On November 30, 1930, In a memorable day at Barcelona’s Estadi de Montjuïc, the record of attendance at a boxing event in our country is reached. Paulino Uzcudun, the best heavyweight ever, ‘the Basque bull’, also nicknamed ‘Régil’s woodcutter‘, in reference to his birth in that Guipuzcoan town, faces another famous boxer, the Italian giant Primo Carnera.
The fight is held over 10 rounds with no title in play.
T he Vanguard of November 1, 1930 provided valuable anthropometric information on the two fighters
With thirty kilos less and 1.78 m. tall, ‘the bull’, who is 31 years old – he would retire four years later – has to jump to reach the jaw of his enemy, only 24 years old, who is 2’04 m tall.
‘Paulino, and are you going to dare with that giant?’ A journalist had asked him days before. ‘Take off, man! I dare with all. Nobody has thrown me yet, and when they have won me, it has been by bad arts or bad luck ‘, was the response of the fighter, convinced that that clumsy giant was not going to beat him.
70,000 people packed the Estadi de Montjuïc to attend the fight between Uzcudun, the highest grossing boxer, and Carnera.
The meeting between the two brightest stars in the boxing firmament of the time create great anticipation. The full house is absolute, almost seventy thousand spectators attend the fight and the work of the contenders does not disappoint.
At first, the audience laughs at Paulino but his courage quickly overpowers them. Prisoners of emotion, they applauded him and began to whistle at Carnera, a symbol of fascist force.
The victory went to Carnera by points in split decision of the judges.
The two boxers would meet again three years later in Rome, contesting the European and world title. The Italian would win again on points.
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