JACK SHARKEY vs PRIMO CARNERA
HISTORIC BOXING NEWSPAPERS AND HISTORY
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ALBANY EVENING
NEWS
FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 1933
JACK SHARKEY vs PRIMO CARNERA
After Victory; Gob Vengeful
Feels More Like Champ After Drink of Wine
Tells of Secret Punch That Floored
Jack, Who Offers No Alibi
_
New York - (UP) - Primo Carnera's _
The new champion smiled like a _
Except for a small bruise on the _
Sharkey blinked his bruised eyes. _
The shift from the perspiring _
Then came 23 barnstorming vic-
naivety being what it is, no one
would suspect him of having secrets,
yet he stepped out in Madison
Square Garden's big saucer last night
and won the world heavyweight
championship with a "secret punch."
_
In fact, he hit Jack Sharkey so hard
with this backstairs wallop that it was
rumored the ex-champion was dead
and it was actually printed that he
was confined to his hotel room with
a brain concussion.
_
Sharkey snarled down both of
these reports at 2:30 a.m. today be-
fore driving off with his wife to
Boston where he'll rest a day or so
before going to Bow Lake, N.H.,
for fishing and solitude.
happy horse, sat on a rubbing table
in his dressing room after the fight
and elatedly told about the "secret
punch" that blasted Jack to the
deck.
_
"They say I no heet weeth my
right," said the perspiring giant. "So
we let them theenk I no heet with
my right - but I practice for seex
weeks so I keek like a horse weeth
it."
_
Louis R. Soresi, Carnera's man-
ager, and Bill Duffy, the front man,
said the big fellow had secretly
pounded on a heavy bag day after
day until the uppercut snapped like
a trip-hammer.
_
The dressing room was as aban-
donedly boisterous as a shipyard with
wild Italian and American shouts
mingling in a deafening symphony
that rattled the shed's iron sides.
Everyone was throwing his arms
about everyone's neck like babbling
bridesmaids at Martha's wedding.
_
Somebody handed the naked
mauler a bottle of wine. He took a
long, gurgling pull.
_
"Ha! I feel more like a champion
now," he exclaimed.
bridge of his nose, Primo was un-
marked. His victory was too easy,
he said, although Sharkey hit harder
than in their 1931 fight. He knew
he had Jack in the first round, after
the gob had slugged him with his
best blows.
_
"But I roll them off thees time.
I'm good boxer now. I know he get
tired so I wait and land my upper-
cut. Sure, I'm ver-ee happy. I won
for myself, for Duce, and for all
Ital-ee," he said.
_
When translated, the cablegram
sent to his mother in Sequals, Italy,
read, "I owe it all to you Mamma."
_
A cablegram from London caused
Carnera much merriment. It was
from Emilla Tercina, the London
waitress who recently won a $14,000
breach of promise suit against him.
It said, "Regardless of everything, I
still love you and hope you win."
_
There was no merriment in Shar-
key's dressing room. Still half-dazed,
he was assisted into the room by
police and handlers. The commission
physician peered into his eyes, shook
his head and said:
_
"Reflexes still slow. It must have
been a terrible blow."
_
"Ex-champion," he exclaimed bit-
terly. "This is something new to me.
Maybe it would have been better if
it happened in my first fight with
him. Say, what round did it hap-
pen in?"
_
"The fifth," said Johnny Buckley,
his manager.
_
"The sixth," shouted a news man.
_
A reporter asked him if he were
through.
_
"Hell, no!" Sharkey exclaimed. "I
want another crack at that big guy.
I gave him two chances, and I de-
serve another chance with him. I'll
fight him any time - and beat him.
Guess I got a little careless and ran
into a lucky one."
_
While Sharkey rolled home to
Boston, Carnera, whose huge feet as
recently as 1928 were encased in
burlap bags, was pushing two extra-
large dancing pomps about a shiny
floor in one of the city's bright
spots.
giant of the dressing room to the
immaculate hero of the cabaret gave
his life story in a nut shell. His rise
from rags to international fame and
riches occurred in five years of
hodge-podge absurdities and heroics.
