An opinion on Primo Carnera from 1993

OK. Have a good evening.

 

Good evening to you too sir!

 

I don't know what is right or wrong about Carnera, but I am trying to dig up the truth. What is certainly a problem with the accepted Carnera story, or myth, is that things which can be checked out turn out to be either questionable (Carnera had acromegaly) or outright false. Carnera was left broke and destitute after his boxing career? The broke seemed illogical on analysis when one googles Villa Carnera and looks at photos of the home he built in Italy.

In 1948, Carnera discussed his financial status after his boxing career in an interview with Sec Taylor of the Des Moines Register.

"I'd have been set for life in Italy if it hadn't been for the war."

"It is not true I got no money from my boxing. They gave me enough to get by, amounts that seemed large to an Italian who'd never had anything and who had lived where the standards of living for poor people were really low. So I had some money when the war came along, owned a home, had an American automobile, a Lincoln, and a lot of clothes. I guess I had something like 125 suits, all made to order of course, and nearly as many pairs of shoes."

Later,

"I was robbed . . . in 1942."

"I was going to buy some property in Sequals and one day drew my money from the bank. 1,600,000 lira it was, almost $50,000 in American money. That night about 2 o'clock someone rapped at the gate and told me to come down. I opened the gate and there were four hoodlums with machine guns."

"They lined us up against the wall and demanded my money. Someone had tipped them off that I'd taken it from the bank."

"Those machine guns caused me to turn over my money."

The robbers also stole his car and valuable personal possessions.

$50,000 in 1942 dollars is equivalent to about $800,000 in 2021 money. Carnera mentions that he was very proud of his home in Italy and would always hold onto it although he now also had a home in California and was living there.

Is it possible Carnera is trying to make himself look good, or at least not a fool about finances. I suppose, but the imposing Villa Carnera backs him up about coming out of his boxing career pretty well fixed financially.

 

I would have thought that any defensive specialist has a theoretical path to victory against Tua?

 

This forum needs an 'ignore / hide thread' option (not for Bit's thread specifically, but for the sheer quantity of Carnera / heavyweight threads swamping the forum).

 

There is a LOT of truth in your statement. When Joe Louis was fighting, most boxing "experts" thought he was not of the level of Dempsey, Johnson, Jeffries, or even Fitzsimmons or Corbett. During Marciano's career, and shortly thereafter, he was not considered of the level of many more, including Schmeling and Fitzsimmons. Ali, though not really appreciated fully in his first career, did get a bit more respect in his second, which meant people thought more of him when he was past his best. The latest to be sorely underrated? IMHO, Holyfield leads that list. Over the next few years I expect him to slowly move up on a lot of people's all time Heavyweight lists. His resume is amazing! And there are others.

 

If Fury and Joshua fight in the next year, then I am sure that this will be remembered as a strong era, and that it will be looked back on fondly by the kids who grew up in it.

 

Have you actually watched film of Jim?

 

Or this part of the forum could be abandoned becoming "The HW and mostly Carnera Forum" and a new classic could emerge where we treat Carnera with an unspoken rule like Voldermort.

 

Come gather round people, wherever you roam.
And admit that Carnera was not just an oaf.

 

Funnily enough- If we all did that, he would cease to be a God like entity on this Forum the doubters give him power.

 

Yes believe it or not.

Let me put it this way.

If he won, then it is pretty darn obvious how he would win.

His natural style is the only one that would work.

 

But all of the film suggest he would be crushed, Show me a fight where he displays the ability to beat Tua?
The best people Tua beat would in all seriousness would stomp the entire cast that Jim beat Champions or not.

 

I think that we differ significantly on what Corbett looks like on film.

 

Corbett looks great on film, especially considering the fight is filmed in the eighteen-frickin-hundreds.