“Nino Benvenuti, An Italian Legend” to Air in Italy

On Friday, June 20, in prime time on the Italian television channel Rai Due, “Nino Benvenuti, an Italian legend” will be broadcast, with this documentary paying tribute to the memory and legacy of one of the greatest boxers of all time, who passed away at the age of 87.

Produced by Moviheart by Massimiliano La Pegna along with Rai Documentari, written by Tommaso Cennamo and Nathalie Bertorello (Benvenuti), and directed by Tommaso Cennamo, the work reviews his life and career, successes at both amateur and professional levels, through interviews and archival images. These moments, in succession, made Nino a true icon, especially in the 1960s and 1970s.

It’s the story of a young man who cycled for kilometers every day from Isola, a small Istrian (then Italian) fishing town, to reach the legendary Triestina Boxing Academy and glean the secrets of boxing, Armed with an unbreakable tenacity and innate gifts which would lead him to the mythical conquest of the Middleweight world title. His elegant yet vigorous style stood out as his most distinguishing trait.

Nino won gold at the 1960 Rome Olympics in the welterweight category: the legend began with that triumph. Turning professional, Nino quickly climbed the rankings and he became super welterweight world champion in 1965. But it was in 1967 that he wrote an epic page in sports history: he won the middleweight world title by defeating Emile Griffith at Madison Square Garden in New York. It was a titanic feat. Their rivalry and fights became legendary. And, beyond the punches in the ring, that deep friendship later became historic—a friendship that would bring Griffith to Italy in 2010 (helped in times of need and illness) and, the following year, to the USA on the stage of Radio City Music Hall.

The fiftieth anniversary of that memorable night was celebrated in the Hall of Honor of CONI on April 26, 2017 (coinciding with his birthday).
Benvenuti ended his career in 1971 after a double defeat to Carlos Monzón, one of the greatest middleweights in history. Those matches marked the end of his career as a boxing champion, but not of the myth. After retirement, he was an actor, TV presenter, sports executive, and ambassador for institutional and social events.

Designated by the FPI (Italian Boxing Federation) with the title of Italian Ambassador of Boxing in the world, he was, in reality, always an ambassador of sport tout court.
The RAI documentary, produced with the contribution of the Ministry of Culture, sponsored by CONI, and supported and sponsored by the Italian Boxing Federation, celebrates one of the idols (not just athletes) of an entire generation, with rare archival footage, the testimony of Anita Madaluni (long-time author and assistant to Benvenuti), and the participation of prominent figures from the sports, institutional, journalistic, and cultural worlds, including CONI President Giovanni Malagò, FPI President Flavio D’Ambrosi, WBC President Mauricio Sulaimán, Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medalist Irma Testa, and actors Franco Nero and Vinicio Marchioni.