_
The man mountain was born in
Sequals, near Venice, Oct. 25, 1907,
and is said to have weighed 22
pounds at birth. At 14 - already the
size of a full-grown man - he left
home to make his living. After mix-
ing cement in Paris, he joined a
honkey-tonk circus as "strong boy."
They taught him to wrestle and he
took on 10 men a day. He attracted
the attention of a French boxer,
Paul Journee, who interested the
promoter, Leon See, in him.
_
After a little fighting in Europe,
See brought Carnera to America in
December, 1929. There ensued a
campaign of publicity almost as
ridiculous as that which followed
the arrival of Zaro Agha, who said
he was 156 years old. Pictures were
made of Carnera's extra-long bed,
his huge shoes, his hands and even
his teeth - anything to publicize his
size, the second largest fighter in
ring history.
tories, all by the knockout route.
Many brought charges of "fake" and
his opponents were called "tankers."
American became fed-up, and he
fought Young Stribling twice in
Europe, each losing and winning
once on a foul. Returning to Amer-
ica, Jim Maloney won a decision
and Jack Sharkey beat him. Larry
Gains beat him in London and
Stanley Poreda took the verdict in
his last defeat. He was still a pa-
looka when he stood up with Shar-
key for 15 rounds in 1931.
_
On February 10, this year, he bat-
tered Ernie Schaaf unconscious, and
the blond Boston Adonis died later.
This victory won Primo a shot at
the title.
_
Last night he climaxed this odd
career by entering the ring stone
broke, although having earned some
half million in five years. Last week
he went into bankruptcy.
Title from Sharkey
Knockout Stuns Crowd
The battle that was to create a
new heavyweight
Was Carrying Fight to Carnera
champion of the world was on when this picture
was taken in Madison Square Garden Bowl, Long
Island City. It was the first round of the
match,
and the mighty Primo Carnera (right), 260
pounds of fighting brawn, was warding off the
furious attack of 201 pound Jack Sharkey, who
was coming in low at the challenger's body. But
later, in the sixth round, Sharkey was to go
down
for the count before a terrific right
uppercut.
THAT STARTLES 35,000 IN BOWL;
JACK WINNING UP TO K.O. POINT
Inside Right Uppercut by Man Mountain
Sends Boston Sailor to Canvas - Behe-
moth of Ring Claims 'Secret Punch'
_
New York - Under circumstances _
The finish came with a sudden- _
It required several minutes in _
Ringside opinion differed some-
Associated Press Sports Editor
that still seemed baffling and some-
what incredible today to at least a
share of the fight fraternity, Primo
Carnera, the 25-year-old, 260 pound
Italian giant, who was just a
"strong man" in a circus sideshow a
few years ago, stood astride the
boxing world like a modern colossus
as the new heavyweight champion.
_
With one mighty swoop of his
ham-like right fist, Carnera took the
title from Jack Sharkey, 201 pound
American, on a knockout in the
sixth round of a 15-round match
last evening.
ness that was as dramatic as it was
startling to a crowd of 35,000 spec-
tators, little more than half fill-
ing the Madison Square garden
bowl. An inside right uppercut,
brought up swiftly as the giant
came to grips along the ropes with
his foe, felled Sharkey as though he
had been a tree hit by the wood-
man's final blow.
_
The champion fell to the canvas,
face down, scarcely moved except to
lift his head once and drop his
mouthpiece to the floor, while Ref-
eree Arthur Donovan finished the
count of ten, after 2 minutes and 27
seconds of the sixth round.
_
It marked the second time in his
erratic career that Sharkey had lost
an international battle, with the
title at stake, and it baffled most
of those at the ringside who had
watched the Bostonian drop after
outboxing, outsmarting and out-
punching Carnera by a wide margin
in the first five rounds.
_
There was no question about the
power behind Carnera's final thrust,
the climax of a spectacular closing
flurry that saw the champion
flounder suddenly, lose almost com-
plete control of his defense and
crumple under the ponderous
punches of the biggest man who
ever scaled the heavyweight
heights. It was an uppercut that
had everything Carnera could mus-
ter in his huge frame behind it and
Sharkey looked "cold" if ever a
fighter did, as he went down. It was
his "secret punch," Carnera ex-
claimed exultantly after the fight,
and perhaps he was right, for Shar-
key didn't see it coming and may
not know yet what hit him.
