An opinion on Primo Carnera from 1993

Louis Soresi was already involved in promoting wrestling at Madison Square Garden in early 1931 or maybe sometime earlier, and was talking about a Carnera wrestling match with wrestling champ Jim Londos, so it is a mistake to believe he was just some bland Italian banker who came on board with Carnera in '32 or '33 like some articles seem to assume.

 

Louis Soresi made a headline in 1929 for a shooting accident, here :

[url]https://www.nytimes.com/1929/03/24/archives/banker-shot-by-accident-louis-soresi-wounds-himself-as-pistol-in.html[/url]

BANKER SHOT BY ACCIDENT.; Louis Soresi Wounds Himself as Pistol in Pocket Is Discharged.

 

Soresi was as shady as the rest of Carnera's 'management', from what I can tell, when it came to taking money out of the kitty.

 

Indeed, property prices fell globally during The Great Depression - quite significantly - as did housing labor and materials.

There is, of course, the matter of financing such a project, as well.

We can't know (without the satisfactory information, at least), whether this house was mostly owned by the bank/s or other investor/s. And, much like yourself, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Soresi was the initial investor/owner.

 

It's interesting that Louis Soresi was involved in organizing a big wrestling event at Madison Square Garden on November 17th, 1930.

He was described as "the treasurer and organizer of this championship benefit" in the program : [url]https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1930-wrestling-program-jim-londos-493035727[/url]

Jack Curley, veteran wrestling/boxing promoter, was the official promoter, along with William Carey, president of MSG.

The wrestling show was quite remarkable for the fact that Louis Soresi, along with Generoso Pope ('Gene Pope Sr.') a wealthy owner of Italian-language newspapers with extensive political connections (Tammany Hall as well as Fascist government in Italy) managed to attract a high class of customer (politicians, opera singers, etc.) to the event, which filled MSG to capacity, and made wrestling fashionable for a season at least.

[url]https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1930/11/18/102187745.html?pageNumber=36[/url]

It seems like Soresi was already interested in the boxing and wrestling games sometime before being directed linked to Carnera's career.

The 17th November 1930 wrestling show was worthy of news film :

This content is protected

 

Louis Soresi looks less like a bland banker who was brought in to "look after Carnera's money" than a boxing/wrestling enthusiast who saw the commercial and creative possibilities of getting himself involved.
The Duffy/Madden gang were probably mostly satisfied to have him on board. He was 'respectable' and Italian.
And it's interesting to ponder how far his 'organizer' involvement with boxing and/or wrestling goes back.

 

It's also worth noting that Soresi was sometimes referred to as Carnera's 'American manager'.
I've also seen it mentioned that Soresi was an American citizen.

 

If the construction cost any less than $35/sf in 1930 currency, and if the mortgage was higher than 10%, then Carnera wasn’t as great as we thought he was.

 

Construction costs in 1930 would be far less than today, but it’s relative to inflation. People made a lot less too.

Also the cost of construction shouldn’t change too much depending on region. Especially for materials. Labor is a different story. Regardless, he seems to have put all the bells and whistles on the house.

It would make sense for him to have a mortgage. But since his family owned it for 50 years, it’s safe to assume they paid it off.

 

If the resume given online is correct, Soresi was an international financier. I wouldn't call him a "bland banker" anymore than I would call J R Ewing a bland oil man. He was a big league money man. Someone like Duffy was probably in over his head with this guy.

As for him holding American citizenship, probably, plus it is quite possible, and even likely, he held dual citizenship.

And I want to thank you for your research, as I really want to know more about this man.

He appears to have been the principle mover and shaker behind Carnera after mid-1932 or so, when apparently he became a co-manager. Italian sources imply he was Carnera's financial advisor earlier.

 

One thing to note is that Carnera lived high in the 1930's. He stayed in the best hotels in several countries. He claimed he had 125 made to order suits, which seems to me to be an extravagant wardrobe.

Carnera listed two villas in Italy as assets in a 1935 American court appearance. He said he could and did draw 1,600,000 lira from his bank account in 1942.

One thing about Soresi. With Carnera a national hero in Italy, I have doubts that Soresi would want to cheat him. Soresi seems to have still been doing business in Italy. Cheating Carnera out of what was probably chicken feed to Soresi would simply ruin his reputation for a negligible gain.

As for a mortgage, that seems at this point to be vacant speculation. We don't even know there was one. And if there ever was, that it wasn't quickly paid off by Carnera's subsequent purses.

 

I doubt Italians cared. Corruption and 'graft' are taken for granted in Italy and the official government and press of the day were concerned with Carnera's strength and fighting prowess, not his wealth or how well he made money in America. He had his villas anyway. He wasn't poor by Italian standards, at all, and his villas were nice by any standards.

All accounts have Soresi ripping off Carnera.

Maybe Carnera did overspend, and he almost certainly had/saved some money that he sent back to his home village.
But the boxing crowd and mobsters ripped him off. As did Louis Soresi, who very possibly was a partner or acquaintance of people in the boxing crowd and mobsters before he worked with Carnera.

 

In terms of making and keeping large amounts money, yes.
In terms of doing deals in the crooked world of boxing, knowing the angles, fixing fights, etc., not so much.

 

I think the Italians would have cared if Carnera ended up destitute. It would be like ripping off Babe Ruth and leaving him penniless in the US. There wasn't enough money involved for a crooked banker to risk the probable backlash. There are so many safer ways for a banker to steal money.

"All accounts have Soresi ripping off Carnera."

But I would like to see some evidence. Like what was the purse, what was Carnera supposed to get, and what did he get, and how much was he shorted? Did any of these "all accounts" have any access to his financial records? Most of these all accounts are modern guys repeating the same old same old without anyone doing research.

Paul Gallico was outraged at those who "used him until there was nothing left to use" although this doesn't seem different from how NFL owners treated players, at least until the players union grew stronger. Ex-NFL stars have ended up living in cars out in the city dump.

Human nature has always been like that. When you're on top your have a lot of friends. When you hit bottom, you have none. There is even an old song about how they "stand by your side while you're winning, and laugh in your face at your fall."

Carnera seems to have come out of his career better than most. Gallico saw him as a "lamb among wolves" but he may have been more like a fox among wolves.