Should George Chuvalo be inducted into the hall of fame?

Second rate contender? He fought several times for the heavyweight championship of the world? How's that second rate?

What are your personal accomplishments to compare it to, to warrant that description, perhaps you're 3rd or 4th rate. Are you among the 10 best in the world of anything in your life?

And what about other factors, such as recruiting boxers, undoubledly his accomplishments attracted many Canadian boxers to the sport, does that count?

As a general rule I have a hard time communication with posters who claim they are boxing fans, and then show a complete lack of respect for both them and their accomplishments.

It's a tough, tough, business and regardless of whether or not Chavluo deserves to be the Hall of Fame, he's hardly a second rater and nobody can honestly call him that and claim to be a true boxing fan.

 

robbed against Terrell? Chuvalo didn't do anything for the first 5 rounds. Next someone is going to be saying texx cobb belongs in hall of fame

 

this guys into putting down from all i read,some guys are just like that i meet them everyday in my business

 

But he was in the fight of the year in 1965.

 

Well, it's the hall of FAME, not the hall of greatness.

All famous and popular fighters and colourful charcters should be included. As well as the greats one and the forgotten ones who DESERVED fame but never got it.

Chuvalo fulfills the criteria, IMO.
He was very popular and featured in some famous fights, he's a character of the ring.

As a fighter he wasn't great, he was a solid professional, strong and rugged and always came in shape ready to battle. But he wasn't anything outstanding in world terms, for the talents of the division he was a very beatable contender. He got beaten by a few forgotten journeymen.
He was lucky to get a title shot really.

His close loss to Patterson and a KO of Quarry were probably his best results.
Losses to Bob Cleroux, Eduardo Corletti etc. shouldn't be glossed over.

 

Chuvalo is more than deserving of HOF consideration. The guy was arguably robbed against Terrell and lost a very close competitive battle with Floyd Patterson which was fight of the year for 1965. He gave Ali two very tough fights and probably could have hurt George Foreman if the ref didn't call a premature stoppage. Sure, most people who watched the fight will say that Foreman was pummeling Chuvalo, but I disagree. Chuvalo had his hands up and even though he was getting hit, he wasn't in any serious trouble and Foreman was quickly running out of gas. Joe Frazier's left hook did some serious damage to Chuvalo when they fought, rupturing a blood vessel. Ali (Cassius Clay) at the time didn't have an easy time defending Chuvalo at Maple Leaf Gardens and realized he was in a real fight after the opening round. If anything, electing Chuvalo to the HOF would probably give him piece of mind for being shafted in the Terrell fight.

 

Agreed. Chavalo wasn't good enough to get into the hall of fame.

 

Chuvalo might have serve as another white hope, who came and go, in Langford's time. Out of 100 fights I have no doubt Langford would win about 99, several of them by knockout (because he was a much better puncher than Foreman, even if he didn't have the same raw power as George). Chuvalo has little skills, no cleverness and generalship whatsoever, above average but not great punching power, slow as a turtle, but very tough, that cannot be taken from him. He never was a first-rate boxer, he's a second rater, a good journeyman, nothing more.

 

For his boxing alone, no, I do not believe George Chuvalo belongs in the IBHOF. But for his life, as somebody who has used his boxing acquired celebrity into a bully pulpit for good causes, the quality of character with which he has so publicly honored himself and his nation to the world, then yes, he can very well be acknowledged for his overall contributions.

So much of boxing's history is littered with outstanding competitors and personalities who were shady characters. If personal conduct and character were as important to IBHOF consideration as it is to induction into the Major League Baseball HOF, then there probably shouldn't be an IBHOF. But George has turned the pervasive poor personal character of many current and prospective IBHOFers into a nearly complete inversion. He represents the best of examples in the sort of "manliness" which boxing has long claimed to instill in students of the "sweet science."

