Primo Carnera/Baer Photographs

Well ,Charles Atlas ,youve finally come out.
Do you feel a weight has been taken off your back ?
If so whose was it?

Only joking ,Baer had a tremendous build,a chest expansion of around 5in, 6' 2/12"
210lbs.
Carnera had varicose veins on his legs ,bigger than some peoples legs!

 

dapreem was a big lad wasn't he ?? ,and max too.
max and cleveland williams had similar build with a punch to match

 

I have to disagree there...they weigh about the same, but Williams was much more bulky. He had bigger tits, too.

 

Baer, in my opinion, had the perfect buid for a fighter. Too much bulk makes a guy club with his punches and lack that "kick" that he should have in his shots. Foreman had more bulk but shot for shot Baer was the harder puncher. His biggest fault was his head..being a scewball who took nothing seriously, especially his boxing career.

 

Good stuff Russell. That last shot of Carnera is pretty amazing.

Here's another, if you don't mind:

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Baer had a big frame, but Carnera made him look like a child.

By the way, where did you find those photos? I've never seen these before.

 

Compare with Louis

Joe Louis for the Baer Fight

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Early in his career.He had well developed muscle insertions at the knee joint.

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They were two of the most novel men in the history of boxing, the joker and the giant.

Both men had impressive builds. Baer had those huge shoulders, Carnera was just plain big.

The last picture of Louis is very stirring - it's all business with 'Chappie'.

 

Carnera had acromegaly.

Noone can be 250+ with low body fat and train like an endurance athlete (unless you're as tall as Yao Ming or something).

 

That is Myrna Loy, a major actress of the era. It must be a publicity shot for THE PRIZEFIGHTER AND THE LADY (MGM-1933) in which Baer starred and Carnera appeared.

Speaking of movies, I recently saw an Abbott and Costello comedy called AFRICA SCREAMS in which Max and Buddy Baer were featured as villains. Next to ordinary fellows like Bud and Lou and a few other supporting comedians, the Baers were HUGE. They had a very funny scene late in the movie in which playful chimps manipulate them into getting angry with each other. Buddy steps out of character to threaten to hit Max "harder than Louis ever did" and they then have an all-out comic slugfest.

 

Baer's character in the film was called Steve Morgan, he wore his film boxing robe into the ring when he fought Carnera for real.
The script called for Baer to beat the Champion [Carnera ] but Primo [or his handlers objected ], and it was changed to a draw.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgTCczM64Uw&feature=PlayList&p=C29E310B20235F5F&index=39