Joanne and I in the heart of Toronto’s Junction neighborhood, 1994. Joann.e’s love brought me back to life.
Rachel and Stevie, just days before he died on August 17, 1996.
Steven, with his son, Jesse, and daughter, Rachel, in 1992.
The last photo ever taken of Stevie shows him with Jesse, outside the hospital where my dad was convalescing.
Joanne at the summit of Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro in 2006. She made the climb in support of the Canadian Liver Foundation.
A relaxing time spent with my two grandchildren Rachel and Jesse.
Mitchell’s beautiful sons: Aaron (left) and Elijah.
Mitch and his nephew Jesse on the verandah outside Elvis Presley’s house in Tupelo, Mississippi, in 2001.
My granddaughter Rachel was offered a scholarship to go to university Sadly, she passed away from cancer as this book was being completed.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
IT’S impossible to condense a lifetime’s worth of gratitude into a few sentences, but here goes. Most of all, I want to thank my wife, Joanne, for the love and support that’s helped me want to stay alive, and Murray Greig, my longtime friend and confidant, for his perseverance on this project. My boxing career would not have been possible without Teddy McWhorter and all my sparring partners and opponents over the years, and, of course, thanks to my friends and fans across Canada and around the world who have always been in my corner.
—GC
THANKS to George for his years of friendship, trust and sensational lamb spaghetti; to Joanne for her patience and understanding; and to all the sportswriters who kept boxing in the spotlight during the golden era of the 1950s and ‘60s. Many historical blanks were filled in by gleaning old newspaper accounts on microfiche and reviewing yellowed copies of The Ring and Boxing Illustrated.
—MG
About the Authors
GEORGE CHUVALO was the reigning Canadian heavyweight boxing champion for 21 years, from 1958 until 1979. Ranked among the world’s top 10 boxers for much of his career, Chuvalo faced many of the best fighters of this century: Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Floyd Patterson, Ernie Terrell, Joe Frazier, Jerry Quarry and many others. He is a member of Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, and in 1997 he was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in Los Angeles. Today, Chuvalo speaks to students, parents and other groups about how drugs devastated his family. He lives north of Toronto with his wife, Joanne.
MURRAY GREIG launched his career in journalism in 1976 and in 1983 began a long association with Sun Media that included stints as an editor and columnist in Calgary, Winnipeg and Edmonton, where he is currently based. Greig has also lived and worked in Beijing as a sports columnist for China Daily. He is the author of five previous books.
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Copyright
Chuvalo
Copyright © 2013 by George Chuvalo and Murray Greig.
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EPub Edition © SEPTEMBER 2013 ISBN: 9781443417358
Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
FIRST EDITION
All photos courtesy the author, except as noted.
Part opener photos: Weighing In, The Globe and Mail/Canadian Press; Part One, Boris Spremo/The Globe and Mail/Canadian Press; Part Two, Herb Scharfman/Sports Illustrated Classic/Getty Images; Part Three, Boris Spremo/The Globe and Mail/Canadian Press; Part Four, Canadian Press; Part Five, The Globe and Mail/Canadian Press.
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