MOUNTAINS OF MEAT

NZ Truth, Issue 1255, 19 December 1929, Page 12

MOUNTAINS OF MEAT

They Make 'Em Big and Dumb In Sunny Italy Gig-antic gentlemen whose build has been far m excess of their ability have been a pestilence on pugilism from the time of the Piggs of the past to the lemons of the present. At the present moment a 6ft. lOin. stripling of 19 stone, called Primo Camera, is holding the stage. I

JUST the other day the Italian o.s. J lost on a foul to. Young- Stribling, who pitted hia sft. llin. and 13 stone odd against the massiveness of the "macaronian." And awakening from its dream, the English press is just -coming' to a proper realisation of the misplaced position Camera is occupying pugilistically. Italy must fashion 'em big-, broad — and bad! The history books of boxing record that the earliest freak of the fist was of such birth. Strangely enough, he had a name .-somewhat similar to the prodigious Primo of the present — Carini. Tito Alberto di Carini to call him m full. Signor Carini came to England when the late Thomas Figg held the very first championship of the country. Just a matter of 200 odd years back. The enormity of the Carini cove made him look anything but a boxing banana to Figg. When it came down to the cold possibilities of any human being having the qualifications to put respect into Carini without a cutlass m on© hand and a charge of dynamite m the other, Figg was an extremely doubting Thomas. 8o the far-seeing Mr. Figg selected one Bob Whittaker as his deputy. The fight started with Whittaker being deposited m the aristocratic lap of one of the highest m the land, who was sitting at the ringside. It is surmised that being struck on the . shoulder by Signor Carini had something to do with Bob temporarily vacating the fighting space. But Mr. Whittaker was an enterprising gentleman. He returned to the ring, butted the opposition several times m the tummy, stamped on Tito's feet, tripped him up on various occasions and fell on him, and pei"sistently buried his teeth m the signor's arm— such being, m accordance with the prize-ring of the time.

To-night • TOMMY DONOVAN had an eye badly opened during training and he was forced to take a week's rest. Donovan should strip very fit at New Plymouth on Thursday night and so will the Australian, Tommy Crowle. Crowle has greatly pleased ' the crowd with his work and many are picking him as the winner, but Donovan will be m the picture all the way through. At Palmerston 'THE appearance of Johnnie Leckie at ■■•Palmerston on Boxing Night will mean a big house for the Manawatu Association. ' . ' To oppose him will be the Sydney lad, Tommy Crowle, ' featherweight champion of Australia. A lot is going to depend on how Crowle goes with Donovan this week and should he "be the winnei 4 there will be a rush to get m at Palmerston. In the North THE northern holiday attraction will ;,. befMe fifth meeting of Billy Grime and Pete Sarron. The two boys are so well known that there is little need to extol their virtues — or their sins. The contest will tie staged m Auckland on December 27.

Eventually the Italian was licked, but refusing; to bow before the mastery of one so small, he turned, his back oh Mr. Whittaker and kept running. He was never afterwards heard of, and may be still running, for all we know. Followed after Carini, and much more recently, a gentleman whose proportions were 6ft. llin. and 21 stone. His real name was Sam Hurst, but he was known as the "Stalybriclgre Infant," and everybody thought a battalion was' necessary to beat him until a little chap named Jem Mace came on the scene and swiped the "Infant" into an early grave. At various stages within a short period of those times the Hurat hugeness was repeated by Gft. 10in., 18 stone Ed. Dunkhorst ("Human Freight Car") and Ned O'Baldwin, an Irishman who stood an inch shorter than Mr. Dunkhorst and weighed a stone heavier. Messrs. Dunkhorst and O'Baldwin wrote their own obituaries as fighters. But to return. There was Bartazzolo, a mere midget of 6ft. 7in. and 18 stone who went from Italy to England m 1927 with the express purpose of fighting Phil. Scott. He didn't fight - Ph'rli Bartazzolo got »nto the ping with the Englishman, yelled for his seconds to stop the fight with the first punch he got,, and, finding his plea ignored, stopped i it himself by hitting Scott low. So that it will be seen that the tremendous trio, Carini, ; Bartazzolo, and Camera, have given Italy quite a lot of notoriety — as curiosities. Jess Willard was the only, giant to put his fists inside a glove and Avin a world's' championship. And Jess was rated no prime pumpkin m the pugilistic .-plot. Willard was Cf t. Gin. m his socks, sealed around 18 stone, and won his title from Jack Johnson when the black's brilliance was much diminished. ' :

On the Coast IT was very evident at Invercargill i that Lou Bloom was m- need of a fight and now with that contest under hJs belt he will go a lot better m his next outing. \ < This he will have at Westport on Boxing Night and his opponent will again be Jack Jones, who won by a narrow margin this week. Both will haye added confidence this time and there should be a good scrap. No Decision , EARLY m the New Year, Pete Sarron *■* and Lou Bloom are going on a fishing excursion to Taupo with Secretary Bill Talbot. After they have caught all the trout m the district they intend to come back to Wellington, through Gisborne, and it is being arranged that the pair show there. ■ A six-round ho-decision bout will" be fought, and fought m every sense of the word. Even m training these two cobbers plaster each other. After Them IXTANGANUI is very keen to get the " Johnnie Leckie — Billy Grime match and the river association has succeeded m getting Johnnie to sign the dotted line. An effort is /now being made, to get Billy to append his signature.