FIGHTLINE BY DOUG FISCHER
Fights only last a matter of minutes, but fighters are connected to each other by chains that extend for decades – even centuries – into the past. Their bond is a lineage built face-to-face: A young prospect struggles with the skills of an aging veteran whose nose was once broken by a fighter now enshrined in the International Boxing Hall of Fame. In that way, muscle memory carries knowledge and boxers face a piece of everyone their opponent has fought, everyone those people fought, and so on. This month we’re linking two former middleweight champions with Italian roots – Vince Dundee, who was born in Sicily but raised in Baltimore, and Nino Benvenuti, Italy’s most beloved boxer born in a town that became part of Slovenia after World War II. Dundee (born Vincenzo Lazzara) and older brother Joe were welterweight attractions during the early 1920s. Joe won the 147-pound title in 1927, but Vince found glory in the 160-pound division. Respected for his skills and vaunted durability (he was only stopped once in 157 bouts), Dundee earned the National Boxing Association (NBA) middleweight title with a 15-round decision over Lou Brouillard on October 30, 1933. Dundee battled seven other world middleweight title claimants – (in order) Marcel Thil, Solly Krieger, Ken Overlin, Ben Jeby, Teddy Yarosz, Babe Risko and Freddie Steele – as well as several contenders during his 14-year pro career. He was the first native of Italy to win the NBA middleweight title. Benvenuti, born in Izola when the Adriatic coastal town was part of Italy, is the Italian Republic’s greatest middleweight. He was already a national idol on the merit of a near perfect amateur career that culminated with Olympic gold at the 1960 Rome Games, but the cerebral boxer-puncher turned pro and earned legend status in the U.S. during his fiercely contested trilogy against fellow Hall of Famer Emile Griffith in 1967 and 1968. Benvenuti’s first bout with Griffith, a 15-round unanimous decision for the world middleweight title, was The Ring’s 1967 Fight of the Year. Benvenuti, the first Italian national to hold the Ring Magazine middleweight title, faced three other Hall of Famers – Dick Tiger, Luis Rodriguez and Carlos Monzon – during his 10-year, 90-bout pro career. Dundee’s and Benvenuti’s primes are separated by 35 years, but the two are linked by five celebrated champions and Joey Archer, a popular middleweight contender who narrowly lost to Griffith in back-to-back title bouts just before Benvenuti won the belt. Archer passed away the month before Benvenuti (on April 25). Both were 87 when they died.
CONN UD 10 DUNDEE MAY 3, 1937
ZALE KO 6 GRAZIANO SEPTEMBER 27, 1946
CONN UD 12 ZALE FEBRUARY 13, 1942
ROBINSON KO 3 GRAZIANO APRIL 16, 1952
ARCHER UD 10 ROBINSON NOVEMBER 10, 1965
GRIFFITH MD 15 ARCHER JULY 13, 1966
BENVENUTI UD 15 GRIFFITH APRIL 17, 1967
96 RINGMAGAZINE.COM
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