The next Canadian Heavyweight Champion?
George Chuvalo is the greatest Canadian Heavyweight champion of all-time. Noted for his toughness, he fought all the greats and nobody – not Joe Frazier, George Foreman or even Muhammad Ali – ever knocked him out. Outside the ring, however, life dealt Chuvalo several crushing body blows: he lost three sons to drug addiction and his wife to suicide. Yet, just like in the ring, Chuvalo has refused to go down by using his story of personal pain to help others fight drug addiction. Remarkably George Chuvalo, the People's Champion, is still standing.
"I used to dream of being a champion," says the Toronto-born fighter. "The thrill of combat, the thrill of winning, it's just [something] I know I want to do." When reporter Charles Templeton asks which fighter he idolized growing up and patterns himself after, the young pugilist doesn't hesitate in answering: "I've always liked Joe Louis. Whenever he knocked a man down he looked like a god going back to his corner."
• A knockout (KO) in boxing is when a fighter is knocked down to the canvas by his opponent and can't get back to his feet within ten seconds. A technical knockout (TKO) is when the referee rules that a fighter has been hurt badly enough that he can no longer continue.
• "[The James Parker] 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.
• During his first reign as champion, Chuvalo defended the title against New Brunswick's Yvon Durelle (a former Canadian Light Heavyweight champion) on Nov. 17, 1959 in Toronto. Chuvalo knocked out Durelle, nicknamed "The Fighting Fisherman," in the twelfth round. Chuvalo lost the title to Bob Cleroux on Aug. 17, 1960 in Montreal, but regained it from Cleroux three months later. Chuvalo lost the title to Cleroux again on Aug. 8, 1961 in Toronto.
• "As a kid, I remember when I first opened up a Ring magazine. It was the first time I'd ever seen anything about boxing, heard anything about boxing or even knowing about boxing. For me it was like when a kid opens up the centrefold of Playboy. To me, it was like "wow, this is it!" I thought it was like the greatest thing in the world." - George Chuvalo in an interview with boxing reporter Barry Lindenman.
Program: Close-Up
Broadcast Date: Feb. 9, 1958
Guest(s): George Chuvalo
Host: J. Frank Willis
Reporter: Charles Templeton
Duration: 6:16
Last updated: March 26, 2013
Page consulted on February 21, 2014
All Clips from this Topic
-
A young George Chuvalo talks about his dreams of becoming the champ.
-
George Chuvalo fights James J. Parker to win the Canadian boxing champ...
-
Scott Young chats with world heavyweight hopeful George Chuvalo.
-
Chuvalo faces former World Champion Floyd Patterson.
-
Chuvalo gets a shot at World Champion Ernie Terrell.
-
Chuvalo gets a shot at Ali's World Title in Toronto.
-
George Chuvalo discusses the roughness of the fight business, and his ...
-
Ali and Chuvalo talk to CBC-TV's Weekend as they prepare for a 1972 re...
-
Canadian boxer George Chuvalo tells Michael Enright how to mix up a po...
-
The Canadian boxer describes his youth in a west Toronto neighbourhood...
-
The former Canadian Heavyweight Champion heads out on the comeback tra...
-
The former Canadian Heavyweight Champion walks away from the sport he ...
-
George Chuvalo must deal with yet another death in his family, when hi...
-
A lifetime of personal tragedy hasn't knocked out the champ.
-
George Chuvalo must deal with the death of yet another son, Steven.
-
George Chuvalo introduces his new wife Joanne, in an interview with Pa...
-
Chuvalo visits his old school to warn kids about the dangers of drugs.
-
Western Tech teacher Mitch Chuvalo has won the High School Coach of th...
-
The oldest son of George Chuvalo has gone down a different life path t...
-
George Chuvalo is the greatest Canadian Heavyweight champion of all-ti...