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.
“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.
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FILE - Nino Benvenuti, left, of Italy and Emile Griffith of the U.S. Virgin Islands are seen during a sparring session, March 2, 1968, in Kiamesha Lake, N.Y., ahead of their middleweight title fight. (AP Photo/JJL, File)
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)
FILE - American boxer Emile Griffith, left, bends into a punch by Italian Nino Benvenuti during their middleweight championship bout on in Madison Square Gardens in New York, March 4, 1968. (AP Photo/File)
Iran retaliated against U.S. air and cruise missile strikes as hostilities escalated Thursday with attacks against Kuwait and Bahrain in renewed fighting after U.S. President Donald Trump warned that Tehran would “pay the price” for stalled negotiations.
The exchange came shortly after the U.S. launched a second round of airstrikes overnight Thursday. Bahrain is the headquarters of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.
The new assault across multiple Iranian cities came as efforts to negotiate an end the war appeared to have stalled, with Iran insisting it would maintain its grip on the Strait of Hormuz. Talks have also faltered because of Israel's attacks against the Iranian-allied Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. On Monday, Iran and Israel targeted each other.
In a first exchange of missile fire from Iran and airstrikes by the U.S. on Wednesday, Iranian missiles were launched at missiles at Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan. Those came in the wake of American strikes in reprisal for the shooting down of a U.S. helicopter in the strait.
The U.S. Central Command said it completed its latest round of airstrikes just before the sun rose Thursday in Iran. It said the strikes targeted military surveillance, communications and air defense sites and were carried out by the U.S. Air Force, Marines and Navy. It did not elaborate on the damage done by the strikes.
Explosions from the strikes echoed around Iran’s capital, Tehran, as well as in the port city of Bandar Abbas and other southern areas along the strait.
Here's the latest:
Kuwait says it has closed its airspace over ongoing Iranian attacks and said flights were being diverted to alternative airports, without elaborating.
Flights had been circling outside of Kuwait for some time before the announcement after it said its air defenses were firing.
Kuwait International Airport had taken a direct Iranian hit in recent days, which killed one person and wounded dozens.
Kuwait's military said its air defenses were firing Thursday morning after Iran threatened retaliation for U.S. airstrikes overnight. Bahrain separately sounded its missile alert sirens in the island kingdom that hosts the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet headquarters.
President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, June 10, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
