'Capital-T tough guy.' Boxing legend George Chuvalo remembered for his resilience

In almost 100 fights, Canadian boxing titan George Chuvalo was never knocked out and never fell to the canvas. A five-time Canadian heavyweight champion and two-time world heavyweight challenger, Chuvalo died Saturday in Toronto on his 89th birthday. As tributes were posted online Sunday from around the world, Chuvalo’s son Mitchell recalled how his father was an extraordinarily resilient man — in and outside the ring.

“He was a capital-T tough guy in every way,” he said in an interview Sunday. “I always think about him transcending sport and boxing into another realm where even more people could identify with his life and his achievements.” He is perhaps best known for his iron chin and his two acclaimed fights with fast-talking boxing icon Muhammad Ali. But Chuvalo’s boxing career stood in sharp contrast with his private life, which was marked by a profound level of tragedy.

His son Jesse took his own life in 1985 after developing an addiction to painkillers. Another son, Georgie Lee, died from a drug overdose in 1993. Four days later, Chuvalo’s wife Lynne was found dead with a suicide note.

And in 1996, his son Steven died in a hotel room with a needle in his arm. Chuvalo spoke openly about being barely able to function after his family’s unimaginable losses. In 2013, he said he felt like he was suffocating every time he went to sleep.

During that dark time, however, he began his decades-long “Fight Against Drugs” campaign that took him to schools across the country. “For casual sports fans, he’s remembered for his efforts against Muhammad Ali, where he displayed tremendous courage and resilience,” said Mitchell Chuvalo. “Those things were foundational in his being able to go out and talk about the tragedies … that destroyed our family in so many ways … That tells you what kind of a constitution he had.” Mitchell Chuvalo said his father’s depth of character was something that resonated with people long after his prizefighting career was over.

“My dad’s post-boxing life and his boxing life are indelibly connected,” he said. “He will always be remembered as a very giving individual — giving his emotions, giving his time, giving up his story, even though to recount it over and over again was torturous for him.” Chuck (Spider) Jones, a Toronto-based boxing expert and longtime Chuvalo friend, posted a statement on Facebook noting Chuvalo’s private challenges …