CHESTERMERE – Although not a single student who attends Chestermere High School was born before George Chuvalo retired from heavyweight boxing, they were still able to appreciate his achievements and the stories he shared with them during his visit to the school on Feb. 27.
Chuvalo, who retired in 1979, was the reigning Canadian Heavyweight Boxing Champion for 21 years, ranking in the top 10 of World Boxing for much of his career.
Chuvalo, who is now 74, faced many of the best fighters of this century during his prime, including Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Joe Frazier, and many others. He was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1990, and was later made a member of the Order of Canada.
Since the end of his boxing days, Chuvalo has had a rough go-around, having lost three sons and his wife all due in part to drug addiction between 1985 and 1997. So today he finds himself traveling across Canada to speak to students, parents and other group about drugs and substance abuse, and how they have impacted his life.
Chuvalo offers a no-holds-barred account of the last few decades of his life and everything he has witnessed, detailing how he lost each of his sons and his wife. Throughout his presentation at CHS, as he likely does with every group, he stressed that substance abuse and drugs are the root cause of problems for today’s youth.
His final words to the students were simple, but they rang true: “Just stay away from drugs.”
As far as why he chooses to spend his retirement educating people, especially youth, Chuvalo said that he thinks it is important to get the message across early.
“I think this is the most important time in life,” he said. “This is the time when you decide who you’re going to be.
“A lot of bad habits are acquired at this age – smoking, drinking, drugs – so it’s important to get the message across early to kids about why you should respect yourself and do better for yourself.”
Chuvalo said, “A lot of these young people will be parents some day, so it’s important to show them what a good example they can be. It’s simple stuff that’s so true.
“I think by providing them with a tragic story like the one I have to offer, it gets them to think about what could happen to them.”
Through the emotion in Chuvalo’s voice as he told his story to the students of CHS, it is clear that he is still battling some personal hardships. However, he is living proof that adversity can be overcome, and that some good can come from the worst of what life has to offer.
For more info about Chuvalo, visit fightagainstdrugs.ca.
