When did Nino Benvenuti become a professional boxer?
Giovanni "Nino" Benvenuti (born April 26, 1938) is a former boxer and actor from Italy. He won the Italian welterweight title in 1956–60, the European title in 1957 and 1959, and an Olympic gold medal in 1960, winning the Val Barker award for fighting technique. After retiring from boxing, he became known for his roles in several Italian films. He began training as a boxer at the age of 17. After three years of amateur competition, he turned pro in 1950. He was undefeated in his first six fights, including wins over future world champions Rodolfo Marques and José Torres. In 1955, he captured the Italian title with a decision win over Franco Ferrara. Two years later, he traveled to Sweden for the inaugural European Championships, where he was stopped in the quarterfinals by eventual winner Karl Bergström. In 1958, Benvenuti returned to the Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, where he beat two more future world-class fighters (Alain Delonney and Eugenijus Petraitis) before losing a close final match to Tony O'Shea. The following year, he again won the European crown with a third-round knockout of France's Jean Deslongchamps. In 1961, Benvenuti lost a controversial split decision to Canada's George Chuvalo for the World Boxing Association (WBA) title; however, he claimed the WBA never officially sanctioned their championship, so this loss has no official status.