Excellent job! You'd think, that there can't possibly be a shorter way than this - but there actually is! You have probably spent quite some time on this question already, so I hate to think, you might spend several more hours trying to shorten the chain even further. So maybe I should just post the answer? Or do you want more time? Let me know.
I'm too stubborn to let you just give it me, I want another go! To save myself from madness, I'll ask for one more go if you will.
Another very good effort! The trick to solving this is to realize, that Wilde and Carpentier had a common opponent - George Gloria! So we have: Wilde - Gloria - Carpentier - Loughran - Carnera… I'm pretty sure, there's not a shorter way!