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Muhammad Ali vs. George Chuvalo II

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Muhammad Ali vs. George Chuvalo II
Date1 May 1972
VenuePacific Coliseum, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Title(s) on the lineNABF heavyweight title
Tale of the tape
Boxer United States Muhammad Ali Canada George Chuvalo
Nickname "The Greatest"
Hometown Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Purse $500,000 $65,000
Pre-fight record 35–1 (25 KO) 66–17–2 (57 KO)
Age 30 years, 3 months 34 years, 7 months
Height 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 217+12 lb (99 kg) 221 lb (100 kg)
Style Orthodox Orthodox
Recognition NABF heavyweight champion
Former undisputed heavyweight champion
Canadian heavyweight champion
Result
Ali defeated Chuvalo via 12th round UD

Muhammad Ali vs. George Chuvalo II was a professional boxing match contested on 1 May 1972, for the NABF heavyweight championship.[1]

Background

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In the build up Ali predicted he would drop Chuvalo, who had never been knocked down in his career saying that "I'm not gonna let it be said there was ever a heavyweight that didn't fall. They have pictures showing my heels. Jack Johnson fell, Jack Dempsey fell, Sugar Ray Robinson fell, Joe Frazier fell, and George Chuvalo is gonna fall." Chuvalo meanwhile claimed he had improved since his first bout with Ali six years earlier, saying "I'm a better fighter than I was in 1966 and he's not as good a fighter as he was then."

The fight

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Despite dominating and landing many flush shot on Chuvalo, Ali was unable to drop the Canadian who was able to last the full 12 round duration.[2]

Ali won the fight by unanimous decision.[3][4][5]

Aftermath

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Ali would praise Chuvalo's durability saying that "I thought I could drop him, but I couldn't. He took all my best shots and he hurt me with a couple of hard rights and a hook." While Chuvalo would admit that Ali was in better shape than he had expected.

Undercard

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Confirmed bouts:[6]

Broadcasting

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Country Broadcaster
 Mexico Telesistema Mexicano
 Philippines ABS-CBN
 United Kingdom BBC
 United States NBC

References

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  1. ^ "Muhammad Ali vs. George Chuvalo (2nd meeting)". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  2. ^ Dave Anderson (2 May 1972). "Ali Awarded Decision Over Chuvalo". nytimes.com. New York Times. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  3. ^ Felix Dennis; Don Atyeo (2003). Muhammad Ali: The Glory Years. miramax books. pp. 142–4, 192.
  4. ^ Stephen Brunt (2002). Facing Ali. The Lyons Press. pp. 52–7, 65–6.
  5. ^ Thomas Hauser (1991). Muhammad Ali:His Life and Times. Simon & Schuster. pp. 147–50, 242. ISBN 978-0-671-68892-9.
  6. ^ "BoxRec - event".
Preceded by Muhammad Ali's bouts
1 May 1972
Succeeded by
Preceded by
vs. Jim Christopher
George Chuvalo's bouts
1 May 1972
Succeeded by
vs. Tommy Burns