Comments
drcoolio-w-dahoolio t1_itn5usk wrote
I met Chuvalo. He spoken in front of our class and told us his story. He mentioned after his fight with Muhammed Ali, who had to go to the hospital, that he went dancing with his wife. Also he has had a lot of tradegy in his life. I believe something along the lines of his son and then shortly after his wife overdosing on pills. It was such a tragic story to hear about I Remember.
AnotherDrunkCanadian t1_itopobr wrote
Came here to say the same. He told us his story. It was really heart wrenching to hear about family member after family member overdosing.
Here's his wiki
DL_22 t1_itq8yq9 wrote
I think he was big on the school tours in the 90s and 00s. Which was great, I remember him at our HS.
Girly_Shrieks t1_itowufa wrote
Story. It's story. How do you mistake it twice?
DeafeningMilk t1_itpiizg wrote
Just correct them. Don't be a dick about it.
drcoolio-w-dahoolio t1_iu5abpa wrote
Lol, it sure is. This made me laugh. Thanks for the correction.
Aporkalypse_Sow t1_itp4tp7 wrote
Not going down against young Foreman is a feat that isn't shared by many.
Bobzyurunkle t1_itmlrw1 wrote
I shared an elevator with him once. He's an intimidating form of human even years after his victories. Seemed like a super nice guy too.
bronxi11 t1_itnmjyv wrote
Super cool guy, he use to hit up the premier gym in Etobicoke regular around 2008-09 in his 70s
Bobzyurunkle t1_itnza5a wrote
Yup, met him in Etobicoke too.
zelcuh t1_ito9un1 wrote
A lot of us in here. Weird
Downtown-Regret-505 t1_itofzll wrote
Likewise
SharpieBass t1_itoemwd wrote
I’ve met him a few times over the years. He is a big bastard. I was amazed at how big his hands were. Super nice guy.
Downtown-Regret-505 t1_itmqkgy wrote
Met him years and years and years ago while working at Staples as a student. Very friendly and soft spoken guy with mits like a stack of bananas. He was looking for a specific type of pen, damn thing looked like a tooth pick in his hand.
knightslider11 t1_itmx90p wrote
His record says he lost twice by KO. So were they standing knock outs where the ref had to step in and stop it?
PM_ME_A_FUTURE t1_itmz4s0 wrote
Just watched both TKOs.
1: vs George Foreman, ref stopped it after Foreman pummeled him for a good 20 seconds in the corner. He honestly didn't look THAT hurt though, just tired.
2: vs Joe Frazier, looks like it was stopped because he had a big cut over his eye that Frazier kept hitting. He looked more hurt there, but didn't really look like he was that close to going down.
knightslider11 t1_itmzrd2 wrote
Cool, thanks!
chameleonjunkie t1_itnrnpl wrote
Links? I'm lazy
sydster_d t1_ito3uvu wrote
Vs Foreman, he took what appeared to be close to 50+ punches (many of them flush on the face). His manager was begging the referee to stop the fight. But, at no point did Chuvalo look to be in danger of going down. It did seem like you were watching a man severely damaging his brain because he took so many vicious blows to the head.
In the Frazier fight, it’s not the same pummeling. But, Frazier has methodically worked on the cut over his left eye, and Chuvalo can’t see out of it at the end (he seems to not know where Frazier is for a moment when the ref stops the fight).
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m83live t1_itmznor wrote
Met him a few times way back when I worked at Loblaws (Dixon & Islington) and he'd come in from time to time. He's been through so much with family tragedy :(
TronnaRaps t1_itrrdik wrote
Oh my God, the pain that family went through. Tragic as fuck.
CantTakeMeSeriously t1_itmyz3m wrote
Sadly, he can never ever sing that Chumbawumba song...
DroolingIguana t1_itnfb6j wrote
He never gave an anarchist a cigarette?
PJkitchener t1_itn5f5a wrote
I met this mountain of a man in high-school. He came to tell thr stories of drugs and kids. This poor guy has buried too many kids. His fists where literally like Ham blocks! Huge tough as nails Brickhouse of a man
beneath_the_bridge t1_itnavhv wrote
His DQ loss is interesting.
"Erskine went to Toronto, Ontario, Canada to fight George Chuvalo, who was hoping to show that he had the talent to fight for the world title against Floyd Patterson. Unfortunately for Chuvalo the fight, on 2 October 1961, was stopped in the fifth round and Chuvalo was disqualified for persistent head butting. Erskine claimed that he was butted eight times during the five rounds, while Chuvalo claimed he was retaliating for getting thumbed in the eye by Joe."
Odolinsky t1_itnctss wrote
Thumbed in the eye with big ol gloves on? Does that happen a lot in boxing? I know it does in mma but the gloves are so big in boxing seems like that would be tough to do.
beneath_the_bridge t1_itne8zj wrote
I think it was more common back then as the gloves were different, somewhere between what boxing gloves are and mma gloves are.
Odolinsky t1_itnf60z wrote
Oh yea you're right I looked at gloves from that era and some of them def look like you could thumb an eye if you tried.
memberberries902 t1_itndlsg wrote
My favourite Chuvalo quote is after one of his loses to Ali “He went to the hospital and I went out dancing with my wife.” His story is tragic however, he lost pretty much his entire family to suicide, but remained reportedly one of the nicest people ever.
Forteanforever t1_itmz5af wrote
Much respect to Chuvalo.
FrankDrakman t1_itnpyfj wrote
When I was six or seven, my dad was a member at the Argonaut Club in Toronto. So was Chuvalo.
