Ali vs Chuvalo
In March 1966, the heavyweight boxing champion of the world had been blacklisted. Muhammad Ali - whom many still insisted on calling Cassius Clay - was undefeated, at the peak of his powers, and scheduled to defend his title against Ernie Terrell in Chicago. When the Illinois commission denied its sanction because Ali refused to honour the draft for the Vietnam War, every other American commission immediately followed suit.
Montreal showed some interest, and then passed. By default, it came down to Toronto, where the co-owner of Maple Leaf Gardens, Harold Ballard, rolled out the welcome mat. (Because a "draft dodger" was allowed to do business in the building he had constructed, Conn Smythe, a veteran of two World Wars, resigned from the board of directors and never crossed the threshold of his fabled arena again.)
Terrell pulled out at the last minute, which left the promoters searching desperately for a replacement only 16 days before the fight. They didn't have to look far.
George Chuvalo had begun his professional career at the Gardens a decade earlier, as house promoter Deacon Allen built his record and reputation, moving him into the top ten heavyweights in the world. But setbacks and disappointments, bad breaks and tough decisions, had taken their toll. When the call came to fight Ali, it was the opportunity of a lifetime.
Chuvalo won only a couple of the 15 rounds, and absorbed tremendous punishment from Ali's lightning fists, but the son of immigrant parents, the pride of the Junction neighbourhood, the embodiment of a "new" Toronto, stood tall against a fighter who, in that moment, may well have been the greatest heavyweight of all time. He didn't flinch, he didn't take a backward step, and as was the case throughout his long and remarkable career, he never went down. Ali called him "the toughest guy I ever fought."
It was a loss that felt like a win, and it made George Chuvalo a Canadian sports icon.
-Stephen Brunt
Plaque via Alan L. Brown's site Toronto Plaques. Full page here.