This Day in History (February 1, 1965)
By Aaron Tallent February 1st, 2007Today in Boxing History: Floyd Patterson decisions George Chuvalo
After losing his heavyweight title and suffering back-to-back first-round knockouts to Sonny Liston in 1962 and 1963, Patterson bounced back with three straight wins. Chuvalo had also put together a string of victories, including an 11th-round knockout of Doug Jones.
The bout with the former two-time champion was, at the time, the most significant of Chuvalo’s career, and carried large implications. The winner would likely get a shot at champion Muhammad Ali.
Chuvalo swarmed Patterson from the opening bell and relentlessly attacked him for 12 straight rounds. However, Patterson destroyed any notions of heartlessness that were created by his losses to Liston. He stood toe-to-toe with Chuvalo and used his hand speed to win a decision. The final scorecards read 6-5-1, 8-4, and 7-5, in favor of Patterson. The bout produced enough excitement to be named The Ring’s “Fight of the Year.�
In November of 1965, Patterson faced Ali for the title. The champion continually embarrassed him before the fight was finally stopped in the 12th round. Chuvalo also faced Ali for the heavyweight belt in March of 1966. He lost a lopsided decision but is remembered by boxing aficionados for one of the gutsiest performances in history.
February 7th, 2007 at 4:20 pm
I attended this fight in the Old Madison Sq. Garden and it was indeed thrilling. Floyd gave one of his two or three best performances over a notable 20-year professional career. The best moments came when Floyd stood toe to toe with Chuvalo, with each landing heavy blows, and Floyd many times getting the better of it. No one thought they would see him do that and survive. It is too bad Floyd threw out his back in the first round of that first fight with Ali later that year. He was in tremendous condition and was really motivated to fight aggressively.