Champion Motor Graders’ president Gary Abernathy and vice president sales & marketing Bryan Abernathy last week announced that former Canadian boxing champion George Chuvalo will be at the Champion Motor Graders’ ConExpo booth on March 12-13.
“Champion is very proud to have George come to ConExpo ’08,” said Gary Abernathy. “His family values and strength of character are an inspiration to all of us at Champion Motor Graders, a family-operated business for over 25 years. George will be available to the public and press at the Champion Motor Graders booth (Central, Booth #C-4853) at ConExpo, from 10 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on March 12th and 13th.”
Chuvalo was the reigning Canadian Heavyweight Boxing Champion for 21 years, from 1958 until 1979. Ranked in the top 10 of the boxing world for much of his career with 74 wins and 67 by knockout, Chuvalo faced many of the best fighters of this century: Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Floyd Patterson, Ernie Terrell, Joe Frazier, Jerry Quarry and many others. Ali called him, “The toughest man I ever fought.”
Chuvalo retired from boxing in 1979 as the undisputed Heavyweight Champion of Canada. In 1990, he was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. And in 1997, he was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame located in Riverside, Calif.
After his boxing career, Chuvalo acted in a number of movies, including “The Fly,” “Prom Night Three,” “The Untouchables” and more recently, “Dirtyworks.”
Today, Chuvalo speaks about the fight against drugs. He de-glamorizes drug use by giving examples of what he has witnessed firsthand, having lost three sons and a wife to substance abuse. To date, he has been to more than 300 schools, many detention centers and met with numerous parent support groups. More about Chuvalo’s background and his messages of hope and inspiration can be found on his website: www.fightagainstdrugs.ca.
In October 1998, he received the “Order of Canada,” one of Canada’s highest awards, in recognition of his work and dedication to Canada's youth.
Charlotte, N.C.-based Champion Motor Graders specializes in the development of compact graders and attachments. The Champion line-up now includes seven basic models with operating weights from 12,800 to 24,000 pounds, featuring the full range of single-axle, tandem and all-wheel 4x4 and 6x6 drive systems.
