Nino Benvenuti Salutes Fallen Champion Giovanni Parisi

In the last 24-hours, Italian boxing legend Nino Benvenuti has conducted several interviews that were filled with high respect for the career of Giovanni Parisi, who was tragically killed on Wednesday as he was driving from a shopping run and his BMW collided head on with a van on a highway outside the town of Voghera. Parisi was killed instantly. Police official Alessandro Casanova said the accident was under investigation.

"He was in a league of his own," Benvenuti told Italy's SKY TV. "He was very precise, very technically well-prepared, sometimes he just needed to touch his opponents ... so they had watch to out for a surprise punch."

Parisi, 41, won the featherweight gold medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. During his career, he won the WBO lightweight title and held it from 1992 to 94 - then moved up to junior welterweight and won the WBO title at 140 and held that  crown  from 96 to 98. He lost a decision to Julio Cesar Chavez when he challenged him for the WBC crown in 1995. Parisi finished his career with a record of 41-5-1, 29 KOs.

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