Nino Benvenuti and the conquest of America

Welcome and friendship

Here, friendship. It is a theme that often recurs in Benvenuti’s life. In all of his dualisms, even harsh competition never transcends into hatred and resentment. He was close to Griffith when he fell into poverty stricken with Alzheimer’s. And he also helped his other two historic adversaries, the Tuscan Sandro Mazzinghi, and Carlos Monzon, a terrible Argentine thug who ended up in prison for the murder of his wife. «I went to see him in prison, I looked into his eyes and understood many things. He was a boy shaped by a violent childhood. Living and fighting for him were the same thing.”

In Italy, Benvenuti’s most formidable rival was Sandro Mazzinghi, a Tuscan boxer from Pontedera, who died in 2020 at the age of 82. Hard battles, those with Mazzinghi, which divided Italy, as for Coppi and Bartali. Theirs was in fact a perfect rivalry: technical and beautiful to look at, Benvenuti. Tough and mean, the Tuscan. “Sandro was a warrior in the ring,” said the Trieste-born, recalling his great rival who had passed away. «He scared you: you looked him in the eyes and understood that for him there was only wanting to overwhelm you. To beat him you really had to give something more…».

The rivalry with Mazzinghi

And it really was. The first challenge was staged on 18 July 1965 at the San Siro stadium in Milan in front of 40,000 wild fans. Sandro Mazzinghi is the holder of the superwelters world title, the champion to beat who has no desire to be beaten. He is 27 years old, like Benvenuti who arrives at that meeting after having climbed all the rankings. He is missing the last step, the most difficult one. And he reaches him by landing the Tuscan with a masterful right uppercut in the sixth round. A deadly blow. Mazzinghi goes down and loses the world title. The rematch takes place on December 17 at the Palazzo dello Sport in Rome. A duel with no holds barred until the last round. In the end the Tuscan is a mask of blood, the Trieste resorts to an oxygen tank. The verdict comes after an hour and still rewards Benvenuti, more brilliant in the finale. Lots of controversies. It will be years before the two make peace.

These are extraordinary years for Benvenuti which will culminate in the triple challenge with Griffith. The sunset of the Trieste champion will instead begin on a warm summer evening, July 11, 1970, at the Palazzo dello Sport in Rome. In front of Benvenuti is an almost unknown Argentine boxer, Carlo Monzon. He has an Indian face, expressionless and determined. He throws deadly punches that surprise the holder of the title, hit hard in the jaw.

The defeat with Monzon

A few months later, on April 8, 1971, the rematch took place in Montecarlo. Welcome is optimistic but the match immediately goes badly for the Trieste. Monzon’s superiority is evident. So much so that Bruno Amaduzzi, manager of Nino, worried that it will end badly, throws in the towel in the third round as a sign of surrender. Welcome, furious, he reacted angrily but then he will admit the wrong. “I had to choose between the boxer and the man, I chose the man” said Amaduzzi, who had sensed the human and sporting drama of his boxer in time.