One day, my dad took my younger brother and I into the sauna. It was the first time I'd ever been in one, and I thought it was unbearably hot. My brother and I had our glasses of pop with us and I remember sticking my nose into the glass to breathe the ice-cooled air.
George Chuvalo came in. He went to the top bench, where it was even hotter, and started doing situps. He was still doing them when we left a few minutes later.
Goodolchuckno t1_itnucsm wrote
He came to my school and talked about heroin addiction, Not his but his son’s. He had some pretty bad stories. One of the reasons I never did hard drugs. He seemed like a good man that was hurting for his kids.
browtfareyoudoing t1_itpy6oz wrote
Alternatively, the DARE program made abstinence look like square city.
bolanrox t1_itrc3fa wrote
the whole idea of just say no.. like anyone ever forced me to smoke pot or what ever. you say no thanks and they go thats cool and moves on..
Cmacbudboss t1_itnt4u6 wrote
When they asked Chuvalo who he thought should have won the fight between him and Ali he replied “he went to the hospital with a bleeding kidney and me, I went dancing with my wife”
DevangAbhyankar t1_itoo1ai wrote
Looks like I'm the only person in comments who hasn't met him
radiocleve t1_itn4he6 wrote
I’m telling you, Dad, you can’t knock him over.
Roastednutz666 t1_ito8mwn wrote
My parents are good friends with George Chuvalo
No-Wonder1139 t1_itom539 wrote
Yeah I saw an interview with him about fighting Mohammed Ali. He lost the fight, but Ali spent the night in the hospital, and Chuvalo went dancing with his wife. (Chuvalo went dancing with his own wife, not Ali's) It was a fun y interview.
throw_away_nj_123 t1_ittgyyu wrote
Damn that’s awesome. I really like watching boxing matches but have never done deep dives on the sport and it’s history so I really appreciate this post.
Papichuloft t1_itnbkwm wrote
Many of his losses were to legends.
95Keys t1_itnlpa4 wrote
AND he’s on the cover of a sick album and has a really impactful spoken word part on the closing track. for some reason it gives me shivers every time on “mettle” when he says “the worst thing in the world, is to be in a fight, and get tired. you don’t wanna get tired in a fight.”
Teddy_canuck t1_itpe5vx wrote
He spoke at my school in super rural northern Ontario. I still have his autograph.
ElGuano t1_itpudpx wrote
I've also never been knocked down in all of my professional boxing career! I think we all know where this is going.
FuriouSherman t1_itq82ec wrote
Yup. Muhammad Ali even once called Chuvalo the single toughest opponent he ever faced. High praise from a man who fought Joe Frazier and Sonny Liston.
Halogen12 t1_itqnlt1 wrote
He came to my work (a professional office) in Calgary about 30 years ago. He was a very nice man. I didn't know who he was until after he left and my boss told me about him.
Kymer72 t1_itqst0r wrote
They call him the brick hit-house.
[deleted] t1_itmo4jp wrote
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Novus20 t1_itnsopk wrote
Other then his kid could be kids doing drugs that took him down, I remember he came and talk at my school, that’s a tough man but brother he felt it with his kid(s)
[deleted] t1_itoh27z wrote
Badass
[deleted] t1_itokuy8 wrote
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Tehfoodstealorz t1_itpkwow wrote
It says in your source that he lost twice by KO. Am I missing something?
OhThatNick t1_itplkzc wrote
Referee stoppage.
trogdor1234 t1_itps55y wrote
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTR9JHqEf/
Watching this it seems pretty weak on the ref. Didn’t even see any blood I don’t think.
[deleted] t1_itpwf7z wrote
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TimeWizardGreyFox t1_itq5rqa wrote
Funny enough my brother was friends with his grandson. Never met him sadly
HeavenPiercingMan t1_itq5soh wrote
The only guy who broke him was a human-fly hybrid.
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KingOfThe_Jelly_Fish t1_itnlye6 wrote
Hang on a second, on the Wikipedia page linked in this post, under the section 'Professional Boxing Record' it literally shows he lost 2 bouts by knockout.....
Edit - in its opening section it also states that he had 93 professional fights, but in the above mentioned section it states 94 professional fights. So which is it people?
Mind_taker84 t1_itnn04z wrote
They were TKO's. The fights were called off due to the brutal nature of the fight.
ButteredNun t1_itq0ecv wrote
Presumably he just stood there and ate shit
TAtosharesomething t1_itq21iw wrote
I can achieve that too, tap out every time
Skinnersmonkey t1_itqhqsq wrote
he lost by tko to foreman though in the 3rd....if it wasn't stopped he would have dropped eventually
WebShaman t1_itr6jom wrote
Or died, which is more likely.
Drvanfalk t1_itnudf9 wrote
He is who I learned to box from. Turns out alot of it is being big.
RedSonGamble t1_itmssn2 wrote
This is attributed to him being in a barely conscious state all the time
american-titan t1_itn4lut wrote
I mean I wouldn't get knocked down if I fought a grill either, where's my TIL post?
smegmaroni t1_itol5p1 wrote
Have some respect for yourself
frealfr t1_itmyfcq wrote
Monument to man's vanity = sports
Lausn t1_itn7q5a wrote
Monument to frealfr's stupidity = your comment.
Dunkel_Reynolds t1_itnek76 wrote
Lol this probably sounded a bit more witty in your head than it came across posted here.
MightGuy420x OP t1_itmzyng wrote
You do realize that a good majority of pro athletes contribute a lot to their communities. Also woman have had pro sports leagues for a while now.
skarmorr t1_itnqamc wrote
Dumb stoner thought
MightGuy420x OP t1_itmlz99 wrote
Chuvalo is best known for his two fights against Muhammad 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.