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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.

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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.

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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.

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RedSonGamble t1_itmssn2 wrote

This is attributed to him being in a barely conscious state all the time

−6

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?

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frealfr t1_itmyfcq wrote

Monument to man's vanity = sports

−35

PM_ME_A_FUTURE t1_itmz4s0 wrote

Replying to knightslider11 (#207,735)

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.

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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 :(

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radiocleve t1_itn4he6 wrote

I’m telling you, Dad, you can’t knock him over.

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american-titan t1_itn4lut wrote

I mean I wouldn't get knocked down if I fought a grill either, where's my TIL post?

−7

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

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drcoolio-w-dahoolio t1_itn5usk wrote

Replying to MightGuy420x (#206,526)

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.

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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."

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Papichuloft t1_itnbkwm wrote

Many of his losses were to legends.

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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.

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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.”

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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?

0

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.

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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)

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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”

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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.

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Drvanfalk t1_itnudf9 wrote

He is who I learned to box from. Turns out alot of it is being big.

−2

sydster_d t1_ito3uvu wrote

Replying to knightslider11 (#207,735)

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.

https://youtu.be/OQxuRuVvI3Y

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).

https://youtu.be/LvmEUHbsAc0

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Roastednutz666 t1_ito8mwn wrote

My parents are good friends with George Chuvalo

3

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.

3

DevangAbhyankar t1_itoo1ai wrote

Looks like I'm the only person in comments who hasn't met him

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Teddy_canuck t1_itpe5vx wrote

He spoke at my school in super rural northern Ontario. I still have his autograph.

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Tehfoodstealorz t1_itpkwow wrote

It says in your source that he lost twice by KO. Am I missing something?

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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.

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ButteredNun t1_itq0ecv wrote

Presumably he just stood there and ate shit

0

TimeWizardGreyFox t1_itq5rqa wrote

Funny enough my brother was friends with his grandson. Never met him sadly

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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.

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Skinnersmonkey t1_itqhqsq wrote

he lost by tko to foreman though in the 3rd....if it wasn't stopped he would have dropped eventually

0

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.

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Kymer72 t1_itqst0r wrote

They call him the brick hit-house.

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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.

3