Primo had a lot of admirable attributes that you’d want in a boxer in spite of his flaws. He was surprisingly quick and agile for such a big man, and had great toughness and heart as evident against Baer. Would Chappie have been able to turn him into a monster?
No, it`s not easy to just pick things up, Primo just didn`t have that type of mindset, you can put two fighters with the same trainer and will turn out far better than the other, some fighters turn out good DESPITE their trainers, plus I don`t think Primo had a chin or any heart, I also think he would have lose weight to gain some speed.
I honestly think that Carnera's handlers, wrung every ounce of potential that he had out of him. The brought in Abe Attel to train him, and really tightened up his game. They were very successful, because he became the champion, but that was probably as far as the train was ever going. Now Willard on the other hand, could have gone much further, with the correct guidance.
The mistake people have here is not believing everything is taught… Louis wasn’t born fighting that way, all can be passed on through education. Expression of that knowledge will be different depending on your various advantages but still if he had the will and the mind Chappie could make him a much better fighter.
Don’t see this relationship working. Roxborough and Black gave Blackburn complete control of Louis’ diet and training. Leon See would’ve never did that. Abe Attell tried to fully take over Primo’s training and got fired by See. Also, Carnera had no amateur career and Blackburn wasn’t known for being a very patient guy, so I have a hard time seeing him investing the time needed to develop Carnera. Louis had a solid amateur foundation, so Blackburn didn’t need to put too many years into Louis to make him a champion.
