George Chuvalo
His story was the ultimate Canadian immigrant success story. Raised in the Junction district of Toronto, George’s parents didn’t have much and couldn’t afford much, save for a pair of boxing gloves. That was all the encouragement George needed. By the time he was 17 he was this country’s amateur heavyweight boxing champion. He fought Muhammad Ali twice. Ali was never able to knock him down. Joe Frazier couldn’t knock him down either. George Foreman too. In 93 professional fights he never once hit the canvas. When he retired, he sported a record of 73-18-2. He was as tough as they came and yet retirement didn’t mean that George had finished fighting. His youngest son Jesse committed suicide when he was only 20 years old. His second son Georgie Lee died of a drug overdose when he was 30. This second death was too much for the boys’ mother. Lynne took her own life just two days after Georgie Lee’s funeral. Three years later, George’s eldest son, Steven, was found dead from a drug overdose. Two of his children, Mitchell and Vanessa were able to avoid the same miserable fate of their elder siblings and have found success in their own right, providing George with four healthy grandchildren. Through all of this tragedy, George was able to continue. He remarried and speaks to high school students about the perils of drug use and has his own foundation, The George Chuvalo Fight Against Drugs. Ken Rockburn spoke to George Chuvalo in Mississauga.
Add new comment