Primo Carnera Primo Carnera Primo Carnera (; 26 October 1906 – 29 June 1967), nicknamed the Ambling Alp, was an Italian professional boxer and the World Heavyweight Champion from 29 June 1933 to 14 June 1934. Primo Carnera was born in Sequals, then in the Province of Udine, now in the Province of Pordenone, Friuli-Venezia Giulia at the north-easternmost corner of Italy. On 13 March 1939, Carnera married Giuseppina Kovačič (1913–1980), a post office clerk from Gorizia. In 1953 they became American citizens. They settled in Los Angeles, where Carnera opened a restaurant and a liquor store. They had two children, Umberto
Primo Carnera Carnera went 120 straight wrestling matches undefeated (119-0-1) before suffering his first loss to Yvon Robert in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on 20 August 1947. Carnera's greatest victory took place on 7 December 1947 when he defeated former world heavyweight champion Ed "Strangler" Lewis. In May 1948, Carnera took a 143-1-1 record against world heavyweight champion Lou Thesz. Thesz defeated Carnera in a world title defense. In "The Ring", August 1962, page 38, Carnera "flattened" Ox Anderson in a heavyweight wrestling match in Los Angeles. According to boxing historian Herbert Goldman, Carnera was "very much mob controlled." Carnera met his first