This is true but you have to remember that Chuvalo's comments are from his own perspective, not ours. Based on that fight I can see how he would think Frazier would have very good defense (which I actually agree with).
Maybe. But in real life that guy watched two of his sons die from drug over doses and his wife and other one of his sons committed suicide as a result. Rather than kill himself, or become a drug addict or alcoholic like many would, he now he travels across Canada and speaks to high school kids about the danger of drug use. There are very few hero's in the world but he's one of them. What are you doing with your life that makes you special enough to slam him?
All true about Chuvalo, and all completely irrelevant to the fact he gives his opponents no true credit.
Chuvalo is a real hero in my book. The man went through incredible personal tragedy at a level few could imagine. He was a complete warrior in the ring, always in incredible shape, incredible will to win, incredibly tough with good power and decent offensive skills. His main problem was his speed or lack of it. Give George Joe Frazier hand speed and you would have one nightmare in the ring for any hwt.
Exactly. I didn't say word one about Chuvalo's family I was talking about him as a sportsman. This is a boxing forum and he was a boxer. Is he off limits because he had a hard life? If so then I guess we cant criticize most fighters because most of them have had troubled lives. If hes a poor sport and cant give his opponents credit or admit that he lost legitimately then he deserves whatever criticism he gets.
Chuvalo has shown as much resilience in his personal life and he did in his fistic career,but it is a fact he has excuses for all his losses.Maybe its part and parcel of that gladiator ego ?
The first time this really hit home for me was watching his documentary The Last Round. They go over all of his big fights and literally every single time he has some lame excuse for losing or a totally warped perception of the fight (he said he won the first three rounds against Frazier and said he had Foreman right where he wanted him when the fight was stopped, neither of which is remotely true). It became almost comical. I was left wondering "If this guy has an excuse for losing to all of these great fighters what would he have to say about his fights with guys like Corletti, Rademacher, McMurtry, Erskine, Mathis, etc??? Chuvalo was a tough guy and the go to trial horse for well over a decade which isn't anything to be sneezed at but he would do himself a lot more service giving his opponents the credit they deserve.
I think he gave his opponents the same credit most other boxers give their opponents. He said Foreman hit like a truck, Frazier had a great defense and Ali was incredibly fast. Yes, he made excuses for losing, but most boxers do. Guess one reads into things what they want to read.
Sure, then that applies to the rest of the boxing community who's numbers are too large to name. Foreman had every excuse in the book for his loss to Ali, Duran had excuses for virtually all of his losses, Hager.. hell it's an endless list. It's almost better to go in the opposite direction and start naming the gracious losers, cause there weren't all that many.