Benvenuti: Lost a Pillar of Italian Sport Says Abodi

Rome: Italy has lost a pillar of Italian sport after the death at 87 of boxing legend Nino Benvenuti, Sports Minister Andrea Abodi said Tuesday. “Nino Benvenuti has left us, but he remains etched in the memory and hearts of those who knew him and followed him on his sporting journey, sealed by the Olympic gold in Rome 1960 and by his world victories.”

According to Ansa News Agency, Abodi emphasized that even the few times Benvenuti lost, he did so with honor, remaining great even when he stepped out of the ring. He never betrayed his love for boxing, which was his eternal passion. Abodi highlighted Benvenuti’s Italian pride and noted how his character was shaped by his early experiences of fleeing his home alongside hundreds of thousands of other Istrian, Fiume, and Dalmatian exiles.

Abodi described Benvenuti as possessing pure talent in the ring, which was his first stage. He dominated with technique and speed, becoming an icon of the “noble art.” Abodi concluded by stating that with Benvenuti’s passing, the world loses a pillar of the history of Italian sport, who now enters the Pantheon of the immortals.