How good of a boxer was Primo Carnera?

I would make Carnera favorite, but I would see Briggs as a dangerous proposition, for stylistic reasons.

Carnera unequivocally had a far far better resume.

 

Why do you think that is?

 

here is a honest response:

“After undergoing thorough exam and X-rays, at the Columbus hospital, it was indeed revealed that Carnera had broken his ankle. In addition to the break -a clean chip off the anklebone- it was discovered Carnera had torn ligaments in the ankle. Primo said he injured the leg in the first round when being felled by one of Baers shots. After the exam his leg was put in a cast and Dr Panoni told the press he was doubtful primo would be able to meet Baer in a proposed September rematch” - Page 145 Primo Carnera: the life and career of the heavyweight boxing champion by Joseph S. page.

 

Mr Honestry right here. At your service.

 

because a story about a big champion being fraudulent imposter is a bigger story and sells more papers than a story that Primo was good enough to do what he did.

 

Against a fighter he could land clean on he was. Carnera was regularly fighting smaller fighters, who were both very clever and very experienced. Even the best power punchers can have their power neutralized when they fight against a difficult style. Power doesn’t mean much if you can’t land clean. Foreman even in his prime for the most part wasn’t matched against clever fighters, since they could neutralize his power. Lewis dropped his title, since he knew Byrd would be a tough style matchup.

Joe Louis could punch as hard as any heavyweight champion in history, but had one of the hardest fights of his career against Conn, since he was extremely hard to land clean on, since Conn stayed in close, but not directly in front of Louis, and every time Joe missed Conn would light him up with 3-5 punch combinations.

 

As early as 66 Futch was picking all of Frazier’s opponents.

“Yank had taken Joe Frazier to the Olympic heavyweight championship in Tokyo in 1964. Yank had turned him pro. Yank called me when he because a realist, when knew he couldn’t take Joe Frazier to the heavyweight championship of the world. But Yank was smart. He asked around for people who could help him. He heard about my name. People told him that he needed Eddie Futch. He’d never seen me.”

““He called me on the telephone and told me about his fighter. I didn’t jump at the job. I was busy training my fighters in Los Angeles. I was also working full-time in the post office and they didn’t take kindly to moonlighting. I told Yank I wanted to know more about his fighter. He had his publicist send me some information about Joe, but that wasn’t enough. I wanted to see him. So, Yank flew Joe and a sparring partner out to work with me in LA. I met them at the airport and took Joe to my gym and had him spar.”

“Chuck Leslie was Joe’s first fight in LA. I made the fight. Everyone told Yank that I was putting Joe in a bad fight, that Leslie would run and make him look bad. I told Yank, ‘Sure, Chuck Leslie is going to run when he finds out Joe can hit. Sure, he’ll run. But he doesn’t know how to run, he can’t run. And when he can’t run, he’s gonna get knocked out. It will take three rounds.’ When they fought, it went exactly as I said. Joe knocked him out in the third round.”

“His second fight in LA was against “Memphis” Al Jones. He’d fought on the undercard of Joe’s fight, but we hadn’t seen him. He lost a ten-round decision. When I asked about the fight, I heard that he’d been knocked down in the first round. I told Yank that if he lasted 10 rounds, he must be tall and slim because he was probably leaning away from the punches. Sure enough, at the weigh-in, Jones was tall and slim. Joe knocked him out in the next fight.“

“Then I matched Joe with George “Scrap Iron” Johnson, a tough customer. I told Joe to box him the first few rounds, then to fight his fight. I told Joe,’Scrap Iron’ is a tough guy. You’ll hit him a lot, but he’s not going anywhere. You’re not going to knock him out. At the end of 10 rounds, he’ll be there.’ Joe got the decision. I later hired ‘Scrap Iron’ as one of Joe’s sparring partners for the Ali fight.”

"The fourth and final California fight was with Eddie Machen, a crafty fighter and former top contender, whom Floyd Patterson had ducked when he was champion. Although Machen was on the downside of his career, he was still a good fighter. In fact, Machen was the first fighter to defeat Jerry Quarry, winning a 10-round decision and giving the young heavyweight a boxing lesson.

I knew Eddie Machen’s manager. I remember when he went over to Sweden to fight Ingemar Johannson. Johannson knocked Machen out in the first round. I talked with Eddie Machen’s manager when they came back over [to the States]. [Machen] was never the same after that. Eddie Machen was a good fighter.”


“I made Joe wait to fight Quarry for two years. They were two fighters, same height, same weight, same experience. Nobody knew Joe Frazier yet. Nobody knew who Jerry Quarry was yet. The only thing they knew was you see these two fighters in the ring and you see a war.


“I told Yank, ‘It’s a hard fight and no money.’ I convinced Yank not to fight Quarry, but he told me that Cloverlay was pressuring him. So, I had Yank fly me to Philadelphia and I met with 10 people from Cloverlay and I gave them exactly the same reasons I had given to Yank not to take the Quarry fight. I told them, ‘This fight is coming, it can’t be avoided.’ There was no fight until I thought it was time. And if you saw the fight, it was a war from the first round.”

"I took Joe out of the WBA tournament. There were eight heavyweights in there, not two. I said, let them fight it out. When they’re finished, they’ll be two fighters left and Frazier will be one of them. Why fight through a crowded field when you can wait for the winner? I’m not looking for the amateur championship of the world. And in boxing, sometimes the best fighter doesn’t always get the shot.”

https://sunnikhalid.wordpress.com/2000/08/13/interview-with-eddie-futch-august-2000/

 

Carnera was better than his biggest detractors but not a great or near great .. He obviously had size and strength. He also seemed to be terrifically conditioned. His stamina was terrific for such a big man. He threw a decent jab and was fundamentally sound but could get hit and his power questionable .. His courage was unquestioned his chin not terrible .. he was stunned but recovered well and bounced back .. I'd say for sure it was better than a Wlad or maybe even Joshua who got hit and did not really seem to recover ..

 

I understand that they weren't the best, but how good is Price if we are honest?

Who has Price beaten that was remotely world class?

I submit that Price has more questions to answer than Carnera in this fight!

 

Not regarding their chins .. Primo took monster shots from Baer and kept getting up after a bad ankle made it next to impossible .. I can't see Vlad recovering form one of them or Joshua from two ..

 

No you don't.

But you do have to beat good fighters, to prove that you are likely to beat a mediocre champion!

Price actually reminds me of Willard, but unfortunately he lacks the chin!