Sharkey's corner to bring him
around to the point where he could
stand on his own feet and acknowl-
edge the wild enthusiasm of his
squad of managers and seconds
around like so many bags of sand.
But except for the pains in his chest
and stomach, Sharkey showed no
after-effects nor was there ant evi-
dence of a concussion more lasting
than that always connected with a
knockout.
_
Yet up to the finish, Sharkey was
the master of his gargantuan rival.
The champion started slowly and
lost the first round, taking at least
one hard right hand clout on the
chin, but he seemed unhurt and for
the next four rounds gave Carnera
a boxing lesson. He feinted the big
fellow off balance, he knocked him
dizzy with lefts and tried desper-
ately at times to apply the "crusher"
with a looping right to the head.
_
In the second and fifth rounds,
Sharkey staggered Carnera with
right handers to the head. Primo,
when most flustered, resorted to
bear-like wrestling tactics and em-
ployed backhand blows that drew
warnings from the referee in the
third, fourth and fifth rounds. The
Italian took many of the champion's
punches on his huge arms but up to
the sixth round he did not appear
to hurt Sharkey seriously with a
single swish of his massive paws.
_
As if confident something was go-
ing to happen, Carnera came out for
the sixth round with a wide grin,
almost fearsome in the expanse of
teeth it revealed. They grappled
along one side of the ring, then an-
other. Sharkey tumbled half through
the ropes, going to his knees after
rebounding from a left to the head.
The champion tore back at Primo
without a count and connected with
a right that shook the Italian. For
the third and last time, then, they
went into the ropes and Carnera
applied the final stroke.
what sharply as to the circum-
stances of the finish, but boxing
commission officials said they saw
no reason to doubt the genuineness
of the outcome. Skeptics pointed to
the shift of betting odds to 6 to 5
in Carnera's favor, shortly before
the bout, marking the first time a
title challenger ever had crawled
through the ropes a favorite. But
there has been skepticism of Car-
nera's actual fighting prowess ever
since he first came to the United
States three years ago to push over
dozens of opponents, from Broad-
way to Main Street, in one of the
most amazing roads to the cham-
pionship ever traversed by a profes-
sional pugilist.
_
To probably most of the onlookers
in the sunken bowl last evening, this
fighting mammoth seemed unbeat-
able, too strong for any rival con-
ceding him nearly 60 pounds in
weight, along with all the other
physical advantages attached to
Primo's size. Unquestionably he was
a better fighter than when Sharkey
knocked him down and beat him
decisively two years ago, yet none
of his punches, until the final blow,
and little of his tactics carried con-
viction to fistic experts.
_
At any rate, this Goliath rules the
heavyweights, the biggest man to
hold the world championship since
Jess Willard, the Pattawatomie
giant. The Italian dwarfed all of
them that could be mustered to-
night, towering above jack Demp-
sey, the one-time "giant killer," and
Gene Tunney, as they shook hands
with Primo in the ring, just before
the battle.
Poised to deliver the blow that won for him the
heavyweight
championship of the world, Primo Carnera, giant
Italian chal-
lenger, is shown delivering a stinging left just
before whipping
over the terrific right uppercut that knocked out
Jack Sharkey
in the sixth round of their scheduled 15-round bout
at Madison
Square Bowl.
CARNERA WIN
II DUCE GETS NEWS ON
AWAKING TODAY O CROWDS
CHEER VICTORY
_
Rome - (AP) - Primo Carnera's
victory over Jack Sharkey was the
first piece of news communicated to
Premier Mussolini when he arose
today.
_
His secretary told him Italy now
holds the world's heavyweight box-
ing championship for the first time
in history.
_
Duce expressed himself as be-
ing delighted with the success of
the huge Italian fighter.
_
The International Boxing Federa-
tion, meeting here this week, defi-
nitely pronounced Carnera an Ital-
ian, despite his application for
French citizenship.
_
Newspapers devoted most of their
front pages today to the match al-
though the fight ended too late to
permit editorial comment.
_
Several hundred boxing enthusi-
asts, among whom were several of-
ficials of the boxing federations, re-
mained in newspaper offices all
night and at dawn today cheered
wildly the news of Primo Carnera's
victory.
