Departures of note

George Louis Chuvalo was born in 1937 to Croatian immigrant parents and grew up in Toronto, where he took up boxing at a young age. Over a professional career spanning from 1956 to 1978, he compiled a record of 73 wins, 18 losses and two draws, and was never once knocked down, earning him an iron chin and the reputation of Canada's greatest warrior. He won the Canadian heavyweight championship five times and twice challenged for the world heavyweight title, facing Muhammad Ali in 1966 and 1972 as well as Joe Frazier and George Foreman; Ali called him the toughest fighter he ever faced. After retiring in 1978, Chuvalo travelled the country as a public speaker advocating anti-drug education and mental health awareness, drawing on the tragic loss of three sons and his wife to drug overdoses and suicide. He also appeared in films such as The Fly (1986) and Dirty Work (1998), served as a guest boxing commentator, and co-hosted the television program Greatest Knockouts. He died on his birthday in 2026 at the age of 89 and was mourned as a Canadian icon.