This noble gentleman has risen above the sort of devastating losses which would have destroyed lesser beings, and a strong case can be made that the seeds for this achievement were sewn in the degree of success he realized as a competitor in the ring. He was more than a mere opponent or survivor in combat, but a true warrior who did his utmost to prevail. In civilian life, that fighting spirit remains unbowed, unbroken, and unvanquished. He did not stop trying against a peak and prime Ali, and vociferously protested the stoppage against Foreman, despite having his bell seriously rung. It was only when Joe Frazier's hook fractured his right orbital bone that Chuvalo ever turned away from an opponent.

Remarkably, only Frazier and Foreman were able to stop him. One might expect a few more losses on cuts, but it never happened.

Chuvalo's manager Irving Ungerman may well have robbed him of his greatest victory when he climbed the stairs to tell Arthur Mercante to stop his bout with Foreman, when Chuvalo was clearing his head in his own corner. Chuvalo had previously demonstrated against Frazier that he knew when to concede a fight, and Mercante had more than enough experience and competence to know when to wave things off. I have often wondered what might have happened if Chuvalo had been afforded the same opportunity to recover which Frazier later received against Foreman. It was only round three, and Foreman was expending himself tremendously with diminishing returns. Chuvalo would have been better off weathering the storm in Foreman's corner, rather than his own, where Ungerman wouldn't have been in position to catch Mercante's attention.

Ungerman may well have robbed both Chuvalo and Foreman in that one. Chuvalo was hurt in the first minute of round three, and with seven rounds to go, Foreman may have been terribly fatigued. If he had still managed to win (entirely possible with the heavy long jab and crude mobility he was displaying), a protracted experience with heavy exertion might have held him in much better stead with Ali in Zaire. If Foreman did fade badly after round three, Chuvalo's hooks to the body might have taken a tremendous toll. (Just as Foreman did, Chuvalo's body attack also made Ali **** blood after their first match. Chuvalo and Foreman were jabbing each other, with Foreman's jab obviously superior, but Chuvalo's hooks downstairs seemed to be better bodyshots than Foreman's rights to Chuvalo's body. The MSG crowd was right to boo the ending by Chuvalo's manager. This one should have had the chance to go the distance.)

Chuvalo arguably brought out the most resourceful performance of Floyd Patterson's career. Floyd himself admitted immediately afterward that George fought cleanly in this hardy brawl, with "legal" body blows. Chuvalo's aggression got Patterson moving laterally, ducking through the corners as he moved around the ring perimeter. I don't know that I agree with Ali's ringside comment that Floyd would have beaten Liston boxing that way, but he definitely could have done much better than getting taken out in a single round twice. (Floyd clearly evolved considerably as a former champion, rarely tasting the canvas after Liston. He threw out his back early in his title fight with Ali, leading to an attrition knockdown, and was taking the fight to Quarry when Jerry's counterpunching off the ropes dropped him multiple times, but he was clearly a better boxer with Chuvalo. If George had challenged Floyd when Patterson was champion, he would have been the only challenger to take Floyd the distance, and probably dump him on the floor in the process.)

So far as honors go, George Chuvalo has plenty of formal recognition. He might regard enshrinement in the IBHOF as something nice, but how can anything ever make up for the losses he's survived? As intelligent, articulate, well read, and superb a character as he is, I hope he participates in the annual IBHOF ceremonies as long as he is able to, regardless of whether or not he gets inducted.

 

Why not everybody else is in it!

 

Very eloquent post, regardless of where you stand with respect to George making the IBHOF.

Personally I think he years as the Canadian Heavyweight title holder along with his challenges of elite fighters in the late 60's and 70's is enough to justify him getting in, but I also understand it's a borderline case in terms of his boxing accomplishments on the world stage.

But if putting a positive light on the sport of boxing counts for anything, then that should tip the scales in his favour.

Another notably Canadian, named Gatti, is in a similar situation as to whether or not he belongs in the IBHOF, albeit for different reasons.