Wednesday 14 June 2017 14:11, UK
Screenings of the captivating documentary 'The Duce's Boxer' will take place in London's Italian Cultural Institute today at 5pm.
'The Duce's Boxer' is a documentary about Leone Jacovacci, a black Italian boxer who discredited 20th-century Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini's racist ideology by winning a European boxing title in 1928.
Jacovacci, an African Italian born in the Congo, would claim the middleweight title by beating Mario Bosisio, a white Italian boxer supported by the country's Fascist leaders, in front of 40,000 fans in Rome's National Stadium, causing great controversy.
An outraged Mussolini would later order that Jacovacci and his achievement be completely erased from Italy's history books.
But 89 years later, Jacovacci's story has been resurrected and based on the book "Black Roman" by Italian sociologist Mauro Valeri, Tony Saccucci's "The Duce's Boxer" tells the fascinating story that for years was left in the dark.
Saccucci, first time director, will be presenting tonight's screening and also taking questions and answers.
