A Great Among Us

George Chuvalo, The Heavyweight Champion of Canada at both the amateur and professional levels, was never once knocked down or knocked out in the 97 fights that made up his boxing career between 1956 and 1979. He is remembered internationally for his toughness and ability to hold his own against the world’s top ranked boxers of his time. He fought twice for the Professional World’s Heavyweight title, once against Muhammad Ali, and as well against many other big names including Joe Frazier, Jack Dempsey, Jerry Quarry and Floyd Patterson. Against George Foreman, he was “swatted around the ring, beat to a pulp, and still, when the fight was stopped in the third round, there was Chuvalo, staring ahead blankly, holding his gloves up to the referee Arthur Mercante (whose blood spattered shirt spoke volumes), as if to say, what’s the big deal? He has since been inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame (1990), The World Boxing Hall of Fame (1997), was awarded a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame (2005) and was made a member of The Order of Canada in 1998 for his work as an activist against the use of drugs as three of his sons died from suicide and drug overdose resulting also in the death of his first wife from suicide.

Visit the links on this blog to see pictures, read about his experiences in and outside of the ring, watch video clips of fights, interviews and news stories and pay homage to Canada's Living Legend.

IN THE RING

THE FAMILY

FIGHTING BACK

Fighting Back

After losing 3 of his sons to heroin addiction and his wife to suicide after the second, George Chuvalo is still fighting back literally influencing and trying to prevent thousands of young people from the ensnaring world of substance abuse.

He speaks to children at his alma mater, St. Regis Catholic School in Toronto, about his sons' addictions:

"My sons would go to a place called Parkdale down on Queen Street, West end of Queen Street; that's where my sons would go to connect, to get a hit of heroin. To connect with heroine; to get heroin.

"This was some time after my son Jesse died, my first son to die from heroin. He actually shot himself but he was a heroin addict for nine months. And two of my other sons, Georgie Lee and Steven, would go down to Parkdale, and they would tell me about that; they would get down there, they would go to Parkdale Hotel.

"They'd go in to see the dealer at the bar and they would ask the dealer if he had, and the dealer would show them the white stuff in the palm of his hand: smack, the heroine. And both my sons would be craving heroin so badly, both my sons would be
shaking, both my sons would have tremors, both my sons would have body cramps; and they'd be feeling so badly, and they'd be craving heroin so badly wanting it so badly that upon the very sight of seeing heroin in the dealer's hands, within the flash of a single second, the first single second, both my sons, on cue, would [sound] would defecate in their drawers; they'd crap their pants, as soon as they saw the heroin, the heroin that they'd been craving for so long.

"And with the feces, that's another fancy word for crap, streaming down their legs they'd make the necessary exchange...65, 70, 75 dollars for the heroin, and then they would amble into the restroom of the Parkdale Hotel. They'd roll up their shirtsleeves they would heat up the white stuff in a teaspoon. They'd heat it up, and then they'd suck it up in a syringe and then they'd shoot it into a waiting vein, and only then would my handsome sons clean themselves off. And every time I tell that story I get sick to my stomach. Every time I tell that story, I get sick to my stomach because I realize all you beautiful young men and women will have images of my handsome sons as you leave this audience, of my handsome sons shooting heroin in their veins with excrement still lumped in their pants. My Handsome Sons."

The Family

"I'm carving the turkey. From left to right: Georgie Lee picks his drumstick while Mitchell, Steven, my wife Lynn and Jesse look on" - George Chuvalo


"From Left to right: Georgie Lee, Mitchell, Jesse and Steven.
My boys share a joke around the kitchen table at the family home in Etobicoke ( Looks like Georgie Lee missed the punchline)" - George Chuvalo
Visit George Chuvalo's Fight Against Drugs

Tragedy would wreak havoc on the Chuvalo family: Jesse, then a heroin addict, took his life in 1985. In 1993 Georgie Lee passed after a heroin overdose. 4 days after Georgie Lee's death Lynn, overcome with grief, took her life overdosing on pills, leaving behind a suicide note.


CBC Archives

Finally, in 1996 Steven, about to embark on a national tour with his father promoting abstinence from drug use, died. The killer? Heroin.

In the ring

Pro record:
73-18-2 (64 knockouts) 1st Canadian Heavyweight Title:
1958 (KO'd James J. Parker)

Notable opponents:

Floyd Patterson (1965)
Muhammad Ali (1966 - for World Heavyweight Title; 1972 - for NABF Heavyweight Title)
Joe Frazier (1967)
Jerry Quarry (1969)
George Foreman (1970)

Retired:
1979


"(KO 11) His manager (Koskowitz) complained that I stepped on Jones' bunions. But there's nothing in the Marquis of Queensbury rules that prohibits me from stepping all over an adversary's tootsies before executing the coup de grace." - George Chuvalo




"This fight took place three days after my 21st birthday and ended with a KO in two minutes flat. It was Yom Kippur and I wanted to send referee Sammy Luftspring (who was Jewish) home early along with Parker." - George Chuvalo


Visit George Chuvalo's Fight Against Drugs