I remember back in March 1967 when heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali went into exile and the boxing intelligensia were beside themselves with worry as to who would rescue the sport from the doldrums that were sure to come when boxing's most charismatic figure would be gone. Sports Illustrated (back then it was a good magazine) did a cover feature on who would carry the heavyweight division and the atmosphere was heavy with despair to say the least.....then out of the blue, a match was made for Emile Griffith's middleweight title...introducing the Italian sensation, former light middleweight champion Nino Benvenuti. Nino captured the attention of the American fight public...he was handsome, stylish, cultured (like the not even born yet Klitschko brothers would be)...and it didn't hurt that he was a damned good fighter too.... I remember another, more optimistic issue of Sports Illustrated,..a month after Nino's acquisition of the middleweight title....with Nino feasting on a plate of spaghetti on the cover...boxing had found it's new charismatic king!! Enjoy... This content is protected the rare fight #2 This content is protected This content is protected and i wish I could find fight number 3...but I've never seen it!!
Can't remember if the Griffith v Nino fights were "live" or "tape delayed" on home TV, but there was a lot of fan interest in those fights nationwide. As a note: Tom "The Bomb" Bethea is a linchpin, to a Nino /Monzon legacy, being Bethea fought Luis Rodriguez, Carlos Monzon, Nino (W&L by k.o.), Jean Claude Bouttier, and Bennie Briscoe. Luis Rodriguez was basically "even" on the cards going into the 11th, when Nino one-punch kayo'ed LR. Luis Rodriguez had a "hand-shake" agreement with Curtis Cokes to defend against ex-WW champ Cokes if Rodriguez was to win the MW crown. Cokes and LR were old rivals from the WW days, plus their managers/trainers Doug Lord & Angie Dundee were business friends. But the fight never occurred. 1969-11-22 : Nino Benvenuti 159¾ lbs beat Luis Manuel Rodriguez 156 lbs by KO at 1:08 in round 11 of 15 Location: Palazzetto dello Sport, Roma, Lazio, Italy Referee: Dominico Carabellese World Boxing Association Middleweight Title (3rd defending of Benvenuti) World Boxing Council Middleweight Title (3rd defending of Benvenuti) Time: 1:08 Weights: Benvenuti 156 lbs, Rodriguez 159.5 lbs Comments - Undisputed World Middleweight Title - Rodriguez knocked out with single left hook. "World middleweight champion Nino Benvenuti, his face a bloody mask from the 3rd round on, retained his title Saturday night with a stunning knockout of American challenger Luis Rodriguez in the 11th round. The end came at 1:10 of the 11th in a fight Rodriguez seemed sure of winning. The 32 year old challenger had cut Benvenuti's face open with slashing right hooks and counter-punching left jabs that left Benvenuti glassy-eyed. But Benvenuti came back with one sudden shot - a tremendous left hook - to Rodriguez' face. The challenger fell back and took the full count almost unmoving. A crowd of 18,000 erupted in wild cheers and fought its way into the ring to raise Benvenuti into the air. Rodriguez remained semi-conscious in his corner." -United Press International Unofficial UPI scorecard (through 10 completed rounds) - 5-4-1 Rodriguez Unofficial AP scorecard - the AP stated they had the bout even at the time of the knockout.
When did Al Silvani start working with Nino? I once read that the press in Italy was very critical of Silvani for changing Benevnuti's style. Then he went on to win the title.
I remember a teenage Cassius Clay, at the Rome Olympics in 1960, going to meet Nino saying: "you're the best white fighter in the world"!
Hi Russell! Sorry to take so long to get back to you..., maybe to much of the salt mines. Too much of them and too little rest...but that's gonna be all right soon...I'll be here more often.
LH, the first fight...the best of the three, at least the most fan friendly, was live, the other two weren't , frustratingly enough!
