Re: Primo Carnera Appreciation Thread
Posted: 25 Apr 2011, 08:26
Alex wrote:It is, but you couldn't debate it for long: Gains was a decent boxer with fast hands and feet for a heavyweight and a good jab, whereas - let's face it - the 'Ambling Alp' was never noted for his slick boxing ability. I don't know how you can discern this better repertoire of punches and combinations, or what kind of defensive moves the muscle-bound Carnera had. He looks pretty plodding and one-dimensional in all the footage I've seen of him, though admittedly he was a better fighter than he was given credit for being.Brutu wrote:Larry Gains a superior boxer to Primo Carnera?
That's debatable.
Not from what I have seen of the existing fight footage of the two.
Carnera appeared to have a better repertoire of punches and combintions,
as well as defensive moves.Also Carnera appeared to be more mobile in the ring.
I'm inclined to trust the judgement of the newspapermen who watched all 10 rounds of the Carnera-Gains fight ahead of the analysis of some grainy, fragmented two-minute clip that's supposed to represent 30 minutes of action. And in any case, all I can see from the footage is the big man repeatedly missing and getting hit a lot by the smaller Canadian. I think Gains deserves a lot of credit for overcoming a five-stone weight disadvantage – he’d probably only be a cruiserweight today!
Nice post, it's actually pretty surprising how many people consider Carnera a respectable fighter. This is the first time I've ever seen someone laud his defensive abilities. That is just comical. He was big and tough. That's it.