Talk:Primo Carnera

wonder about death

He owned a liquor store and died of liver disease at 61, did he have a drinking problem?

He had kidney problems and one was removed long before his death. Activist (talk) 14:56, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Fixed fights

There is not question that *most* of his fights were fixed. He could not hit, and he had a weak chin - he only won when the fight was fixed. This is detailed by sports journalist Paul Gallico in Farewell to Sport (1938). Fothergill Volkensniff IV (talk) 20:13, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

There is a strong assumption that most of his important fights were fixed after he came to the U.S. from Italy. His winnings were said to have gone mostly to the New York Irish gangster Owney Madden. Madden may have failed to fix a few of his fights possibly owing to betting on Carnera's opponent.

One wonders about recording his "record" in his wrestling career, since all those matches were presumably fixed, just as they are today. I saw him wrestle when I was a young boy. The bouts were choreographed spectacles with leading characters such as "Gorgeous George," who was the ring equivalent of Liberace.

When he ran into real boxers, when the fight was not fixed, his results were awful. The undefeated Joe Louis pulverized him to take the championship. Maxie Baer thumped him pretty good. He won one fight he was clearly losing when his opponent's corner man threw in the towel.

Carnera had one opponent die within a couple of days of their fight. It was widely assumed that the dead boxer had received previous trauma in a fight with Baer which was only exacerbated by the Carnera match. Activist (talk) 15:06, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

WW2

Several sources state that he worked with the Italian resistance during the Second World War, and spent some time in a fascist prisoner-of-war camp after being captured,[1][2] although they tend to be very vague. The article completely skips over this period; true facts, or barmy old cack? -Ashley Pomeroy (talk) 12:17, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Tallest?

"Until December 19, 2005, when the 7 ft 1 in, 147 kg Nikolay Valuev won the WBA title, Carnera along with Jess Willard who stood 6' 6 1/2" were the biggest heavyweight champions in boxing history."

A) the structure of this sentence is awkward. B) how can he share the title of 'tallest' with a man that is more than two inches shorter than him.

Furthermore "In 1932, Carnera faced the tallest Heavyweight in history up to that point, Santa Camarão, a Portuguese fighter who was taller than him. Carnera won the fight by a 6th round decision"

How can Carnera hold the title of 'tallest' until 2005 when there was a Portuguese fighter taller than Carnera in 1932?

You've misread the text. The Portuguese fighter was not a world heavyweight "champion."

I've found various heights for Carnera and Valuev. Carnera is listed as 1.97m (6'5 9/16") and 1.98m (6'5 61/64"). Valuev is listed at 7' even and 7'1". Carnera's fighting weight was usually listed as between 250# and 276#, mostly over 260#, details found at . One outlier which I assume was inaccurate had him at 238#. I've found Willard listed as 1.99m, or 6' 6 11/32" tall. Weights during a career vary and measurements, especially of such large persons is not always precise. Activist (talk) 20:37, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

height

83.117.96.177 (talk) 23:27, 27 December 2010 (UTC)According to the source he was 6-5 3/4. I fixed the data accordingly

The page still shows two slightly different heights. His weight over his career also varied by at least 15#. He often outweighed opponents, including Joe Lewis by sixty or seventy pounds. Activist (talk) 15:12, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

photo date?

Just from eyeballing the styles of the suits, the photo looks more like it is circa 1937 rather than 20 years later, and perhaps even earlier. The shorter guy in the photo looks rather like boxer-turned-actor Nat Pendleton, and given what he looked like in HORSE FEATHERS, that would push the date even earlier into the '30s. Ted Newsom (talk) 00:41, 20 April 2012 (UTC)Ted Newsom