It was a glittering birthday bash held for one of Canada’s most beloved athletes.George Chuvalo had turned 80.The heavyweight boxer no one could knock down — not even The Greatest, Muhammad Ali — was chauffeured along Queen St. W. on Sept. 12 in a 1961 Rolls-Royce to the Cadillac Lounge. There, he was feted by sporting royalty like Don Cherry and Donovan Bailey and toasted by buddies like Mob snitch Marvin “The Weasel” Elkind and security expert Tom Doyle. The public, for $40 a ticket, was welcome, too. The joint was jammed.Chuvalo shone, dapper in a crisp shirt and jacket. No tie. His smooth skin and thick cap of white-flecked hair belied his years. Friends and family beamed around him. Cameras captured it all: the smiles, the hugs, the genuine affection.But beneath that cheerful celebration, a disquieting reality churned.The George Chuvalo this country has known — a granite boulder of a man in the ring who faced crushing tragedy outside of it — is beginning to slip away.After a pro career of 93 fights and innumerable blows to the head, the legendary boxer has “significant cognitive impairment.” That’s according to a medical assessment filed in a rancorous divorce proceeding that effectively pits Chuvalo’s adult children — who submitted the divorce application on behalf of their father under power of attorney — against their stepmother.Accusations of kidnapping, brainwashing, extortion and reckless spending are sprayed throughout sheaves of affidavits, power-of-attorney documents, mental capacity assessments and testy emails packaged in Superior Court as part of the two-year legal wrangling to end Chuvalo’s marriage.Through his attorney, Chuvalo declined to be interviewed for this story.None of the allegations have been tested in court and a trial date has not been set. But from information in medical reports and sworn statements, it’s apparent this is not a routine marita ...
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