George Chuvalo

Born in Ontario to Croatian parents, Stipan and Katica (born Kordić) Čuvalo, father from Proboj and mother from Grljevići near Ljubuški. Chuvalo grew up in The Junction district of west Toronto, and had one sibling, Zora. Chuvalo attended St. Michael's College School between 1950 and 1953 following which he attended Humberside Collegiate Institute and became one of the best-known amateur boxers in Toronto, fighting out of the Earlscourt Athletic Club.

Chuvalo became Canadian amateur heavyweight champion in May 1955, defeating Winnipeg's Peter Piper with a first-round KO in a tournament final in Regina, Saskatchewan. Chuvalo finished his amateur career with a 16-0-0 record, all by KO within four rounds.Nicknamed "Boom Boom", Chuvalo turned professional in 1956, knocking out four opponents in one night to win a heavyweight tournament held by former world's champion Jack DempseyatMaple Leaf Gardens in Toronto on April 26, 1956. One of Chuvalo trainers was non other than Rocky Marciano in his early career.

Chuvalo also lost a close descision to former champion Floyd Patterson in a bout that The Ring named fight of the year for 1965. Patterson described it was one of the toughest contests of his own career. It was one of Chuvalo's best top level performances.

However, Chuvalo is best known for his two fights against Muhammad Ali. He went the distance both times, in each case losing the decision by a wide margin on the scorecards. The first fight, on March 29, 1966, was for Ali's world title. "He's the toughest guy I ever fought", said Ali of Chuvalo after the fight.^[1] Ali's cornerman, Angelo Dundee, said, "He never stopped coming on ... you've got to admire a man like that."^[1] Various articles over the years detail that Ali had painful ribs for weeks after the contest. The second Ali fight was in 1972. Ali—then between his world championship reigns—won an easy decision but had to again produce his best work to stay ahead. It was the last major fight of Chuvalo's career.

Future world champions Joe Frazier and George Foreman, despite being big punchers, were unable to knock Chuvalo down, but they were the only two fighters to ever stop him, scoring technical knockout (TKO) victories. Ring Mag reported Frazier nearly closed both Chuvalo's eyes and also cracked one of the man's cheek bones.

Foreman, regarded as one of the hardest hitters in boxing history, mauled Chuvalo with a wicked jab and some truely thunderous big punches breaking Chuvalo's nose. Yet, in his typical display of toughness, when the referee stopped the fight in the third round, Chuvalo said to him, "What are you, nuts?".

One of Chuvalo's biggest victories was a seventh-round knockout of contender Jerry Quarry on December 12, 1969. Afterwards Quarry complained of a fast count but Chuvalo gave the briliant answer 'It must have been a good punch'.

He got an eleventh-round knockout of contender Doug Jones on October 2, 1964 notably using the boxing technique 'kill the body and the head dies' . Chuvalo also defeated notable fighters such as Howard King, Canadian champion Bob Cleroux, Yvon Durelle, Willi Besmanoff, big hitting Mike DeJohn, Cleveland Williams, and Manuel Ramos.

Chuvalo was the number one contender for the British Empire heavyweight title for many years but champion Henry Cooper did not fight him.

Against Oscar Bonavena, Chuvalo had waded in one time but was caught by a quick heavy left hook. He part lost balance, wobbled and touched the deck with one hand to steady himself videos show. But there was no count or therefore knockdown given. It was a famous moment that has been much debated that by touching the canvas it should have been ruled a 'knock down' and a count given.

Against then favourite Dejohn it was Dejohn who when decked was actually helped up by the counting referee, Chuvalo himself recalled on radio. Clip can be viewed on Internet.

He lost to WBA heavyweight champion Ernie Terrell in 1965 and to former WBA champion Jimmy Ellis in 1971, with both of those fights taking place at Maple Leaf Gardens.

Chuvalo lost three sons, Jesse Chuvalo in 1985 to suicide, Georgie Lee Chuvalo in 1993 to a drug overdose and Steven Louis Chuvalo in 1996 to drug overdose. He lost his wife to suicide after the second son died. His remaining son, Mitch, became a teacher at University of Toronto Schools and married his wife from El Salvador, Ivania, with whom he is raising two boys, Aaron and Elijah. His daughter Vanessa has two girls, Adelayde and Michaella.

George is happily married to his second wife, Joanne Chuvalo, and is stepfather to her two children, Jesse and Ruby. George and his wife tour high schools speaking about the devastation of drug use to teens. They have a summer home in Midland, Ontario.

Chuvalo was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1990 and the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1997. He was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1998 and was awarded a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in 2005.

Former Ottawa Senators goalie Ray Emery has a picture of Chuvalo painted on his goalie mask.

Chuvalo appeared as the ill-fated arm-wrestler in the 1986 re-make of The Fly.

To mark the 40th anniversary of his July 19, 1967 fight against Joe Frazier, he and Frazier held a gala in Toronto, raising money for different charities.

On August 14, 2008, Chuvalo's kitchen was the featured renovation project on the Canadian TV series Holmes on Homes in an episode titled "Kitchen Knockout." ^[2]

During April 2010, George was a special guest at the BC Golden Gloves tournament held at the Eagle Ridge Community Centre in Langford, BC. ^[3] The event was co-hosted by Boxing BC and the Capital City Boxing Club

Chuvalo also appeared on The Mercer Report that aired October 5, 2010 on CBC, which featured Rick Mercer visiting Chuvalo at his boxing gym in Toronto.

• George Chuvalo's Official Fight Against Drugs Website
• Boxing record for George Chuvalo from BoxRec (registration required)
• CBC Digital Archives - Still Standing: The People's Champion George Chuvalo
• Historica.ca - Footprints - George Chuvalo
• Ian Palmer's TigerBoxing article on Chuvalo
• The Canadian Encyclopedia
• Cyber Boxing Zone Encyclopedia
• CBC Digital Archives. The Biggest Fight of George Chuvalo's Life
• George ChuvaloatIMDb

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