Benvenuti, he was better imo. Minter was rough and would come to fight, I don't see that working too well here
Nino would win but Minter was game and make it interesting. Nino in good condition wins UD or cuts stop
Both were World Middleweight Champions in their own era. Nino Benvenuti won the title by defeating Emile Griffith, on April 17 1967, by unanimous decision, in 15 rounds, then losing it back to Emile, on Sept 29 1967, by majority decision. On March 4 1968, on the under card of Joe Frazier vs Buster Mathis, Nino won his title back by unanimous decision. Benvenuti lost a 10 round light heavyweight contest to D. Tiger, on May 26 1969. He would lose non title fights to his opponents, then defeat them in title bouts. He was dethroned by Carlos Monzon, KO12, in Rome, Italy. He was again defeated by Carlos, by TKO 3, in Monte Carlo Monaco, on May 9 1971. Alan Minter won his World Middleweight Title by defeating Vito Antuofermo on March 16 1980, by majority decision, he defended against Vito, on June 28 1980, by TKO 8. He lost his title to Marvelous Marvin Hagler on Sept 27 1980, by TKO 3. Minter is tough,has a very hard right jab, plus blistering combinations. Nino is too inconsistent, that I believe Alan's toughness takes it by a majority decision, Benvenuti and Minter will bleed in this close contest. Alan is more the consistent fighter.
Benvenuti and fairly lopsided. I don't think Minter is fast enough on his feet to catch this guy. And I sure do not like his defense against that jab. I think he loses rounds and hangs tough and takes a licking. But hanging tough and getting beat up is not winning the fight. And depending on where the fight would take place, and my guess is the champion's backyard, I do not think Minter is going to be the beneficiary of the judges in any way, shape or form
I saw about half a dozen of Minters major fights from ringside,I don't remember any blistering combinations from him. Nino was good enough to beat a near prime Griffith,Minter beat an ancient version and would never have beaten the Griffith, Benvenuti faced .
Good Post. I saw combination punching in the first Antuofermo fight, but Nino had those good fights with prime Griffith, agreed, but he was very inconsistent with non title and title fights. This led to his demise against an extremely talented Carlos Monzon, thus losing his title and never regaining it.
We are assuming both are at their best when picking a winner unless otherwise stated yes? Four of Nino's seven losses came after he was 32 /33 and one was on an injury. He defended his title succcessfully 4 times before losing to a consensus top 3 ATG at the weight.
Actually the other british southpaw Tony Sibson might match up slightly better against Nino. But matching up a little better just means he might win a few more rounds or hurt him. Winning the fight is a different story and he is going to have a tough time himself with that jab.