_
Papers had printed extensive dis-
patches on training activities of
Carnera and Sharkey, and arranged
for special reports on the match.
Sharkey Arrives
Home; Seeks Rest
_
Newton, Mass. - (AP) - Jack Shar-
key, who lost his heavyweight box-
ing championship to Primo Carnera
in New York last night, arrived at
his suburban Boston home today,
tired, nervous and visibly upset after
driving from new York, which he
left at 3 a.m.
_
He was concerned about the con-
dition of his wife, who he said prob-
ably would go to a hospital today or
tomorrow for an operation.
_
"Trouble," he said, "always comes
in bunches."
_
Sharkey's children played in a
pool in the garden under the watch-
ful eye of a nurse.
_
Sharkey, coatless, his blue shirt
open at the neck, seemed unmarked
by the bout except for a slight dis-
coloration of his right eye, but said
he was tired and expressed a desire
for rest and seclusion.
Began Fight Career in 1928
Primo, at 16, Was Just About as Big as He Is
Now - Got Job as Strong Man in
French Circus
_
New York - (AP) - Primo Carnera,
new heavyweight champion of the
world, is a man-made fighter, an
"out-size" human who might never
had had a boxing glove on his huge
fist except for the wisdom of a pro-
moter who saw in him tremendous
crowd-drawing possibilities.
_
Born in Sequals, Italy, Oct. 25,
1907, Primo was laboring steadily
at the family trade - mosaic work -
and at carpentering when he was 12.
He grew so rapidly and with such
a corresponding increase in appe-
tite that he decided he'd better
travel "on his own."
_
At 16 he was just about as big as
he is now and the manager of a
circus in France, seeing Primo
standing outside, offered him a job
as "strong man" for bed and board.
After traveling around France for
several years, the circus finally gave
an exhibition in a town near Paris.
Leon See, a sports promoter, saw
Carnera perform and immediately
offered to launch the giant on a
boxing career.
_
Carnera accepted and made his
first start against Leon Sebillo on
Sept. 12, 1928. He knew nothing
much about boxing but he beat Se-
billo down in two rounds by sheer
strength.
_
The Italian then won 10 bouts in
succession, seven by knockouts, and
was matched with W.L. (Young)
Stribling, then a leading heavy-
weight contender. They fought in
London and Carnera won on a foul
in four rounds but a few weeks later
Stribling beat him, also on a foul, in
seven rounds at Paris.
_
The publicity Carnera received
from those two bouts led See to
bring him to this country and the
man mountain piled up a long
string of knockouts, some of them
questionable, in a barnstorming tour
that took him from one coast to the
other.
_
All told, Carnera has fought 78
bouts, winning 73, 58 on knockouts
and losing on decisions to Stribling
in 1929, to Jimmy Maloney in 1930,
Jack Sharkey in 1931, and Stanley
Poreda and Larry Gains in 1932.
_
Prior to his knockout of Sharkey
last night, his best achievements
gave him victories over such fight-
ers as King Levinsky, Hans Birkie,
Victorio Campolo, Maloney, Paulino
Uzcudum, Knute Hansen and Rob-
erto Roberti.
OVER VICTORY
Like Delighted Child -
Ready to Fight Baer -
Is Confident Champ
_
New York - (AP) - The new _
It was hot in there. Sweat poured _
"Yes, I think he's better this
heavyweight fighting champion of
the world, Primo Carnera of Italy,
sat back in the corner of a blister-
ing little room out on Long Island
last night and beat his great hands
together like a delighted child as he
chanted in rough shod English:
_
"Boy, oh boy, oh boy! Now my
mamma and papa be happy! Primo's
champion! Now they be happy!"
_
Over and over, as though dazed,
the tremendous man who a few mo-
ments before had battered Jack
Sharkey into helplessness, assured
himself it was true. He would stop
long enough to shake the hands of
those who had fought their way in-
to the cubbyhole dressing room,
only to lapse again into his chant
of victory.
down his enormous frame in rivu-
lets, but Primo was too deliriously
happy to mind it. He shook hands
with a little dentist who had fash-
ioned the mouthpiece he wore in
winning the title; to the rest of his
ability he answered any question
shot at him. The naive man moun-
tain is likely to make a popular
champion.
