A Sports Legend Passes
- Thread starter TBLeafer
- Start date
hockeyfan1
New member
"...dance like a butterfly, sting like a bee..."
That he did and much more, declaring himself "...[I am] the greatest of them all..."
Canadian boxing fans and fans the world over will remember the date: March 29, 1966. Muhammad Ali, already the fastest and best boxer in the world, dodging the draft, opiniated, and risking jail, vs George Chuvalo, upstart Canadian. The fight was held in Toronto at Maple Leaf Gardens. Neutral ground. History would be made.
The crowd was electrified. On its feet. An upset suddenly in the air. But Chuvalo was cooked. Not an ounce left. Ali survived the final seconds. The world champ retained his title.
Immediately after the fight, and for the rest of his career, Ali would tell everyone about George Chuvalo.
?He?s the toughest guy I ever fought.? Chuvalo himself pointed out that although Ali won that fight, fair and square, when it was all said and done?Ali spent the remains of the night in hospital, while Chuvalo himself went dancing with his wife.
Muhammad Ali was 24, at the peak of his fitness. Chuvalo, four years older, was nearing the end of his best days. The two of them fought the biggest fight that ever took place on Canadian soil.
They stood up against each other, they stood up against the status quo. They stood up against poverty and racial and religious bigotry, and then they stood up against harrowing fates. There?s no end to the poetry in that legacy.
http://www.cbc.ca/sportslongform/entry/ali-vs-chuvalo-brutality-beauty-mingled-in-truly-epic-brawl
The two fought again in 1972 in Vancouver at the then Pacific Coliseum.
http://globalnews.ca/news/2741759/remembering-muhammad-alis-1972-fight-with-george-chuvalo-in-vancouver/
Rest In Peace, Mohammed Ali.
Boxing fans will never forget you.
That he did and much more, declaring himself "...[I am] the greatest of them all..."
Canadian boxing fans and fans the world over will remember the date: March 29, 1966. Muhammad Ali, already the fastest and best boxer in the world, dodging the draft, opiniated, and risking jail, vs George Chuvalo, upstart Canadian. The fight was held in Toronto at Maple Leaf Gardens. Neutral ground. History would be made.
The crowd was electrified. On its feet. An upset suddenly in the air. But Chuvalo was cooked. Not an ounce left. Ali survived the final seconds. The world champ retained his title.
Immediately after the fight, and for the rest of his career, Ali would tell everyone about George Chuvalo.
?He?s the toughest guy I ever fought.? Chuvalo himself pointed out that although Ali won that fight, fair and square, when it was all said and done?Ali spent the remains of the night in hospital, while Chuvalo himself went dancing with his wife.
Muhammad Ali was 24, at the peak of his fitness. Chuvalo, four years older, was nearing the end of his best days. The two of them fought the biggest fight that ever took place on Canadian soil.
They stood up against each other, they stood up against the status quo. They stood up against poverty and racial and religious bigotry, and then they stood up against harrowing fates. There?s no end to the poetry in that legacy.
http://www.cbc.ca/sportslongform/entry/ali-vs-chuvalo-brutality-beauty-mingled-in-truly-epic-brawl
The two fought again in 1972 in Vancouver at the then Pacific Coliseum.
http://globalnews.ca/news/2741759/remembering-muhammad-alis-1972-fight-with-george-chuvalo-in-vancouver/
Rest In Peace, Mohammed Ali.
Boxing fans will never forget you.
Kin
Active member
1. Ali did not "dodge the draft". He was a conscientious objector and didn't hide from the consequences of his opposition to the Vietnam war.
2. Regardless, it had nothing to do with his fights with Chuvalo. His first fight with Chuvalo took place before he was drafted, his second after his conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court.
3. His name was Muhammad Ali, for goodness sakes. He wasn't ambivalent about the name he chose or what it meant for people to not use it. He saw using the name he'd gone by previous as a serious sign of disrespect, purposefully extending his fight with Ernie Terrell, who insisted on calling him Cassius, just so he could beat on him longer. All throughout the fight Ali taunted Terrell with "What's my name?"
2. Regardless, it had nothing to do with his fights with Chuvalo. His first fight with Chuvalo took place before he was drafted, his second after his conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court.
3. His name was Muhammad Ali, for goodness sakes. He wasn't ambivalent about the name he chose or what it meant for people to not use it. He saw using the name he'd gone by previous as a serious sign of disrespect, purposefully extending his fight with Ernie Terrell, who insisted on calling him Cassius, just so he could beat on him longer. All throughout the fight Ali taunted Terrell with "What's my name?"
Heroic Shrimp
Active member
hockeyfan1 said:
Seriously, that's just spectacularly inappropriate.
hockeyfan1
New member
Heroic Shrimp said:
Fixed. My apologies.