Perri was born in Castelverde, in the province of Cremona. He won six medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships with four golds (K-1 1000 m: 1975 (tied with Poland's Grzegorz Śledziewski, K-1 10000 m: 1974, 1975, 1977) and two bronzes (K-1 1000 m: 1974, 1977).