Since the sad news broke on Saturday, September 12 that legendary heavyweight George Chuvalo had passed away, this at the age of 89, the tributes have been pouring in.
Chuvalo, who had been looked after in a care home for a little over five years, his battle with dementia proving tougher than anything the rock-jawed warrior encountered in the ring, died on his birthday.
Famous of course for his frighteningly solid chin, Chuvalo fought during a golden era; with him engaging in memorable fights with Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Joe Frazier and others.
“George Chuvalo was a a heavyweight boxing legend, a family friend and a Canadian icon,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford wrote on social media upon learning of the fighter’s death.
“He was a capital-T tough guy in every way,” Geoirge’s son, Mitch said in an interview with Toronto Today on Sunday.
“He was a great Canadian icon,” fellow heavyweight great Lennox Lewis said of Chuvalo.
During his long pro career, Chuvalo would get two shots at the world title, and on both occasions he would leave the ring with a 15 round decision loss attached to his record. Indeed, Chuvalo ranks as one of the best big men never to have won a version of the world heavyweight title. As far as the Canadian title, George won it no less than five times. In terms of big names, Chuvalo really did fight a who’s who of heavyweight stars: Ali, Frazier, Foreman, Floyd Patterson, Ernie Terrell, Zora Folley, Doug Jones, Oscar Bonavena, Buster Mathis, Jerry Quarry, Jimmy Ellis and Cleveland Williams.
Chuvalo went pro on April 23rd of 1956, when he actually fought four times on the same night. Boxing in ‘The Jack Dempsey Tournament,’ in Toronto, Canada, a teenage Chuvalo KO’d all four opponents. Managed by Irv Ungerman, Chuvalo was to fight at what would today be called a breakneck pace – four more fights in 1956, six fights in 1957, five fights in 1958, and so on. But George was not always victorious. In fact, by March of 1961, he was 19-5-1. Going down on points grew to become an unfortunate habit for Chuvalo.
George sat out 1962. Returning with vigour in March of 1963, Chuvalo reeled off five straight wins, he then boxed a draw, he then dropped a decision to Zora Folley, before picking one up against Doug Jones, and then Chuvalo lost the Ring Magazine Fight of the year for 1965, with Floyd Patterson. Again, George lost via decision. Chuvalo could fight, no doubt, but would he ever become world champion?
In November of 1965, George finally got a shot. Facing Ernie Terrell for the WBA heavyweight title that had been stripped from Muhammad Ali, Chuvalo lost another decision. Another, bigger chance came in March of the following year. Ali, a permanent ban from boxing hanging over him, defended the world crown against Chuvalo at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. It was Bob Arum’s first fight as a boxing promoter.
Chuvalo fought with grit and integrity, going down by, yes, another decision. All these years later, and this is the fight Chuvalo is best known for. In-the-ring fight, that is – George’s incredible inner strength in somehow being able to cope with the unimaginably unfair and cruel hand dealt to him, with three of his sons losing their life through drugs and guns, being his most admirable winning battle. And how George campaigned against the evil of drugs in his later years.
In the Ali fight, Chuvalo earned the champ’s respect but he was still a contender; one who might never get another shot. As it is, Chuvalo never did get another world title chance, although he did battle two all-time great heavyweight champions in Frazier and Foreman. Both men stopped him but Chuvalo never went down. In fact, in 93 pro bouts, Chuvalo was never once knocked down. “I kissed a lot of pretty girls but I never kissed the canvas,” Chuvalo was fond of saying in retirement.
Chuvalo fought, on and off, until 1978. Finally retiring with an incredibly hard-earned 73-18-2(64) record, Chuvalo, for three decades, seemed to have escaped any real damage, this despite the often-sickening amount of punishment he had taken during the course of that 22-year pro career. Chuvalo tried his hand at acting, he wrote his autobiography and, most importantly to him, George fought a one-man war against drugs.
Sadly, in 2017, Chuvalo was diagnosed with dementia, the reports describing him as suffering from having a “significant cognitive impairment.” The tough fights, the monster shots from the likes of Foreman and Frazier, had caught up with George. Reports back then said Chuvalo could still enjoy the occasional day of lucidity; that he was “sharp” if caught at the right time. But this mental battle was one Chuvalo could not win. The once seemingly bullet-proof warrior saw this often cruel sport catch up with him. ” I don’t know what I’ll do if I ever run out of steam,” Chuvalo said when speaking with Boxing News a few years before his diagnosis with dementia.
Chuvalo, who gave his all in the ring, was arguably the last of his kind. He will be sorely missed by so many who knew him.
