Customer Reviews

The Last Round - Chuvalo vs. Ali

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4 star:		(1)
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This story is basically told through George Chuvalo, Canada's greatest heavyweight ever. This is a story of a real "Rocky Balboa" and the riviting documentry takes us from George's humble beginnings in Toronto right up to his shot at the heavyweight title in his unforgettable battle with Muhammad Ali. This film has some of the best fight footage I've ever seen that takes you into the ring and behind the scenes and in the locker rooms.
Great commentary not only from Chuvalo but from Ali's trainer Angelo Dundee, writers Jimmy Breslin, Burt Sugar and others connected to the fight scene here in it's last glory days of the 1960's.

In 27 rounds spanning two fights, Canadian heavyweight George Chuvalo was never intimidated by Muhammad Ali. And it just may have been a case of an overmatched contender who had a world champion's heart and enough tricks in his unorthodox style to be on his feet when the final bells rung.

Director Joseph Blasioli chronicles the March 29, 1966, Ali title defense in Toronto, Canada, where - at the height of his ring prowess - he captured a 15-round unanimous decision over the game Chuvalo.

Released in 2004, the documentary uses archival footage, clips from previous fights and interviews with Ali's trainer Angelo Dundee, boxing historian Bert Randolph Sugar and abrassive columnist Jimmy Breslin to describe a match that is forgotten amongst the historic fights that defined Ali as one of the greatest champions ever.

In a rematch on May 1, 1972, in Vancouver, Chuvalo again demonstrated his veteran ring savvy in losing another decision to Ali, this time in 12 rounds.

Chuvalo was good enough to dream in this oftentimes brutal sport that he was one well-placed combination away from capturing the heavyweight title. In The Last Round, Chuvalo shows that a champion may not always be the fighter who leaves the ring with the victory for the record book.

George Chuvalo was always just a shade below the best heavyweights of his day, and that was a day with some great fighters. If you watch an unedited tape of his bout with Ali you will see that it was a much closer fight then many now believe. He punished Ali severely to the body. Also, he took the fight on short notice.
George later met with trajedy in his life when he lost a son and daughter to drugs and his wife to suicide. He now has a foundation that helps drug dependent people.
Chuvalo is not an old punch drunk pug. He is lucid and intellegent, a testament to the fact that he won the majority of his fights and didn't take many beatings.
In a dvd boxing market that is oversaturated with Ali videos (why no Ali Frazier I, where Ali lost), it is good to see a decent man and good fighter get the recognition he deserves.

I recently viewed this again after watching "Thrilla In Manila" and this is as good as that is flawed. I enjoyed not only learning more about George Chuvalo (a fighter who never was knocked off his feet in decades in the ring ) but I also found the information about ALi and what was going on in his life/career in the 60's much better than on most of Ali's own programs!

If you are a historical fight fan this should be of interest to you...if you are an ALi fan absolutely and I believe even non-fight fans would enjoy.

I purchased this DVD on the advice of a reader who agreed with my review of the book "Fearless", which is about George Chuvalo. (We both agreed that it was terrible, as it was written for a child.) The Last Round gives a great account of the life and career of a fine man and a courageous fighter, whom I have gotten to know from my annual attendance at the International Boxing Hall of Fame Induction Weekend in Canastota, NY. George Chuvalo fought the best of the heavyweight division at a time when some of the all-time greats were active, and never once was he knocked off his feet. He held his own with Muhammad Ali, and he was robbed in his bout with Ernie Terrell. Today, he is a lucid and well-spoken man, who shares with me an ability to remember dates. In both The Last Round and Facing Ali, he shares his wealth of stories with the viewer. (One which I heard him tell was about the Toronto promoter who called him to say he was arranging a bout for him with Sonny Liston. The very next morning, George turned on his TV to the news that Liston had been found dead in his home, and he had been dead for at least a week!) George deserves a full-scale biography or autobiography, with someone like Bert Sugar or Lee Groves, whom I also know from the Canastota event, as author or collaborator.