Man Mountain

The dictionary's definitions of the word primo are as follows
adj.
1. First.
2. Slang
a. Exceptionally good of its kind; first-class.
b. Highly or most valuable.

If we were to assign this attribute to a heavyweight boxer, the honour would, indisputably, go to Muhammad Ali who, in his own words, danced in the ring 'like a butterfly' and whose punches 'stung like a bee'. But there are many more 'heavy' fighters vying for this distinction.

The noun primo in Italy is also sometimes used as a Christian name for the first-born boy and, as it happens, in the 1930s there was a pugilist named Primo Carnera, a heavyweight boxing champion of the world from June 29, 1933, when he knocked out Jack Sharkey in six rounds in New York City, until June 14, 1934, when he was knocked out by Max Ber in 11 rounds, also in New York City. 

He stood at 6ft 6 inches, fought at around 19 stones and wore size 16 shoes. He was nicknamed Gentle Gian; Ambling Alp; and Man Mountain but was also described as a freak show.

He weighed a staggering 15 ½ lbs at birth; his family was poor and struggled to find enough food to keep him nourished due to his rapidly evolving size.

Because of the economic situation, at the age of sixteen, he left home and emigrated to France to work as a bricklayer.

His strong and muscular body attracted a lot of attention and soon he was earning extra money by flexing his muscles in front of crowds and fighting volunteers from the spectators.

While overcoming a tough opponent, he was noticed by Paul Journee, a French heavyweight who had boxed from 1912 to 1926 against respectable names of his time and saw Carnera's potential.

Journee owned a gym in the neighborough and started training him in the art of boxing.
His protégé made his debut in 1928, aged 22, in Paris where he beat Leon Sibilo in two rounds. 

Within 18 months Carnera had clocked up 28 wins and had two losses by way of disqualification to his name. However, a lot of Carnera's victories (and losses, too) were questionable and there was suspicion of match-fixing.

His victories amounted to 90 of which 72 were by knock-outs. He lost 14 fights, some by knock-out and others by disqualification for punches below the belt.

By the time his trainer and his agent took their cuts, there was not much money for the poor sap.

His boxing career ended on the 25th of June 1935, beaten by a 21-year-old, named Joe Louis, who had turned professional only 11 months before. He was floored three times by the youngster and the fight was stopped after six rounds with Primo Crnera utterly helpless, clinging to the top rope, when the bout was stopped.

But he was resourceful and in 1946 made his debut as a wrestler, undefeated in 120 contests in the space of twelve months and in1947 beat the former world champion Ed 'Strangler' Lewis.

To this day he’s the only fighter to become a world heavyweight champion in both boxing and wrestling.

Primo Carnera died on 29 June 1967, exactly 34 years to the day when he won the world heavyweight crown against Jack Sharkey 

© Luigi Pagano 2024