:good great post! this film is good quality, there is nothing wrong with primo's right handers, this is a streight fight. Meen once beat gipsie daniels not long after daniels KO'd max schmeling so he was no bum.
To put this victory in perspective ,Meen had 98 fights winning 56 ,losing 39 and being stopped in 21 of them ,two of those who kod him, had records of 0-1 -0 and 2-10-0 The win over LHvy Daniels was two years after Daniels had beaten Schmeling ,who was a light heavy at the time.Daniels avenged the loss to Meen. Meen never beat a class man , indeed he was beaten by many who would be termed, " ham and eggers " , and ,as Klompton has said ,was a step below, even a shot Chuck Wiggins. The fight between Carnera and Meen likely was straight ,even Carnera would struggle to lose to Meen. This content is protected
all champions fought a lot of reggie meens. full time pro's who could hold their own with good level fighters. wiggins early resume was beter at a lower weight when he was good. Im not saying meen is beter im just saying carnera did what beter fighters did to meen, proving primo was a genuine world class force. we agree it was on the level.
I just think that a lot of carnera’s mediocre opponents lacked ambition, did not want to fight and simply had their non efforts excused as “thrown fights”. It just looks worse against a big guy. Maybe 90% could have tried a lot harder but decided that as they were the “opponent” it just wasn’t worth putting it on the line against a guy that big. Maybe a non effort amounts to the same thing as a fixed fight? All touted prospects face journey men lacking in ambition. All champions faced guys who threw themselves down without really trying; maybe carnera fought more of them? When you fight over 20 times a year they are not all going to be serious contenders are they?
I doubt Carnera agreed to a fix with Godfrey. No one says OK, you hit me low and DQ yourself. Godfrey was the Andrew Golota of his time. He went low in several fights. The reverse angle clip of Sharkey vs. Carnera ( seldom show ) is a real head snapper of a punch. I doubt this was a fixed fight. No one gives away the championship of the world.
In the Sharkey fight Sharkey hurt Carnera in the final round and was trying to go after him when he literally bent down and walked into an uppercut he never saw. He effectively doubled the force of the blow. That wasnt scripted, he got hit with a punch he never saw coming and got put out.
sharkey just didnt credit that carnera could improve on the way he fought when they first met. in their rematch primo was beter and sharkey was worse second time. sharkey was sloppy but he was taken out fair and square by a fighter good enough to beat him. it was no accident!
You are missing the point ,[not unusual for you],I doubt Carnera was even in on the fixed fights ,except perhaps the fiascos with Stribling. When Godfrey" fought " Carnera, he had a record of 53 kos in 66 wins. I have extreme doubts that Good Time Charley Friedman, Owney Madden ,and Frenchy Demange would let Carnera into the same town as Godfrey ,unless Godfrey was "on the cuffs" . In 1929 , Godfrey was thrown out against Bearcat Wright for not trying, two more fights ,again with Wright , [1933] and one with Jimmy Byrne,[ 1929], were declared NO Contests because of stalling. Godfrey was known to do business, a dsq loss is much more preferable to a ko loss, both to your pride, and your record.
Carnera did fight Uzcudun, Gains and Maloney in their hometowns without the "cuffs" on, and he was reportedly robbed against Stanley Poreda. I don't see the point of Godfrey agreeing to fixes against Gains, Walker, Hawkins, other black men and getting himself disqualified on purpose. In some of those cases he was fined for his actions. Thus he did have a history of dirty fighting. He did not seem to take it easy on Carnera either: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzeY4udtFQg[/ame] 2:20 onwards.
Godfrey was certainly mixing it up well with Carnera. It does not look like a fixed fight, as Godfrey was clearly trying prior to the foul. Have you seen the full fight? Odd, when I say Louis management was in with MSG and such, people cry foul. But with Carnera its a given? The 30's was a time of fixed fights. I agree with that, however I do not think Carnera vs. Sharkey or Godfrey were fixed.
Carnera fought Gains at the White City Stadium London,Gains was from Ontario Canada. Jim Maloney fought Carnera in Miami ,Maloney was from Boston Mass. I am in the UK, but I beleive Massachusetts, and Florida are quite a way apart. Carnera took a split dec from Uzcudun in Barcelona, but the rematch, for Carnera's title, was in Rome. Godfrey was 20lbs overweight when he fought Obie Walker. According to Gains, Godfrey gave him a hiding in their first fight, stopping him in 6rds [1926],two years later Gains had improved drastically and was beating Godfrey when Godfrey deliberatedly fouled out to save himself from a loss , no fix involved in either fight. Dick Richardson did it against Cleveland Williams when he began to ship punches and, he then "saw the writing on the wall". Godfrey was only fined once against Al Walker. Harry Wills did it against Sharkey.Battling Nelson did it against Gans, its hardly novel.
My mistake, but Gains seemed to fight out of UK mostly. He was the reigning Commonwealth champion at the time he faced Carnera. Maloney also fought Carnera in Boston. So there was no fix involved, yet Godfrey fouled out of the fights. It's not a stretch to say that this could have legitimately happened against Carnera as well.
You are right about Maloney fighting Carnera in Boston, Maloney won. Gains was the Commonwealth Champion but not allowed to fight for the British title , he won the Commonwealth title from Don McCorkindale, a South African. Godfrey lost to Walker on points, not a dsq.