His August, 1969 fight with an 18-5-2 Chuck Wepner aside, the biggest test by far a young George Foreman took came in August of 1970, this when the 21 year old who had captured Olympic gold in Mexico in 1968 was matched with the tougher than tough George Chuvalo.
Chuvalo, often referred to as the heavyweight with the sturdiest chin in the history of the division (94 pro fights, zero knockdowns suffered) also took a great deal of experience into the ring with him when he fought Foreman inside Madison Square Garden in New York. Today, such a fight, between a world class heavyweight prospect and a contender/former world title challenge, would without a doubt be a pay-per-view offering. Back in 1970, Foreman Vs. Chuvalo was an interesting fight for Olympic hero Foreman, but nothing too much more.
Chuvalo was 32 years old, and he was sporting a 59-15-2 ledger. Foreman, with his brute strength and his heavy-handed power, got the stoppage in round three, this when an enraged Chuvalo was stopped on his feet as referee Arthur Mercante opted to dive in. Over the years, Chuvalo has often said with sincerity how he felt Foreman, who was missing as often as he was landing, would have ran out of gas in the later rounds had the fight not been stopped, and that he would have come on and derailed the prospect.
We will of course never know.
But Foreman, who often posts interesting titbits on his official twitter page, wrote the other day how he felt his manager Dick Sadler was making a mistake, this by moving him too fast in matching him with Chuvalo when he did. Foreman, 21-0 at the time, says today he was “scared” going into the August 4th, 1970 fight.
“I always thought my manager was moving me too fast with the George Chuvalo match; strong & he could take a punch. When that fight was stopped: I knew someone was looking out for me. I was scared,” Foreman wrote.
Chuvalo thought someone was looking out for Foreman, too……the referee. The young Foreman passed his biggest test in style, however, and the Texan warrior would in time become world heavyweight king (twice in fact, once in 1973, and then again, 21 years later!)
74 year old Foreman is in great shape today, and “Big George” can look back on a genuinely great ring career with pride. Sadly, the teak-tough Chuavlo, now closing in on his 86th birthday, is battling dementia, this apparently the price George is paying for having such a shock-absorber of a chin.
Nobody knew it at the time, but when George and George fought in NY, two all-time greats were duking it out.
