Latest news with #Benvenuti
The Hindu
21-05-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
Olympic boxing champion Nino Benvenuti dies at age 87
Nino Benvenuti, a former Italian boxer who won gold at his home Olympics in 1960 before earning world championship titles in two weight classes as a pro, has died at age 87. The Italian National Olympic Committee, CONI, said Benvenuti died Tuesday. It did not disclose the cause of death. CONI called Benvenuti one of the best boxers in the country's history 'and certainly one of the most beloved athletes.' The elegant boxer won the Olympic welterweight title in Rome in 1960, the same Games where Cassius Clay — who would later become Muhammad Ali — took the heavyweight gold medal. Benvenuti beat out Clay for the Val Barker trophy as the games' best boxer. Benvenuti finished his amateur career with just one loss in 120 matches, according to the International Olympic Committee. | Photo Credit: AP 'I only realized the importance of that award in the years that followed the games, when Muhammad Ali really became Muhammad Ali and the best boxer in the world,' Benvenuti later said. Benvenuti finished his amateur career with just one loss in 120 matches, according to the International Olympic Committee. After turning pro in 1961, he became the world light middleweight and middleweight champion (twice). But he said those titles pale in comparison to his gold medal. 'When you win the Olympics you're an Olympic champion for the rest of your life,' Benvenuti said. Related Topics olympics / Boxing
San Francisco Chronicle
20-05-2025
- Sport
- San Francisco Chronicle
Italian boxing champion Nino Benvenuti, who took gold at Rome Olympics, dies at age 87
ROME (AP) — Nino Benvenuti, an Italian former boxer who won gold at his home Olympics in 1960 before earning world championship titles in two weight classes as a pro, has died at age 87. The Italian National Olympic Committee, CONI, said Benvenuti died Tuesday. It did not disclose the cause of death. CONI called Benvenuti one of the best boxers in the country's history 'and certainly one of the most beloved athletes.' The elegant boxer won the Olympic welterweight title in Rome in 1960, the same Games where Cassius Clay — who would later become Muhammad Ali — took the heavyweight gold medal. Benvenuti beat out Clay for the Val Barker trophy as the games' best boxer. 'I only realized the importance of that award in the years that followed the games, when Muhammad Ali really became Muhammad Ali and the best boxer in the world,' Benvenuti later said. Benvenuti finished his amateur career with just one loss in 120 matches, according to the International Olympic Committee. After turning pro in 1961, he became the world light middleweight and middleweight champion (twice). But he said those titles pale in comparison to his gold medal. ___
Winnipeg Free Press
20-05-2025
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
Italian boxing champion Nino Benvenuti, who took gold at Rome Olympics, dies at age 87
ROME (AP) — Nino Benvenuti, an Italian former boxer who won gold at his home Olympics in 1960 before earning world championship titles in two weight classes as a pro, has died at age 87. The Italian National Olympic Committee, CONI, said Benvenuti died Tuesday. It did not disclose the cause of death. CONI called Benvenuti one of the best boxers in the country's history 'and certainly one of the most beloved athletes.' The elegant boxer won the Olympic welterweight title in Rome in 1960, the same Games where Cassius Clay — who would later become Muhammad Ali — took the heavyweight gold medal. Benvenuti beat out Clay for the Val Barker trophy as the games' best boxer. 'I only realized the importance of that award in the years that followed the games, when Muhammad Ali really became Muhammad Ali and the best boxer in the world,' Benvenuti later said. Benvenuti finished his amateur career with just one loss in 120 matches, according to the International Olympic Committee. After turning pro in 1961, he became the world light middleweight and middleweight champion (twice). But he said those titles pale in comparison to his gold medal. 'When you win the Olympics you're an Olympic champion for the rest of your life,' Benvenuti said. ___ AP Sports:
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Italian boxing champion Nino Benvenuti, who took gold at Rome Olympics, dies at age 87
ROME (AP) — Nino Benvenuti, an Italian former boxer who won gold at his home Olympics in 1960 before earning world championship titles in two weight classes as a pro, has died at age 87. The Italian National Olympic Committee, CONI, said Benvenuti died Tuesday. It did not disclose the cause of death. Advertisement CONI called Benvenuti one of the best boxers in the country's history 'and certainly one of the most beloved athletes.' The elegant boxer won the Olympic welterweight title in Rome in 1960, the same Games where Cassius Clay — who would later become Muhammad Ali — took the heavyweight gold medal. Benvenuti beat out Clay for the Val Barker trophy as the games' best boxer. 'I only realized the importance of that award in the years that followed the games, when Muhammad Ali really became Muhammad Ali and the best boxer in the world,' Benvenuti later said. Benvenuti finished his amateur career with just one loss in 120 matches, according to the International Olympic Committee. After turning pro in 1961, he became the world light middleweight and middleweight champion (twice). But he said those titles pale in comparison to his gold medal. 'When you win the Olympics you're an Olympic champion for the rest of your life,' Benvenuti said. ___ AP Sports:
The Star
20-05-2025
- Sport
- The Star
Boxing-Italian Olympic champion Benvenuti dies aged 87
ROME (Reuters) - Italian boxer Giovanni 'Nino' Benvenuti, who won Olympic gold in Rome in 1960, died on Tuesday at the age of 87, the Italian Olympic Committee (IOC) said in a statement. Turning professional after the Olympics, Benvenuti was also a world champion in two different weight divisions in the 1960s. Born in the Istria region in what is part of modern-day Slovenia, Benvenuti won Olympic Welterweight gold for Italy with victory over Yuri Radonyak of the Soviet Union in the final. He was awarded the Val Barker trophy as the outstanding boxer at the 1960 Games -- an event where American Cassius Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali, won the light heavyweight gold. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni paid tribute to Benvenuti as an athlete and for speaking up for thousands of Italians killed by Yugoslav partisans or exiled at the end of World War Two. "Thanks Nino for your fights in the ring and for those in defence of the truth. Italy will not forget you," she wrote on social media. Benvenuti won the world Super Welterweight title in 1965 when he knocked out compatriot Sandro Mazzinghi. Having lost that crown, he moved up to the Middleweight division and beat American Emile Griffith at Madison Square Garden in 1967 to claim another world title. Griffith won a rematch later that year but Benvenuti reclaimed the title in 1968 in their third meeting. The Italian lost the title in 1970 when Argentine Carlos Monzon defeated him in Rome. After his retirement, he appeared in a couple of films and remained a familiar face with regular television appearances. (Reporting by Keith Weir, editing by Alvise Armellini and Ed Osmond)
