Chuvalo On Ali, Frazier After Ranking Best He Faced

Late heavyweight contender George Chuvalo named Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, and George Foreman as the finest fighters he encountered during his Hall of Fame career, according to a 2014 interview republished by The Ring following Chuvalo's death on September 12 at age 89.

Chuvalo, who finished 73-18-2 with 64 knockouts, assessed opponents across 10 categories in the feature. He credited Ali with the quickest jab he ever saw, calling it faster than Floyd Patterson's hands and noting that Dundee expressed surprise when Chuvalo stopped matching Ali's jab midway through their rematch. "The jab is important and sets up all your other shots, but I didn't use mine as much as Muhammad used his," Chuvalo told The Ring.

The Toronto native picked Frazier as the best defensive fighter he faced, a choice he acknowledged would surprise observers. Frazier's bobbing and weaving made him hard to hit with straight punches, Chuvalo said, though the uppercut remained a vulnerability exploited later by Foreman. He rated Ali the smartest, pointing to the former champion's ability to fake his way out of trouble whenever hurt.

Foreman earned recognition as the hardest puncher Chuvalo encountered. The Canadian described Frazier and Jerry Quarry hitting like a car at 100 miles per hour, while Foreman's shots felt like a Mack Truck at 50. Chuvalo maintained he would have stopped a tiring Foreman had their 1970 bout not been halted in Round 3.

Chuvalo faced Patterson in The Ring's 1965 Fight of the Year at Madison Square Garden, a decision loss he attributed to hometown judging. He fought Ali twice over 27 combined rounds, never hitting the canvas in a career that saw him matched against every major heavyweight of the 1960s and early 1970s.