Nino Benvenuti  was a celebrated Olympic hero and undefeated as a professional until losing an extremely debatable verdict in Korea. He came to New York and captured the American fans with his suave, arrogant demeanor. He took two out of three against the great Emile Griffith and he was the middleweight champion of the world.

Nine predictions for the fight game in the year 2005. Remember, you heard them here first:

1. Barring any major facial lacerations, the Jan. 29 title fight between Arturo Gatti and Jesse James Leija for Gatti’s WBC junior-welterweight title will grab early honors for “fight of the year”. Since teaming up with trainer Buddy McGirt, Gatti no longer leads with his face. His rounds-to-cut ratio has plummeted. The fight will make boxing history when Leija, bleeding late in the fight, is allowed to have a blood transfusion between rounds.