How sure are we all that this happened? I was thinking about it today on account of it made a fleeting appearance in All Hell Let Loose, which is a cracking single volume history of WWII: "Nothing went right for the Italian war effort. Mussolini's propaganda department in Rome made a film designed to demonstrate the superiority of the fascist manhood. To this end, a fight was staged between former world heavyweight champion Primo Carnera and Kay Masaki, a black South African taken prisoner in the desert. Masaki had never entered a boxing ring in his life, and was kn ocked down when the cameras began to roll. He picked himself up, however, and struck Carnera a blow that rendered him unconscious." According to Wikipedia, this is supposed to have happened in 1941. It was reported in Time that it had been reported by former POWs, now liberated from Italian camps, in an article which also reported Carnera shot for treason. Carnera had been retired for four years (comeback ahead) and Masaki sounds like a beast but knocked unconscious with one punch? Any thoughts?
Sounds practicaly impossible. I can't see a person with no boxing experience surviving against Carnera, even if he was 60.
I mostly felt this way about this story in the little bit I've looked at it. The thing is though, Max Hastings is arguably the WWII historian. He hasn't chucked this nugget in here without researching it because this book is all nuggets. He fesses up in the foreword, he's looking at unmined sources to illustrate the history he retells for the 100th time. I do sort of feel though - if there isn't a movie about this, can it be true?
My thought? I am always skeptical about stories of boxing champions getting knocked out by the local fishwife. I would have to see the strongest primary eveidence before I gave it any credence.
Yes, it could have happened. I have a lot less faith in the ability of former and inactive champion boxers out of fighting condition, to resist the efforts of a strong amateur or complete novice. At heavyweight any big strong man can land a KO blow. With some of the former champions it's more plausible that something like this should befall them than with others. Looking at Carnera's record, he looked to have dropped far off of world class even in 1936 and '37, and who knows what was happening with him over the next four years. Of course, it depends on the style, skill, mental and physical condition, overall health. Having said that, this particular tale is obscured by the fact of war time propaganda on both sides.
The matter is further compounded by the fact that there were a lot of tall stories circulating about Carnera at the time. At one stage it was alleged that he died fighting with the partisans.
You may already have seen this, McGrain, but in case you haven't. This content is protected The foregoing was a comment on a review of Hastings' book on Amazon.
It isn't that far-fetched for a guy with no professional boxing/fighting experience to be a natural puncher. There are guys who naturally can punch and punch hard. Especially against an old man, regardless of what he used to be. As for this particular story, who knows? Only one source makes it fishy, but stranger hints have happened.
