Muhammad Ali vs. George Chuvalo II

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

Muhammad Ali vs. George Chuvalo II

Date	1 May 1972
Venue	Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Title(s) on the line	NABF heavyweight title
Tale of the tape
Boxer Muhammad Ali 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+1⁄2 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

Background

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

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

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

Confirmed bouts:^[6]

Broadcasting

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