Primo Carnera & Jess Willard in comparison to AJ's opposition so far

Nobody of them would look to well against old Wlad and Povetkin, Parker or Ruiz 1.

Prime Primo beats them of course, including Willard.

 

Clearly Inferior.

 

Wlad, Povetkin, Ruiz(1) and Parker beats both.

Whyte may be too green to beat Carnera but I'd pick him over Willard with confidence.

 

I would make them favorite over everybody except Wlad, though they would likely pick up other losses.

 

Jess Willard might qualify as one of his early sacrificial lambs but nothing more.

Carnera would be the equivalent of a regional fighter, somewhere just below Skelton.

 

Use your eyes. Carnera would get splayed and spayed. He lacks the quicks. He lacks the power.

 

Except Carnera had neither power nor chin.

 

Willard was a product of his times; a big, rugged hoss who was able to use his size and durability to overcome smaller opponents. Under modern rules you can't recreate the conditions that led to his best win. Today's rule-set, along with similar sized opposition, would nullify his greatest strengths. There's no great advantage to being the 45-round giant when the fights are set for 12 and other fighters are the same size. I could see him beating Breazale, Molina, Martin and possibly Takam, but not Wlad, Povetkin or Parker.

If we're talking about early 20th century rules, then he's a much harder proposition. There's a chance he could outlast Whyte for example over 20 rounds.

Carnera had some different strengths, but again a lot of his success was based on being a superheavyweight in an era of cruiserweights. His lack of chin and power would be problematic in today's division, as most of the top guys can bang to some extent and are reasonably durable. I could see him getting past Breazale and Molina, but everyone else would probably clip him at some point.

 

Jess quit on his stool.

According to Classicists, this is why Liston is a loser.

Beyond that, he had nothing of the skillset or athleticism to cope with even Joshua.