Why people hate Carnera...

I read this article not long back and thought you might have been its author.

 

I am not, but I endorse it.

One day I might write a book making precisely that argument!

 

The burden of proof lies upon the person asserting something.

The onus is on Carnera's accusers to prove the allegations against him.

The evidence put forward, such as it is, is extremely weak!

 

Good luck with that.

Although, books without a balanced treatment of the evidence, of which the article you cite is a stark example, are rarely seen as a serious attempt to get at the truth.

 

I would be very comfortable with a balanced treatment of the evidence.

That would comfortably end up at 70/30 in favor of Carnera!

 

Probably 80/20 to be honest!

 

Carnera himself states the analogous story written by Schulberg is true. That is proof enough for me, thanks.

 

Sure - I can tell how 'balanced' your treatment of the evidence would likely be, by you already deciding upon the ratio of evidence in favor of your desired outcome.

This speaks volumes in itself.

Why bother writing a book on a contentious topic with a heavily weighted, predetermined bias?

 

Your kidding I hope

 

After I had written my book, you would find that the evidence had a pro Carnera bias!

As would the truth!

 

This is false. Carnera lived to be 80. A person with acromegaly would die well before that, usually from heart failure. He also did not gain weight throughout his career, which is what a person with acromegaly would do.

 

Sorry you’re flat out wrong. Carnera lived to 60 not 80. And plenty of people with Acromegely live beyond that age. Paul Benedict and Richard Kiel to name just two actors with it.

 

I misspoke about his age.

Do you have any evidence that he was diagnosed with acromegaly? I do not believe it.

 

In my original post - I stated he “likely” suffered from the disease. Was he ever diagnosed with it, I do not know. The evidence is there on the surface that he quite possibly had it. The fact that it is well documented he was the size of a full grown man at age 8 is a hint. Also his features of both hand and face. (His hands were abnormally huge) The breaking down of his body physically in his later years, is also a red flag. Also he suffered from diabetes and kidney failure attributed to alcoholism, however both illnesses are often associated with acromegaly.
It’s circumstantial evidence that paints the picture.

 

It’s true that he pumped out plenty of growth hormone to reach his size, but I don’t think he had acromegaly/gigantism.

Firstly, he stayed at about the same weight throughout his career which is inconsistent with acromegaly.

Secondly, he was handsome compared to most people with acromegaly (Valuev or Andre The Giant).

Thirdly, most people with acromegaly make poor pro athletes due to poor stamina and being slow. Valuev is the only true case that I know of who made it as a boxer, but he kept a low output style. Notably, he was much bigger than Carnera and had classic facial features of the disease.

It’s true that there are cases of pituitary tumors that turn benign, so there’s a chance Carnera was one of those people but that would be going out on a limb.

As for his death, medicine sucked back then and a lot of people died around age 60.