On this day in 1992: Benn takes WBC super-middleweight title in Italy
Mauro Galvano could not continue after the third round in Marino because of a severe cut, handing Nigel Benn the WBC belt.
Nigel Benn became WBC super-middleweight champion 34 years ago today, stopping Mauro Galvano in the fourth round at the Palaghiaccio di Marino in Lazio, Italy. The win gave Benn a world title at a second weight, two years after he held the WBO middleweight belt.
Galvano, the defending champion, could not continue after the third round because of a severe cut, and the fight went into the record as a fourth-round stoppage. Benn arrived on a six-fight winning streak, five of those wins at super-middleweight.
The move up in weight led Benn to refine his strategy and take a more measured approach. He defended the belt three times, beating fellow Britons Nicky Piper and Lou Gent before outpointing Galvano by unanimous decision in a rematch.
The title also put Benn in a unification bout with Chris Eubank, by then the WBO super-middleweight champion. Their fight on 9 October 1993 ended in a draw, and both men kept their belts. Benn defended the WBC title twice more in 1994, with unanimous decisions over Henry Wharton and Juan Carlos Giminez Ferreyra, and held it until 1996, the year his professional career ended.
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Reported by the Combat Sports UK desk. Times are UK and Irish time, and we update the report when the facts change. How we work.