Italian sports mourn the passing of **Nino Benvenuti**, one of the nation`s greatest athletes, who died at the age of 87. An Olympic and world boxing champion, Benvenuti became an icon of Italian sport from the 1960s, achieving legendary status both domestically and internationally through his remarkable career.
His career was marked by numerous triumphs: He won a **gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics** in the welterweight category. Benvenuti went on to claim the super welterweight world title between 1965 and 1966, the European middleweight title from 1965 to 1967, and held the middleweight world title from 1967 to 1970. In 1968, he was named `Fighter of the Year`, a distinction he was the first and only Italian to ever receive.
His trilogy of fights with Emile Griffith is particularly renowned; their first encounter was named `Fight of the Year` in 1967. Three years later, the same award recognized his bout (a loss) against Carlos Monzón. However, the most memorable moment is arguably the eleventh round of his fight against Luis Manuel Rodríguez in 1969, which was declared `Round of the Year`.
Benvenuti holds the unique distinction among Italian boxers of having held universally recognized world titles in two different weight classes: middleweight and super welterweight. Regarding the super welterweight title specifically, only nine other boxers in history have achieved this. His legacy was further cemented in 1992 when he became the first Italian inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Despite not being a US citizen, his achievements on the American boxing scene also earned him a place in the National Italian-American Sports Hall of Fame, joining icons like Rocky Marciano and Joe Di Maggio. Off the ring, Benvenuti was known to be a fan of the Juventus football club.