Nicknamed "Pollicino" (Thumbelin) for his small size, Vincenzo Maenza is considered the best wrestler in the Italian history.

Soon he became National Champion several times and in 1979 won the silver medal at the Mediterranean Games in Split.

After he won the bronze medal at Junior European Championship and the gold medal at the Junior World Championship, in 1984 Vincenzo became Olympic champion for the first time at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

A year later, at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Vincenzo won the gold medal for the second time, after defeated the strong Bulgarian wrestler Bratan Tsenov in the semifinal match and Andrzej Głąb of Poland in the final match.

In 1992, at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, he arrived at the final match and won the silver medal, after was defeated by the Soviet wrestler Oleg Kutscherenko, who was ten years younger than he.