Giovanni "Nino" Benvenuti (26 April 1938 – 20 May 2025) was an Italian professional boxer and actor. He 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. As an amateur welterweight boxer he won the Italian title in 1956–60, the European title in 1957 and 1959, and an Olympic gold medal in 1960, receiving the Val Barker trophy for boxing style. In 1961, having an amateur record of 120–0, he turned professional and won world titles in the light-middleweight division and twice in the middleweight division. Near the end of his boxing career he appeared in two Italian films, Sundance and the Kid (1969) and then in Mark Shoots First (1975).
Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992, Benvenuti is ranked No. 32 in BoxRec's ranking of the greatest pound for pound boxers of all time. In 1968, he was voted Fighter of the Year by The Ring magazine. In 2011, The Ring magazine ranked him as seventh on their list of the "10 best middleweight title holders of the last 50 years."
Professional boxing career
On 20 January 1961, Benvenuti made his professional boxing debut, beating Ben Ali Allala by decision in six rounds. He then won 29 fights in a row before challenging for the Italian middleweight title, on 1 March 1963, in Rome against Tommaso Truppi. His winning streak extended to 30 when he knocked out Truppi in round eleven. His 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.
After reaching 55 wins in a row, including a five-round knockout of Truppi in a rematch, he met world jr. middleweight champion Sandro Mazzinghi in Milan, on 18 June 1965. This was a fight the Italian public clamoured for: both men were Italian, both men claimed to be the best in their division, and they had expressed the desire to fight each other. Benvenuti became the world junior middleweight champion with a sixth-round knockout win. It was common, in that era, for world champions to fight for regional belts after winning the world title, so on 15 October 1965, he added the European belt at the middleweight division, with a sixth-round knockout of Luis Folledo.
A rematch with Mazzinghi took place on 17 December 1965, and Benvenuti retained the world junior middleweight crown after winning a fifteen-round decision. After three non-title wins, including a twelve-round decision over Don Fullmer and a fourteen-round knockout in West Germany of Jupp Elze (Benvenuti's first professional fight abroad), he travelled to South Korea, where he lost his world junior middleweight title to Ki-Soo Kim, who won by decision in fifteen rounds on 25 June 1966, breaking Benvenuti's record of 65 consecutive wins. Frustrated by what he perceived as an unjust decision to favour the local boxer, Benvenuti decided to drop the junior middleweight and concentrate on the middleweight division instead.
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. On a rematch at Shea Stadium on 29 September 1967, he lost by a decision in fifteen rounds.
On 4 March 1968, Benvenuti and Griffith completed their trilogy, once again at Madison Square Garden, with Benvenuti knocking Griffith down in round nine and winning a fifteen-round decision to regain the world middleweight title. On 14 December 1968, in San Remo, he and Fullmer met once again, and Benvenuti retained the world middleweight title with a fifteen-round decision. On 26 May 1969, Benvenuti lost a ten-round decision to former world light heavyweight champion Dick Tiger in a light heavyweight, non-title match. 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.
The most curious defence of Benvenuti's active reign, took place on 4 October 1969, when he retained the world middleweight title with a seven-round disqualification win over American Fraser Scott at the Stadio S. Paolo in Naples. From the first round, Scott was warned repeatedly, and with increasing intensity from the referee, about attempted butting. Scott, a young fighter unschooled in the European insistence on what his trainer referred to as "that...Olympic stand-up style", knowing only the battle plan he went in with and speaking no Italian, did not understand the warnings at first, then was unable to alter his approach; to the American, he was merely "ducking" Benvenuti's shots. The bout was foul-filled even without this added controversy; Scott would later accuse 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. Round seven saw the stoppage, the referee asserting "attempted butting", Fraser Scott and corner forever insisting he had "ducked".
On 22 November 1969, Benvenuti beat former world welterweight champion Luis Rodriguez by knockout in 11 rounds and once again retained his world middleweight title.
On 13 March 1970, in a non-title bout, Benvenuti was knocked out in the eighth round by unknown American Tom Bethea in Australia. The upset defeat caused Bethea to earn a world title shot at Benvenuti's title. Benvenuti avenged the defeat when the two met again in Umag with an eighth-round knockout.
