Giovanni BENVENUTI

A handsome and stylish boxer, Nino Benvenuti became a national hero in 1960 when he won the Olympic welterweight title at Roma. His amateur record was nearly perfect, with just one loss in 120 matches, claiming five Italian and two European titles besides the Olympic crown. He turned professional in early 1961 and eventually won the light-middleweight world championship in 1965 in front of a 40,000 crowd in Milan's San Siro Stadium. In April 1967 he defeated Emile Griffith to win the middleweight championship. Griffith won a return bout, but Benvenuti took the rubber match. Benvenuti held the world title until 1970 when he lost to Carlos Monzon. Monzon again defeated Benvenuti in May 1971, at which time the great Italian champion retired, with a career record of 82 wins (35 by knock-out) in 90 matches. Benvenuti, who is a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, attempted a career as an actor and appeared in a few films, but then became a sports commentator for Italian television network, Rai.