Канадалық боксшы Джордж Чувалоның өмірі мен мансабы

Canadian boxer

George Louis Chuvalo (born September 12, 1937, as Jure Čuvalo) is a Canadian former professional boxer who was a five time Canadian heavyweight champion and two time world heavyweight title challenger. He is known for having never been knocked down in his 93 bout professional career including fights against Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, and George Foreman. Chuvalo unsuccessfully challenged Muhammad Ali for the heavyweight championship in 1966. Chuvalo was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.

Chuvalo was born on September 12, 1937, to Croat immigrants Stipan and Katica from Ljubuški in the Herzegovina region of what is today Bosnia and Herzegovina. Chuvalo became the Canadian amateur heavyweight champion in May 1955, defeating Winnipeg's Peter Piper with a first round knockout (KO) in a tournament final in Regina, Saskatchewan. Chuvalo finished his amateur career with a 16–0 record, all by KO within four rounds. Nicknamed "Boom Boom", Chuvalo turned professional in 1956, knocking out four opponents in one night to win a heavyweight tournament held by former world champion Jack Dempsey at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto on April 26, 1956. George Chuvalo's rankings as a heavyweight were: number 9 in 1963, number 5 in 1964, number 3 in 1965, number 8 in 1966, number 4 in 1968 and number 7 in 1970.

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.

Chuvalo also had some losses against famous fighters other than his two losses to Ali. In 1957, Chuvalo lost to Bob Baker, who was ranked as high as number two contender in 1955. This was his thirteenth fight and second professional loss. He also lost to Zora Folley, who was once ranked as the top contender. Among his victories was a win against Doug Jones, who gave Muhammad Ali a closely contested bout in 1963. He was stopped in 1967 by Joe Frazier, and in 1970 by George Foreman, although in both cases the referee stopped the fight while Chuvalo was still on his feet, Chuvalo having never been knocked down: these were his only stoppage losses (aside from a 1961 disqualification against Joe Erskine for headbutting), although he lost 15 decisions on points over his career.

Chuvalo also appeared in films, with acting roles in I Miss You, Hugs and Kisses (1978), Stone Cold Dead (1979), The Fly (1986), Last Man Standing (1987), Prom Night III: The Last Kiss (1989), The Return of Eliot Ness (1991), Lee's Offering (2005) and Sicilian Vampire (2015). His 1966 match against Ali was the subject of Joseph Blasioli's 2003 documentary film The Last Round: Chuvalo vs. Ali. On August 14, 2008, Chuvalo's kitchen was the featured renovation project on the Canadian TV series Holmes on Homes in an episode titled "Kitchen Knockout". During April 2010, Chuvalo was a special guest at the BC Golden Gloves tournament held at the Eagle Ridge Community Centre in Langford, British Columbia. On December 17, 2011, he travelled to Sarajevo to attend the unveiling of a statue in his honour in Ljubuški on December 18, 2011. On May 11, 2019, the George Chuvalo Community Centre in Toronto, Ontario, opened which provide a variety of recreational programs for children as well as LGBTQ youth.

When Chuvalo was 21, he married 15 year old Lynne, with whom he had five children: Mitchell, Steven, George Lee (George Jr.), Jesse, and Vanessa. Three of Chuvalo's sons, Jesse, Steven, and George Lee, were heroin addicts, which was introduced to the family by Jesse in 1984 after a severe motorbike accident led him to seek pain relief. The trio would often rob local pharmacies of prescription medication, for which they frequently served jail time. In August 1996, despite recent attempts at improving his life, including nearing completion on a degree in Russian Literature from Queen's University, Steven was found dead of a heroin overdose. Following his children's deaths, Chuvalo went into a deep depression and experienced suicidal thoughts. By the time of Steven's death, Chuvalo had also found himself in financial distress; the mortage on his home had been foreclosed, and the contents of his house were being removed by creditors, although his economic situation improved over the following decades. Chuvalo's son Mitchell would become a high school teacher, while Vanessa would become the department manager of a Toronto food market. As of 2011, Chuvalo had six grandchildren. On February 28, 2013, his granddaughter Rachel died of cancer. After Lynne's death, Chuvalo married his second wife, Joanne, in 1994, and adopted her two children: Jesse and Ruby. Joanne, who had worked with Lynne, stopped by Chuvalo's house after her death to share condolences, which eventually led to a romance. Since the mid 2010s, Joanne and Chuvalo's biological children from his first marriage have had several legal battles, largely led by a decline in Chuvalo's cognitive abilities which has led him to being incapable of leading many of his personal affairs. In 2018, a judge ruled that Chuvalo did not have the mental capacity to determine if he wished to reconcile with his wife, and by 2022, he was suffering from advanced dementia.