George Chuvalo

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George Chuvalo boxer
George Chuvalo
Data
Birth Name George Chuvalo
Weight class Heavyweight
nationality Canadian
birthday September 12, 1937
place of birth Toronto , Canada
style Left delivery
size 1.83 m
Combat Statistics
Struggles 93
Victories 73
Knockout victories 64
Defeats 18th
draw 2

George Chuvalo (born September 12, 1937 in Toronto , Ontario ) is a retired Canadian heavyweight boxer.

Professional career

Chuvalo was born to Croatian immigrants in Toronto and began his professional career in 1956. In 1958 he won the Canadian championship for the first time. In his 21-year professional career, he boxed some of the best boxers of the day, including Muhammad Ali , George Foreman , Joe Frazier , Floyd Patterson , Ernie Terrell , Buster Mathis , and Jerry Quarry .

However, he could only win against Quarry. Quarry was knocked to the ground by Chuvalo in the seventh round of the 1969 fight, but only got up at 10 instead of 9 and was disputedly removed from the fight.

George Chuvalo became famous for his two boxing matches against Muhammad Ali in 1966 and 1972. Although he lost these fights, he gained great respect from his opponent. Ali said of Chuvalo: “He [Chuvalo] was the toughest man I ever fought. He took all my best shots. "(German:" He was the toughest man I have ever fought. He took all my best shots. ") George Chuvalo ended his boxing career in 1979. He was never on the ground in his 93 professional fights, but still lost prematurely to Frazier and Foreman. Chuvalo was nicknamed “The toughest man in Canada”. He finished his boxing career at the age of 42.

George Chuvalo is revered as a hero in Canada. This sometimes reaches strange proportions. The Canadian professional ice hockey goalkeeper Ray Emery had a picture of George Chuvalo painted on his goalkeeper helmet.

Private

Two of his sons died from a heroin overdose and another from suicide . Four days after the death of their second son, his wife also committed suicide from an overdose of sleeping pills and pain pills. Chuvalo himself said he was thinking of suicide during the 1990s, but his second wife saved him from taking this step. His only remaining son, Mitch Chuvalo, became a well-known PE teacher and is currently working at the University of Toronto . George Chuvalo is very active in the fight against drugs and has been represented at numerous charity events. He was awarded the " Order of Canada " in 1998, and in 2005 he received a star on the " Canada's Walk of Fame ".

Chuvalo has dementia . The argument between his second wife and his children Mitch and Vanessa about how to deal with the sick Chuvalo made headlines in Canada and was carried out in court.

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ a b Dave Hannigan: The tragic tale of George Chuvalo - Muhammad Ali's toughest opponent. In: Irish Times. Retrieved May 15, 2020 .
  2. ↑ George Chuvalo's volunteer army keeps fighting for the champ. July 13, 2018, accessed May 15, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Michele Mandel: Boxing legend George Chuvalo's wife wins first round in ugly family battle | Toronto Sun. In: Toronto Sun. June 15, 2019, accessed May 15, 2020 (Canadian English).
personal data
SURNAME Chuvalo, George
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian boxer
DATE OF BIRTH September 12, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Toronto , Canada