1. Giovanni "Nino" Benvenuti was born on 26 April 1938 and is an Italian former professional boxer and actor.
24 Facts About Nino Benvenuti
1. 2.
Nino Benvenuti 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.
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In 1968, Benvenuti was voted Fighter of the Year by The Ring magazine.
4.
On 20 January 1961, Nino Benvenuti made his professional boxing debut, beating Ben Ali Allala by decision in six rounds.
5.
Nino Benvenuti then won 29 fights in a row before challenging for the Italian middleweight title, on 1 March 1963, in Rome against Tommaso Truppi.
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Nino Benvenuti's winning streak extended to 30 when he knocked out Truppi in round eleven.
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Nino Benvenuti's winning streak reached 46 wins in a row when he met former world junior middleweight champion Denny Moyer on 18 September 1964, beating Moyer on points in ten rounds.
8.
Nino Benvenuti became the world junior middleweight champion with a sixth-round knockout win.
9.
Frustrated by what he perceived as an unjust decision to favour the local boxer, Nino Benvenuti decided to drop the junior middleweight and concentrate on the middleweight division instead.
10.
Nino Benvenuti beat Emile Griffith by decision in fifteen rounds at New York City's Madison Square Garden on 17 April 1967, in what was the beginning of their trilogy of fights, to win the world middleweight title.
11.
On 14 December 1968, in San Remo, he and Fullmer met , and Nino Benvenuti retained the world middleweight title with a fifteen-round decision.
12.
Nino Benvenuti broke his right hand while landing a head punch in the first round, but chose to continue fighting "like a cripple" rather than quit.
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The bout was foul-filled even without this added controversy; Scott would later accuse Nino Benvenuti of having tried to thumb him, and during the sixth round, the fighters' legs became entangled as they wrestled, causing both to crash to the canvas.
14.
On 13 March 1970, in a non-title bout, Nino Benvenuti was knocked out in the eighth round by unknown American Tom Bethea in Australia.
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Nino Benvenuti avenged the defeat when the two met again in Umag with an eighth-round knockout.
16.
On 7 November 1970 Nino Benvenuti lost his title in Rome after being knocked out in round twelve by rising star Carlos Monzon.
17.
In 1971, after losing a ten-round decision to Jose Chirino, a fighter he had picked due to his fighting style's similarities with Monzon, Nino Benvenuti got a rematch with Monzon for the world middleweight title in Monte Carlo on 8 May 1971.
18.
Monzon won again in round three when Nino Benvenuti's corner threw in the towel.
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Nino Benvenuti had a record of 82 wins, 7 losses and 1 draw in 90 professional boxing bouts, with 35 wins by knockout.
20.
Nino Benvenuti opened a high-class restaurant and maintained a strong friendship with his former rivals Monzon and Griffith.
21.
In 1980 Nino Benvenuti asked Griffith to be the godfather of one of his sons, and later helped him financially when Griffith was in trouble.
22.
Monzon was a guest at Nino Benvenuti's television show several times, and, when he was accused of murdering his wife in 1988, Nino Benvenuti became one of his most loyal supporters, visiting him in jail in Argentina.
23.
Nino Benvenuti was born in Isola d'Istria, at that time in Italy.
24.
In 1961 Nino Benvenuti married Giuliana Fonzari; they had four sons and adopted a Tunisian girl.