On 7 November 1970, Benvenuti lost his title in Rome after being knocked out in round twelve by rising star Carlos Monzón.
In 1971, after losing a ten-round decision to José Chirino, a fighter he had picked due to his fighting style's similarities with Monzón, Benvenuti got a rematch with Monzón for the world middleweight title in Monte Carlo on 8 May 1971. Monzón won again in round three when Benvenuti's corner threw in the towel. Realizing that he no longer had the stamina to compete with champions of a new generation like Monzón, Benvenuti announced his retirement.
Benvenuti had a record of 82 wins, 7 losses and 1 draw (tie) in 90 professional boxing bouts, with 35 wins by knockout. In 1992, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
Post-boxing After retiring from boxing Benvenuti became a successful businessman, TV pundit, and city counsellor for sport in Trieste. He opened a high-class restaurant and maintained a strong friendship with his former rivals Monzón and Griffith. In 1980, Benvenuti asked Griffith to be the godfather of one of his sons and later helped him financially when Griffith was in trouble. Monzón was a guest at Benvenuti's television show several times, and, when he was accused of murdering his wife in 1988, Benvenuti became one of his most loyal supporters, visiting him in jail in Argentina. Benvenuti was a pallbearer at Monzón's funeral in 1995.
Retirement, personal life and death
Benvenuti was born in Isola d'Istria, at that time in Italy (now in Slovenia). After the war, his family fled to Italy due to the consequences of the war treaty and the hostilities created by the Yugoslav government.
In 1961, Benvenuti married Giuliana Fonzari; they had four sons and adopted a Tunisian girl. They later divorced, and Benvenuti married Nadia Bertorello, with whom he had one daughter.Benvenuti a questo mondo. gazzetta.it (8 September 1999)
Benvenuti died on 20 May 2025, at the age of 87.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes90LossCarlos MonzónTKO3 (15), 8 May 197189Loss82–6–1José ChirinoMD1017 Mar 197188Loss82–5–1Carlos MonzónTKO12 (15), 7 Nov 197087Win82–4–1Doyle BairdTKO10 (10), 12 Sep 197086Win81–4–1Tom BetheaKO8 (15), 23 May 197085Loss80–4–1Tom BetheaTKO8 (10)13 Mar 197084Win80–3–1Luis Manuel RodríguezKO11 (15), 22 Nov 196983Win79–3–1Fraser ScottDQ7 (15), 4 Oct 196982Loss78–3–1Dick TigerUD1026 May 196981Win78–2–1Don FullmerUD1514 Dec 196880Draw77–2–1Doyle BairdPTS1014 Oct 196879Win77–2Art HernandezUD1017 Sep 196878Win76–2Jimmy RamosRTD4 (10), 5 Jul 196877Win75–2Yoshiaki AkasakaKO2 (10)7 Jun 196876Win74–2Emile GriffithUD154 Mar 196875Win73–2Charley AustinPTS1019 Jan 196874Loss72–2Emile GriffithMD1529 Sep 196773Win72–1Emile GriffithUD1517 Apr 196772Win71–1Milo CalhounPTS103 Mar 196771Win70–1Manfred GrausKO2 (10), 19 Jan 196770Win69–1Renato MoraesKO9 (10)23 Dec 196669Win68–1Ferd HernandezPTS102 Dec 196668Win67–1Pascal Di BenedettoRTD11 (15)21 Oct 196667Win66–1Harry ScottPTS1023 Sep 196666Loss65–1Kim Ki-SooSD1525 Jun 196665Win65–0Jupp