_
Between draughts from a bottle
labeled "beer" he told how he won
from the super-boxer, Jack Sharkey.
_
"I hit him with a left and he fall
into the ropes. I know he's hurt
and I follow him. Pretty soon my
right uppercut catch him, and that
is all. He go down and I know he
stay there."
_
The blow that felled the ex-sailor
was one all the experts had said
Primo didn't possess.
_
"I've been teaching that right up-
percut for months," revealed Bill
Duffy, the man who is credited with
having made a boxer out of the for-
mer circus freak. "We practiced it
in private, just Primo and me, and
I know in my own mind what would
happen when it landed on Shar-
key's chin. One was enough."
_
In Carnera's opinion, Sharkey was
a better man last night that when
he gave Primo a beating two years
ago.
time," declared the unmarked
champion. "But I was better than
that, eh?" and his great laugh
pealed through the crowded quar-
ters.
_
"Jack never hurt me. I feel bet-
ter all the time, stronger, and I
know I going to win after the third
round. Jack's knees wobble when
I hit him in stomach. I say 'Oh,
oh, it won't be long now.' Then Mr.
Duffy tell me to go get him."
_
As far as Primo is concerned,
they can bring on the challengers
now. He probably is the most con-
fident champion who ever de-
manded the big end of the gate.
_
"I fight Baer. I fight anybody. I
whip all of them. You'll see. Primo
is champ."
_
He likes the latter phrase. It was
as though he had been saying it to
himself, over and over, for endless
days and nights and suddenly found
he could say it out loud. His hap-
piness was almost childlike.
_
When or where the modern Go-
liath will make the first defense of
his title neither he nor his advisers
know. But it will be for Madison
Square Garden, Primo having con-
tracted for one more fight under
the corporation's auspices.
To Realize He Was Champion
Jubilant Later - Writer Spikes 'Wise Guy'
Rumors That K.O Was in Bag - Says
Blow Was Hard One
_
New York - Primo Carnera, _
Sharkey was leading when they _
Mainly because of a scorching _
Nor was there any great demon-
United Press Sports Editor
more celebrated for beef than
ability, was heavyweight champion
of the world today, successor to
Sullivan, Corbett, Dempsey and
Tunney. A year ago boxing experts
agreed he couldn't break an egg
without stomping on it, but he almost
knocked the head off Jack Sharkey,
the ring's greatest in-and-outer.
_
The man mountain from Italy
wrapped burlap bags around his
massive dogs in lien of shoes not
more than five years ago. He was
brought to this country as a sort
of mercenary prank. Last night in
the Long Island bowl he brought up
a right handed smash against
Sharkey's chin and the smartest
ring craftsman of the present day
fell flat on his face. He stayed
there for the count of 10, when still
groggy he was carried to his cor-
ner. It was the sixth round of
what was to have been a 15-round
fight.
came out for that fatal round. He
was blazing mad. The giant Italian
had pulled and mauled and cuffed
him into a frenzy. Early in the sixth
Carnera spun Sharkey into the
ropes. Jack slipped to one knee. He
was up before the count, but he
was flustered. raging, fuming, he
leaped at his tormentor, missing a
left to the face. Carnera saw his
opening. A tremendous right-hand-
ed uppercut traveled through the
night air. It met Sharkey on the
center of the jaw. Ten seconds later
Primo Carnera, the clown of yester-
year, became the first Italian
heavyweight champion of the
world.
_
It was a matter of at least sec-
onds before his huge pan took on
expression. He seemed dazed. He
smiled wanly. Not until his smart
manager, Billy Duffy, tore across
the ring to embrace his meal ticket,
did "Da Preem" really seem jubi-
lant.
_
Little needs to be said of the ear-
lier rounds. Carnera banged over
enough ponderous rights and poked
Sharkey enough with his wagon-
tounge left, to win the first round.
_
Sharkey increased the pace, and
won the second and third rounds.
The fourth round, according to the
United Press score sheet, was even.
Some gave the round to Sharkey
and others to Carnera, so a draw
was probable.
right to the jaw the rapidly tiring
Sharkey seemed to have an advan-
tage in the fifth round.
