Santa Camarão

Infobox Boxer
name = José Santa
realname = José Soares Santa
nationality = flagicon|Portugal Portuguese

|width=150
nickname = Camarão / Shrimp
height = height|ft=6|in=9
weight = Heavyweight
birth_date = birth date|1902|12|25|mf=y
birth_place = Ovar, Portugal
death_date = death date and age|1968|4|5|1902|12|25|mf=y
death_place = Ovar, Portugal
home = Ovar, Portugal
style = Orthodox
total = 66
wins = 45
KO = 32
losses = 17
draws = 4
no contests = 0

José Soares Santa (December 25, 1902–April 5 1968), known as Santa Camarão ("Camarão" being a family nickname) or Zé Santa in Portugal, and as José Santa in America, was a Portuguese boxer who was the tallest known Heavyweight of all time in the 1930s [cite web
url = http://www.antekprizering.com/santa6830.html
title = Photo and stats
accessdate = 2008-01-01] .

Biography

Born to António Soares Santa and Josefa Pereira dos Santos in Ovar, Portugal, Santa was a remarkable individual 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) tall and weighed (265 lbs) 120 Kg [cite web
url = http://www.antekprizering.com/santa6830.html
title = Photo and stats
accessdate = 2008-01-01] , at a time when the average height was approximately 5 ft 5 in.

His boxing career lasted from 1925-1933. He fought Pierre Charles for the European title in 1929 which he failed to capture. During his career he fought in Europe, North and South America taking on heavyweight Champs Max Baer and Primo Carnera in Madison Square Gardens, USA.

Santa starred in the first film where Portuguese was spoken on screen, Liebe Im Ring / Love In The Ring (1930). Was a film by Reinhold Schünzel in Berlin, in 1930. He starred alongside heavyweight boxing champ Max Schmeling in this film about a boxer. [cite web
url = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021065/
title = www.imdb.com
accessdate = 2008-01-01] In 1932 he married a Portuguese American, Mary Loreto. He became a hero to Portuguese people all over the world. After retiring from the ring he moved back to the house where he was born Ovar with his wife and son and where he would eventually die in 1968.

Until 7 ft 1 in, 147 kg Heavyweight Champ Nikolay Valuev became a Professional Boxer in 1993, Santa was one of the tallest heavyweights in boxing history. He enjoyed a sizable reach advantage over most rivals, and when seen on fight footage, he seems like a towering giant compared to many heavyweights of his era, who were usually shorter than him.

In 1999, a street of Lisbon was named after him "RUA JOSÉ SANTA CAMARÃO". [cite web
url = http://www.cm-lisboa.pt/docs/ficheiros/437_0.doc
title = www.cm-lisboa.pt
accessdate = 2008-01-01]

References

See also