On September 12, 1937, exactly 86 years ago, George Chuvalo was born, who went down in the history of professional boxing thanks to a unique quality: he simply had an impenetrable chin. People often call Nikolai Valuev “stonehead”, but he has a more than worthy competitor.
“When it was all over, Ali went to the hospital. He was bleeding. “Tonight I went dancing with my wife,” a phrase that perfectly describes George’s career.
Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Floyd Patterson, Ernie Terrell, Jerry Quarry, Cleveland Williams, Jimmy Ellis, Buster Mathis, Doug Jones, Oscar Bonavena, Zora Folley, Yvon Durell, Pete Rademacher. This is an incomplete list of fighters who had the opportunity to fight Chuvalo, but not a single boxer was able to knock down the stubborn Canadian. Not a single fall in 93 fights in the professional ring. By the way, twice George formally lost by technical knockout, against Foreman and Frazier, but in both cases it was the referee’s initiative; the boxer himself was going to fight even with terrible injuries. With Fraser, Chuvalo suffered a fractured right eye socket early in the fight, but he didn’t even think about stopping. Then he had to undergo a serious operation and it was a miracle that he completely preserved his vision. However, George still returned to the ring.
Chuvalo entered the professional ranks with a clean amateur record of 16-0. His debut turned out to be truly unique. Jack Dempsey organized a boxing tournament in Canada, where many debutants had the opportunity to show themselves and everyone had to fight more than one fight per night. George knocked out four opponents that day.
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The first years of his professional career, Chuvalo boxed exclusively in Canada, repeatedly winning the heavyweight championship belt and losing it again. The first serious challenge came from Zora Folley in 1964. George lost to her on points, but he overcame this failure with four victories in seven months and in February 1965 he faced Floyd Patterson. Another defeat on points brought fame to Chuvalo: this fight was recognized as the fight of the year. However, the Canadian became a real boxing star a year later, when he met the great Mohammed Ali.
Muhammad Ali vs Chuvalo
Photo: Mark Kauffman/Getty Images
Ali was initially supposed to fight Ernie Terrell, but the United States initially refused to sanction the fight due to the boxer’s position regarding the country’s actions in Vietnam, and then Mohammed’s opponent refused to fight. 17 days before the fight, an emergency replacement was found in the person of Chuvalo. Bob Arum, for whom this was his first fight as a promoter, said: “Then I traveled all over North America. Chuvalo was the only one who was willing to fight Muhammad at any time.” The Canadian eventually became the first to survive all 15 rounds with Ali, and received a flattering assessment from his opponent: “He’s the toughest guy I’ve ever fought.” Then Chuvalo fully justified the nickname Stone Head.
They later met again, but George still survived the entire fight and lost by decision. The boxers, by the way, became friends, and years later Chuvalo was very sad because his friend died: “We tried to finish each other off, and after all this, believe it or not, you will begin to feel sympathy for your opponent. . We fought each other for 27 rounds, but still became good friends. They called each other often, he was a good person and talkative. His death affected me a lot.”
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Chuvalo’s entire career seems like a roller coaster. He did not grab stars from the sky, many noted that, in general, his boxing skills were quite average. This did not prevent the Canadian heavyweight from having long winning streaks, but they all invariably ended at the recognized tops. However, George still made history and will remain in it. In 1990, he was inducted into the Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame and five years later he was inducted into the World Hall of Fame.
By the way, Chuvalo’s tenacity was evident not only in the ring. In his personal life, the boxer had to endure more than one tragedy. Three of his children became addicted to heroin, two died from overdoses and another committed suicide. Under these circumstances, George’s wife, Lynn, also died. Even later, the boxer’s granddaughter also died.
“My heart is not made of stone. I am always in mourning, I remember the faces of my children. Life is difficult and full of challenges. Fortunately I have two more children, a son and a daughter,” Chuvalo commented.
George had a fairly long marriage to his second wife Joanne, but they eventually separated. The reason, as is often the case, was money and property. Because of this, the wife quarreled with Chuvalo’s children and prevented them from communicating with her father.
However, George has had some positive moments in recent years. In 2011, the statue of him was erected in Sarajevo. A Canadian with Bosnian roots personally attended the event. And in 2019, Chuvalo opened a children’s center in Toronto that develops programs for drug-addicted children and adolescents. Summing up his career, Chuvalo does not regret anything: “I always said that in good circumstances I could beat anyone. Now, if fights lasted 100 rounds, I would probably be the best.”