_
Today some of the wise guys
whispered remarks about the win-
ning punch. It was no trick at all
to find someone to suggest Sharkey
took an easy out. This talk was the
more natural because of week-long
rumors the fight was in the bag.
This writer saw Sharkey crash. It
was a hard punch, a knockout blow.
Sharkey was a most wobbly man
as he was helped through the ropes
and out of the ring.
_
Elated after a night's tour of the
bright spots, Carnera said all his
plans were indefinite except that he
would stay in the United States in-
definitely and that he would fight
once more for Madison Square
Garden.
_
It was not a fight-frenzied
crowd by a great deal. They
watched Sharkey climb between the
ropes and offered scarcely a cheer.
Carnera poked his mammoth feet
into his corner some minutes later,
and again the crowd gave no more
than perfunctory applause. Intro-
duction of Jack Dempsey brought
forth a little more noise, and Gene
Tunney was politely cheered.
stration when the fight was over.
The crowd did a mild bit of cheer-
ing when Carnera was named win-
ner.
_
Sharkey held the title shorter
than any other heavyweight cham-
pion. He fought for the crown
against Max Schmeling in 1930 and
the German won on a foul. This
was after Gene Tunney had re-
tired undefeated. Schmeling made
a successful defense against Willie
Stribling, in Cleveland, in 1931, and
lost to Sharkey an what many spec-
tators thought an unfair decision
last year.
_
Carnera, who stands a full head
taller than Sharkey, outweighed him
59 1/2 pounds. The Italian tipped the
scales at 260 1/2 pounds and Shar-
key at 201. The new champion is
unquestionably the biggest fighter in
the ring.
OVER HIS LOSS
Takes Defeat Like Cham-
pion - Is Not Going to
Retire from Ring
_
New York - (AP) - Although unac-
customed to being knocked out, hav-
ing experienced that sensation
only three times in his 11 years in
the ring, Jack Sharkey accepted his
defeat by Primo Carnera with much
more grace than he did most of the
victories that carried him to the
heavyweight throne.
_
"It's been a long time since this
happened to me," he declared calm-
ly, and without malice, added, "I
suppose a lot of people are happy
now."
_
From the time Sharkey's saddened
handlers led him from the scene of
his downfall, which a year ago saw
his title victory over Max Schmel-
ing, the Boston boxer was calm and
quiet.
_
He was still dazed when he en-
tered his quarters but a cold shower
quickly revived him. As if referring
to some casual matter, he asked for
an explanation of his defeat.
_
"How did it happen? What round
was it? How was I doing?"
_
A few words filled the gaps that
Carnera's right uppercut made in
his brain.
_
"You had everything up to the
fifth," he was told.
_
"Then what round was it, the
fifth?" he demanded.
_
He was told that Carnera knock-
ed him out with a right uppercut,
following several heavy blows to the
body, after 2 minutes, 27 seconds in
the sixth round. But this news did
not seem to stir him much.
_
He appeared to have reconciled
himself to such an ending long ago.
But when asked if he was going to
retire, he denied it.
_
"Am I going to hang up my
gloves? No, I'm not. I'm going to
fight again in a couple of weeks.
When I'm not so rusty. That's what
is wrong with me now."
_
"That's up to Jack," Manager
Johnny Buckley said. "In the 11
years we have been together, he
has always made his own decisions
about when he would fight and
when he would not. If he wants to
fight again, he will. It is up to
him."
_
Sharkey left for Boston at 2:50
a.m. He drove his own car and Mrs.
Sharkey accompanied him.
_
New York - (UP) - The
Sharkey-Carnera bout drew
a gross gate of $201,279.50, ac-
cording to figures announced
today. Other items:
_
_
Spectators, 31,528
_
_
Paid admissions, 31,753
_
_
Sharkey's share, *$69,603.44
_
_
Carnera's share, !$16,377.28
Net intake, $163,772.80
_
_
*42 1/2 per cent of net intake
_
_
!10 per cent of net intake
ALBANY EVENING NEWS
FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 1933
JACK SHARKEY vs PRIMO CARNERA
Historic boxing newspapers and
articles.