer clear of a dangerous American, Wilbert McClure. He still won every early bout 5–0.

What was the real first name of Nino Benvenuti, the Istrian-born boxer who became an Italian national hero?

Giovanni was the name he was given at birth in 1938, but the public only ever knew him by the pet form Nino. He was born in Isola d'Istria, a coastal town that then belonged to Italy.

In which city did Nino Benvenuti lose his world title to a little-known challenger in November 1970?

Rome was stunned when a challenger almost unknown in Europe stopped the champion in round twelve. The bout was voted Fight of the Year.

In which country did Nino Benvenuti lose his first world title in 1966, ending a 65-fight winning streak?

South Korea handed him a first professional defeat, by split decision to a home fighter he had beaten at the 1960 Olympics. He never boxed at light middleweight again.

What kind of business did Nino Benvenuti open after hanging up his gloves in 1971?

A restaurant, and a high-class one, was among his ventures as he turned businessman and television commentator.

Nino Benvenuti's birthplace, Isola d'Istria, was Italian in 1938 but is today a town in which country?

Slovenia now includes the town, known there as Izola, on its stretch of coast. He went back to the region as world champion in 1970 to defend his title a short distance from where he was born.

How did Nino Benvenuti's last professional fight, a 1971 world title rematch, come to an end in round three?

The towel came in from his long-time manager after he had been floored twice, and the furious loser insisted he could have gone on. He later admitted the call was right.

Which Italian port became Nino Benvenuti's adopted home city after his family left Istria?

Trieste took in his family when they left Istria, and his father already ran a fish business there. The province named him its sportsman of the century in 2001.

Which boxing magazine named Nino Benvenuti its Fighter of the Year after he regained the world title in 1968?

The Ring gave him the award after he won the deciding fight of his famous trilogy, making him the first Italian to receive it.

Which American ballpark staged Nino Benvenuti's rain-hit open-air rematch defeat in September 1967?

Shea Stadium, home of the New York Mets, had a canvas made slick by light rain, and he slipped over twice on the way to losing a fifteen-round decision.

Which football stadium, home to two Serie A giants, saw Nino Benvenuti win his first world title in 1965?

San Siro held about 40,000 for the all-Italian showdown, settled by a single right uppercut in round six. He had drilled that punch specially to surprise the champion.

Which Tuscan rival did Nino Benvenuti knock out in 1965 to become world junior middleweight champion?

Sandro Mazzinghi lost the title that night and a close rematch six months later, and the pair feuded for decades. They finally made peace over the telephone in 2018.

Which award for the most stylish boxer of an Olympic Games did Nino Benvenuti win in 1960?

Val Barker Trophy judges rated him the outstanding boxer of the whole tournament, across every weight class. Patrizio Oliva later became the second Italian to win it.

At which Winter Olympics did Nino Benvenuti help carry the Olympic flag during the closing ceremony?

Turin 2006 chose eight Italian champions of the past to bring in the flag, and he walked with diver Klaus Dibiasi, high jumper Sara Simeoni and footballer Gianluca Vialli.

In which Mediterranean resort did Nino Benvenuti fight for the last time, in a 1971 world title rematch?

Monte Carlo hosted the rematch at the Stade Louis II, and the former champion was beaten inside three rounds. He had warmed up by losing to a journeyman picked for his similar style.

How did Nino Benvenuti's foul-filled 1969 world title defence against American Fraser Scott end in round seven?

A disqualification went against the challenger for repeated butting, though he always insisted he had only been ducking. He spoke no Italian and had not understood the referee's warnings.

Nino Benvenuti floored a boxer from which country in his victorious 1960 Olympic final?

Soviet Union champion Yuri Radonyak went down to a left hand that the Italian's coach had called for between rounds, and lost 4–1 on the judges' cards.

Which Italian western star, a friend from national service, co-starred with Nino Benvenuti in a 1969 comedy?

Giuliano Gemma had done his national service alongside him at a fire brigade barracks, years before the two shared top billing on screen.

In which Italian Riviera resort did Nino Benvenuti outpoint Don Fullmer in a 1968 world title defence?

Sanremo staged the fight at the Teatro Ariston, the theatre that later became home to Italy's best-known song festival. The challenger floored him but lost on points.

Nino Benvenuti entered the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992; in which New York village does it stand?

Canastota founded the hall to honour two home-grown champions, Carmen Basilio and his nephew Billy Backus. Its museum opened in 1989, three years before the Italian's induction.

In the 1969 western comedy Sundance and the Kid, Nino Benvenuti and his co-star play what kind of duo?

Estranged brothers, a city gambler and a farmer, must live together for six months to inherit their late uncle's fortune. The boxer played the farmer.

What injury hampered Nino Benvenuti from round two of his 1967 world title rematch defeat?

A broken rib from a body shot turned the rest of the fight into an ordeal, yet he was still ahead on two cards after seven rounds. He called it the worst suffering of his career.

Which Cuban former world champion did Nino Benvenuti knock out with one left hook in a 1969 title defence?

Luis Rodríguez lay on the canvas for minutes after the eleventh-round punch, later voted Round of the Year. The champion had been cut so badly that he needed twenty stitches.

Which former light heavyweight champion beat Nino Benvenuti in 1969 after the Italian broke his hand early?

Dick Tiger, the Nigerian veteran, won their ten-round non-title bout, which the injured champion refused to quit out of respect for the paying crowd.

Which country took over Nino Benvenuti's native Istria after the Second World War, prompting his family to leave?

Yugoslavia's authorities jailed his older brother for seven months and later seized the family home, so the family resettled on the other side of the new border.

In which country did unknown American Tom Bethea shock Nino Benvenuti with a non-title knockout in 1970?

Australia saw the upset in Melbourne, by a man who had once been his sparring partner. The champion gave him a title shot two months later and knocked him out in the same round.

Ripa Teatina made Nino Benvenuti an honorary citizen for honouring which boxer whose father came from there?

Rocky Marciano's father emigrated from the Abruzzo town, which has put up a bronze statue in the unbeaten heavyweight champion's honour.

Which On the Waterfront actor appeared with Nino Benvenuti in the 1975 crime film Mark Shoots First?

Lee J. Cobb, Oscar-nominated as the corrupt union boss in the 1954 classic, joined the cast of the Italian police thriller, itself a sequel.

In which capital did Nino Benvenuti win the first of his two European amateur titles, in 1957?

Prague hosted the championships, and he retained the crown in Lucerne two years later. He was already a five-time Italian champion before he ever fought for pay.

Which French champion's 1948 feat did Nino Benvenuti repeat by winning the world middleweight title in America?

Marcel Cerdan had travelled from Europe to knock out Tony Zale in Jersey City nineteen years earlier. The Frenchman was killed in a plane crash the following year, still only 33.