George Chuvalo
CM

Chuvalo in April 2010
Personal information
Born	Jure Čuvalo (1937-09-12)September 12, 1937 (age 88) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight	Heavyweight
Boxing career
Reach	82 in (208 cm)
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	93
Wins	73
Win by KO	63
Losses	18
Draws	2

George Louis ChuvaloCM OOnt (born September 12, 1937, asJure Čuvalo) is a Canadian formerprofessional boxer who was a five-time Canadianheavyweight champion and two-time world heavyweight title challenger. He is known for having never been knocked down in his 93-bout professional career including fights againstMuhammad Ali,Joe Frazier, andGeorge Foreman.^[1][2] Chuvalo unsuccessfully challenged Muhammad Ali for the heavyweight championship in 1966. Chuvalo was inducted into theOntario Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.^[3]

Chuvalo was born on September 12, 1937, toCroat immigrants Stipan and Katica fromLjubuški in theHerzegovina region of what is todayBosnia and Herzegovina. Chuvalo became the Canadianamateurheavyweight champion in May 1955, defeatingWinnipeg's Peter Piper with a first-roundknockout (KO) in a tournament final inRegina, Saskatchewan. Chuvalo finished his amateur career with a 16–0 record, all by KO within four rounds. Originally nicknamed "Boom Boom", Chuvalo turned professional in 1956, knocking out four opponents in one night to win a heavyweight tournament held by former world championJack Dempsey atMaple Leaf Gardens in Toronto on April 26, 1956.^[4]

George Chuvalo's rankings as a heavyweight were: number 9 in 1963, number 5 in 1964, number 3 in 1965, number 8 in 1966, number 4 in 1968 and number 7 in 1970.^[5]

Chuvalo is best known for his two fights againstMuhammad 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, at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens, was for Ali's world heavyweight title. "He's the toughest guy I ever fought", said Ali of Chuvalo after the fight.^[6]

Chuvalo defeated many heavyweights who were top ten contenders, including Johnny Arthur, Julio Mederos, Howard King, Alex Miteff, James J. Parker, Yvon Durelle,Bob Cleroux, Willie Besmanoff, Mike DeJohn, Doug Jones, Bill Nielsen, Dante Cane, Joe Bygraves, Manuel Ramos, Jerry Quarry and Cleveland Williams. Some of his controversial losses on decision were to Bob Cleroux (twice), Floyd Patterson (Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year), Ernie Terrell and Oscar Bonavena. His two draws against Alex Miteff and Tony Alongi were also controversial. In his defeats, Chuvalo failed to go the distance only in 1967 withJoe Frazier, and in 1970 withGeorge Foreman. In both cases the referee stopped the fight while Chuvalo was still on his feet. He was also disqualified in 1961 against Joe Erskine (for headbutting - after complaining repeatedly about being fouled). Chuvalo holds the distinction of never being knocked down in his 93 professional bouts.

Chuvalo appeared in theatrical films, with acting roles inI Miss You, Hugs and Kisses (1978),Stone Cold Dead (1979),The Fly (1986),Last Man Standing (1987),Prom Night III: The Last Kiss (1989),Lee's Offering (2005) andSicilian Vampire (2015).

On television, Chuvalo had an acting role in the 1991 filmThe Return of Eliot Ness as Tony Urso, and on the crime-fighting seriesCounterstrike as the Ring Announcer for the fight between Sugar Duke (Richard Chevolleau) and Cal Sparks in the 1993 episode, "The Contender."

His 1966 match against Ali was the subject ofJoseph Blasioli's 2003 documentary filmThe Last Round: Chuvalo vs. Ali.^[7]

On December 17, 2011, he travelled toSarajevo to attend the unveiling of a statue in his honour inLjubuški, his parents' birthplace, on December 18, 2011.^[8]

On May 11, 2019, the George Chuvalo Neighborhood Centre inToronto,Ontario, opened which provides a variety of recreational programs for children as well asLGBTQ youth.^[9]

When Chuvalo was 21, he married 15 year old Lynne, with whom he had five children. Three of Chuvalo's sons, Jesse, Steven, and George Lee, wereheroin addicts, which was introduced to the family by Jesse in 1984 after a severe motorbike accident led him to seek pain relief.^[10][11] The trio would often rob local pharmacies of prescription medication, for which they frequently served jail time.^[10] In February 1985, Jesse committed suicide, and over the next two months, Steven overdosed on heroin 15 times.^[10][11] In November 1993, less than a week after being released from prison for robbery, George Lee, who had survived a suicide attempt in prison and been threatening to intentionally overdose to reunite with Jesse, died of a heroin overdose.^[10] Four days after George's death, Chuvalo's grief-stricken wife Lynne committed suicide on November 4.^[12] In August 1996, despite recent attempts at improving his life, including nearing completion on a degree in Russian Literature fromQueen's University, Steven was found dead of a heroin overdose.^[10][13] Following his children's deaths, Chuvalo went into a deep depression.^[10][14] By the time of Steven's death, Chuvalo had also found himself in financial distress; the mortgage on his home had been foreclosed, and the contents of his house were being removed by creditors, although his economic situation improved over the following decades, due primarily to his giving speeches about his family's travails.^[15] Chuvalo's son Mitchell is a high school teacher, while daughter Vanessa manages a food market.^[11][16]

Three months after Lynne's death, Chuvalo married his second wife, Joanne O'Hara, 20 years his junior, in January 1994. She already had two children from two previous relationships.^[17]

Chuvalo's life, including the blows he had received in his boxing career, had taken a toll on his cognitive abilities.^[18] In 2018, a judge ruled that Chuvalo did not have the mental capacity to determine if he wished to reconcile with his wife after living apart for multiple years, and by 2022, he was suffering from advanced dementia.^[19][18]

In 1998, Chuvalo was appointed as a member of theOrder of Canada and in 2005 received a star onCanada's Walk of Fame. For his career success and anti-drug speaking campaigns, Chuvalo was awarded thekey to the city of Toronto by mayorRob Ford on March 26, 2013.^[15][20]

• Chuvalo, George (November 2013). "Lost Boys". Toronto Life Magazine.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toGeorge Chuvalo.

• Džordž (Jure) Čuvalo, najbolji kanadski bokser svih vremena: Nikad na kolenima – Tačno.net
• George Chuvalo's Official Fight Against Drugs WebsiteArchived October 24, 2015, at theWayback Machine
• Boxing record for George Chuvalo fromBoxRec(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 Chuvalo atIMDb
• George Chuvalo discography atDiscogs

• 1937 births
• Living people
• Canadian male boxers
• Canadian people of Bosnia and Herzegovina descent
• Canadian people of Croatian descent
• Heavyweight boxers
• Members of the Order of Canada
• Boxers from Toronto
• 20th-century Canadian sportsmen
• People with dementia

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