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Late boxer's legacy opens Italy to teens
By CHASE SQUIRES
© St. Petersburg Times, ZEPHYRHILLS -- Primo Carnera built his legacy in the sport of boxing over 20 years, beating more than 80 challengers and becoming the only heavyweight champion to hail from Italy. Now, 34 years after his death, his memory has inspired a new legacy, one that has roots locally but reaches across the state and international borders. Carnera's grown children, Giovanna and Umberto, envisioned the Primo Carnera Foundation in 1998 and worked to make it a reality. The foundation this year selected its first eight teens from across the state, including two from Zephyrhills, to visit Primo Carnera's hometown in northern Italy. They will depart July 4. During the two-week program, participants will take part in leadership classes and learn about another culture while touring Sequals and other nearby cities. "My father didn't have the opportunity to go to school," Giovanna Carnera said. "He used the gifts God gave him to take care of his family, but he always stressed education for us so that we would have a choice. We want to share that message with some of the best and brightest children." The boxer's lessons were well taken. Giovanna Carnera earned a masters's degree and is a counselor at East Pasco Medical Center. Her brother is a medical doctor living in Dunedin. Together, they helped create a non-profit foundation in Primo Carnera's name to reach a new generation. The eight teens selected were chosen based on academic excellence, essays they wrote and citizenship. The first group is just the start for the fledgling foundation, Giovanna Carnera said. The next step is to expand the outreach nationwide and to bring Italian teenagers to the United States for an exchange program. And the two-week leadership program will not be the end of the foundation's work with each new group, she said. As selected students go through high school, the foundation plans to keep in touch with them. When they head off to college, the foundation wants to help support them with scholarships and encouragement. For Ashley Hancock, 14, an incoming freshman at Zephyrhills High School, the July voyage will be her first trip abroad. "It's going to be very different," she said. "But I'm excited. I've met most of the other kids already, and they're all nice." In preparation, Ashley had her American money changed into Italian lire. She ended up with 200,000 lire (about $88). It is the first time she has owned 200,000 of anything. An A student, Ashley has also signed on to volunteer at East Pasco Medical Center. Her friend, Nikki Wueller, 14, is also going on the trip. "It's going to be scary, but at the same time, I can't wait," said Nikki, who will also start ninth grade at Zephyrhills High in fall. "At first I was like, 'I can't.' It's the first time I've left my parents,' but it's going to be the chance of a lifetime." An avid athlete, Nikki said she is looking forward to learning more about Primo Carnera. She might consider taking up boxing someday. Giovanna Carnera said her father was known throughout his country not only as a boxer, but also as a generous man who cared especially about children. His Italian home has been turned into a museum, and the American teens will be in town in time for an annual amateur boxing festival in his honor. "My father cared about so many people and wanted to do so much to help anyone who needed it," Giovanna Carnera said. "I think he would be proud."
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