BoxRec

...both at their best.

I go with Primo on Points. He has the better boxing skills (I think he's underrated...).

Carnera obviously can never be considered a great but . . . . .he is fairly underated.I think he would have beat the beast from the east,infact I go furthur I think he would have beat Willard as well! the more I see of the pre 1920 fighters the more I feel compared to "modern style" boxing (for want of a better word) they are overated.Not saying they wernt tough as anything or they didnt have guts,just feel most of them preffered wrestling to boxing.Carnera had a decent jab,plenty of courage and could take it to the body.Sharkey always maintained Carnera k.od him ,and the loss to Louis is no shame.Seeing Max Baer bounce him round the ring perhaps makes him look a bit of a clown but respect to the man for getting up and carrying on !

Primo was the much better boxer, but then he would be dwarfed by Valuev and size matters. Tough call. I go for Primo on points.

Primo would have been right at home with todays crop of heavyweights. He would NOT however particulary stand out in terms of skill, ability or performance. Which means he would likely be competitive with Valuev.

Primo Carnera on points...

Decagon wrote:They both have underrated jabs.

yeah ok...I'll grant you this but that's because these jabs come with fighters who for the most part are deservedly underated.

The one wild card in my thinking here is that your opponents size no matter how clumsy or unskilled may actually account for something besides "falling harder".

Primo on points. Though some of his bouts were fixed he still faced a hell of a lot better opposition than Valuev will ever face.

barry wrote:Primo on points. Though some of his bouts were fixed he still faced a hell of a lot better opposition than Valuev will ever face.

Yes, despite all of the obvious negatives in Carnera's career it's hard to look at the respective opponents and not go for Primo.

Carnera could take body shots all say long but was often buzzed by head shots. Valuev seems to be able to take shots to the body or head extremely well. Both guys show good stamina for big fighters.

Two giants would not produce a defensive fight of skill and dash. I believe the fight would come down to who can take it more. I'd pick Valuev.

On the balance I'd like to go with Valuev because I feel people disrespect him alot, but he does seem to shy away from fighting guys over 6'3". He rarely steps in with taller (taller than average, not taller than him obviously) guys. Though I didnt vote for it I will say a draw

This isnt even close,compare opposition,Primera faced Louis ,Baer,Sharkey,Gains ,Uzcudan plus dangermen like Leroy Haynes , quality heavyweight Ernie Schaff , Valuev has fought no one remotely in that class. Ok Carnera took part in fixed fights ,and fought stiffs but he did fight loads of quality fights and knew what it meant to hang in there ,Valuev has fought plenty of poor opposition and has not really been tested yet.Carnera did no worse aginst Louis then Baer .As for size lets not forget Carnera was the biggest heavywight champ until Valuev ,perhaps Carneras power would have improved as for onece he wouldnt have to punch down.Not trying to belittle Valuev ,he might improve over the next couple of years,just feel on current avalible facts Carnera wins comfortably.

Primo wins by knockout!

boxpope wrote:Primo wins by knockout!

or by pay off

In my opinion both men are virtually identical in style. Both men's best weapon is their jab and though they are gigantic and huge, neither man has a great advantage in power. Carnera beat the better opponents, but even he couldn't stop Tommy Loughran who was over 100 pounds lighter than he was...and Valuev couldnt stop Ruiz, Donald and took him 11 rounds to stop Barrett.

It wasn't until Carnera fought the likes of Baer that he finally faced real adversity, and showed that Carnera couldn't fight backing up, couldn't use his size to his advantage one iota in that fight. Valuev has in my mind yet to be tested, and I dont know if he ever will considering this era's lack of 'real' fighters worth anything.

The difference, obviously, between the two men is how Valuev would make Carnera look like a midget---but Valuev did beat better fighters, he had fought a few rather talented giants and showed some great success against them [George Godfrey, Ray Impelltiere(?)] while Valuev has won controversial decisions over Ruiz, Donald and beat unranked Owen Beck and 'won' over McCline by 3rd round stoppage.

I think Carnera could win this one rather easily. Carnera was a big man and all, but Valuev looks like a glandular case. Why someone don't investigate this man for gigantism/acromegaly is beyond me. He looks sickly and could very well end up hurting himself.

Even though Valuev is nearing the 49-0, it wont mean shit even if he beats it. He isnt an undisputed champion, and even if he does unify the titles, he wins fights by gift decisions in Europe (why wont he fight in USA? Because he knows he'd lose), he fights bums, and there's no one worth their salt.

This man could go 100-0-0 and I think it wouldnt matter. In the end he will always be a freak show.

Primo Carnera was superior; he beat Paulino Uzcudum and Tommy Loughran; he would win by K.O.