ElzeTKO14 (15), 14 May 196664Win64–0Clarence JamesPTS1011 Mar 196663Win63–0Don FullmerUD124 Feb 196662Win62–0Sandro MazzinghiUD1517 Dec 196561Win61–0James SheltonPTS1015 Nov 196560Win60–0Johnny TorresDQ7 (10)5 Nov 196559Win59–0Luis FolledoKO6 (15)15 Oct 196558Win58–0Daniel LeullierTKO7 (10)16 Aug 196557Win57–0Sandro MazzinghiKO6 (15), 18 Jun 196556Win56–0Milo CalhounPTS1030 Apr 196555Win55–0Rip RandallPTS102 Apr 196554Win54–0Dick KnightKO6 (10)19 Mar 196553Win53–0Mick LeahyPTS1027 Feb 196552Win52–0Tommaso TruppiRTD5 (12)12 Feb 196551Win51–0Art HernandezTKO3 (10), 22 Jan 196550Win50–0Juan Carlos DuránPTS1019 Dec 196449Win49–0Aristeo ChavarinKO4 (10)27 Nov 196448Win48–0Abrao De SouzaDQ7 (10)9 Oct 196447Win47–0Denny MoyerPTS1018 Sep 196446Win46–0Fabio BettiniPTS1230 Jul 196445Win45–0Jimmy BeechamTKO2 (10)28 May 196444Win44–0Sugar Boy NandoPTS1010 Apr 196443Win43–0Michel DioufPTS1018 Mar 196442Win42–0Memo AyonKO5 (10), 28 Feb 196441Win41–0Ted WrightPTS1013 Dec 196340Win40–0Luis GutierrezTKO7 (10)15 Nov 196339Win39–0Jackie CailleauPTS107 Nov 196338Win38–0Gaspar OrtegaPTS1018 Oct 196337Win37–0Víctor ZalazarTKO2 (10)27 Sep 196336Win36–0Wilhelm NiederauTKO6 (10)16 Sep 196335Win35–0Francesco FioriTKO3 (12)31 Aug 196334Win34–0Tony MontanoPTS107 Jun 196333Win33–0Jimmy BeechamPTS1023 May 196332Win32–0Jean RuelletPTS1024 Apr 196331Win31–0Georges EstatoffKO6 (10), 5 Apr 196330Win30–0Tommaso TruppiKO11 (12)1 Mar 196329Win29–0Giampaolo MelisKO2 (10)26 Dec 196228Win28–0Isaac LogartPTS1030 Nov 196227Win27–0Daniel LeullierPTS1018 Oct 196226Win26–0Diego InfantesPTS828 Sep 196225Win25–0Giuseppe GentilettiKO2 (10)30 Aug 196224Win24–0Mahmout le NoirPTS82 Aug 196223Win23–0Gino RossiPTS1012 Jul 196222Win22–0Heinz FreytagPTS822 Jun 196221Win21–0Jean RuelletPTS82 Jun 196220Win20–0Hector ConstancePTS101 May 196219Win19–0Jim HegerleKO4 (11)13 Apr 196218Win18–0Gianni LommiKO5 (10)17 Mar 196217Win17–0Manfred HaasPTS88 Mar 196216Win16–0José RiquelmePTS819 Feb 196215Win15–0George AldridgeKO6 (10)19 Jan 196214Win14–0Giuseppe CatalanoPTS820 Dec 196113Win13–0Jesse JonesDQ6 (8)9 Nov 196112Win12–0Angelo BrisciKO1 (8)1 Nov 196111Win11–0Retmia MahrezTKO3 (8)2 Oct 196110Win10–0Marc DesforneauxPTS617 Jun 19619Win9–0Henri CabelducPTS67 Jun 19618Win8–0Michel FrancoisKO4 (8)16 May 19617Win7–0Daniel BrunetDQ3 (8)3 May 19616Win6–0Pierre MondinoPTS621 Apr 19615Win5–0Nic MaricPTS67 Apr 19614Win4–0Sahib MosriKO3 (6)14 Mar 19613Win3–0Ben Ali AllalaKO1 (6)27 Feb 19612Win2–0Nicola SammartinoKO3 (6)10 Feb 19611Win1–0Ben Ali AllalaPTS620 Jan 1961
Titles in boxing
Major world titles WBA light middleweight champion (154 lbs) WBC light middleweight champion (154 lbs) WBA middleweight champion (160 lbs) (2×) WBC middleweight champion (160 lbs) (2×)
The Ring magazine titles The Ring middleweight champion (160 lbs) (2×)
Regional/International titles European middleweight champion (160 lbs) Italian middleweight champion (160 lbs)
Undisputed titles Undisputed light middleweight champion Undisputed middleweight champion (2×)
Awards