Italian boxing champion Nino Benvenuti, who took gold at Rome Olympics, dies at age 87

ROME (AP) — Nino Benvenuti, an Italian former boxer who won gold at his home Olympics in 1960 before earning world championship titles in two weight classes as a pro, has died at age 87.

The Italian National Olympic Committee, CONI, said Benvenuti died Tuesday. It did not disclose the cause of death.

CONI called Benvenuti one of the best boxers in the country’s history “and certainly one of the most beloved athletes.”

The elegant boxer won the Olympic welterweight title in Rome in 1960, the same Games where Cassius Clay — who would later become Muhammad Ali — took the heavyweight gold medal.

Benvenuti beat out Clay for the Val Barker trophy as the games’ best boxer.

FILE – Former boxer Nino Benvenuti, who won the welterweight division in the 1960 Rome Olympics, speaks on the 50th anniversary of the games, in Piazza del Campidoglio, in Rome, Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca, File)

“I only realized the importance of that award in the years that followed the games, when Muhammad Ali really became Muhammad Ali and the best boxer in the world,” Benvenuti later said.

Benvenuti finished his amateur career with just one loss in 120 matches, according to the International Olympic Committee. After turning pro in 1961, he became the world light middleweight and middleweight champion (twice). But he said those titles pale in comparison to his gold medal.

“When you win the Olympics you’re an Olympic champion for the rest of your life,” Benvenuti said.