Detroit Express
August 6, 1957
Canadian Prospect Invades America
Chuvalo Scores Impressive 5th Round TKO in First U.S. Fight
By Mark Wilson
Nineteen year old Canadian heavyweight phenom, George Chuvalo, put on a spectacular display of power and pure brute force in his first bout on American soil by demolishing veteran Oscar "Syria" Pharo for a five round TKO victory.
Pharo had been sent to the canvas four times before referee Billy Clark finally halted the action with fifteen seconds remaining in the fifth frame of a scheduled ten round contest.
Somewhat of an itinerant journeyman, Pharo came into the fight with a record of 27 wins against only four losses. He hit the tough Canadian youngster with a few hard shots early on, but his blows didn't appear to faze Chuvalo who just continued to plow forward and punish Oscar with hard, smashing blows to the body.
For the first two rounds, the powerful Chuvalo moved Pharo around the ring with his bullish tactics, and far too often, Oscar found himself trapped in the corner with the Canadian flailing away at his body.
In the third round, Chuvalo began to shift his attack from the body to the head, but this offered Pharo no real respite. A devastating hook put Pharo on the mat at the 1:42 mark.
Although Oscar was up when Clark counted four, he really wasn't clear-headed For the last minute of the round, Chuvalo just pounded away without an resistence from Pharo. A good case could have been made for ending the fight right there. Nevertheless, Clark allowed the one-sided slaughter to continue for two more rounds.
In the next round, Chuvalo decked Pharo two more times. For whatever reason, Clark was intent on letting the fight go on. With the referee not taking any action to save their man, Oscar's cornermen should have pitched the towel into the ring. But they didn't!
Seeming much more patient than your typical nineteen year old, in the fifth round Chuvalo settled down and began to measure his opponent. With a minute reamining, George fired a sharp uppercut to the jaw of the battle-weary Pharo who fell to the canvas for the fourth and final time.
Although Pharo did get to his feet by the time Clark reached eight, he was in terrible shape. Finally, Clark did the right thing and stopped the match.
Chuvalo, who turns twenty next month, has been fighting for two years and is quite a sensation in Canada. His countrymen believe that he will ultimately become the second Canadian to wear the world heavyweight crown.
Fifty-one years ago, Canada's Tommy Burns gained recognition as the division's king when he defeated Marvin Hart. Since then there's been little excitement in the country's heavyweight ranks until Chuvalo came along.
Chuvalo's record now stands at 12-1. His only loss was to veteran Howard King who earned a ten round decision against the promising youngster last year.
George's manager, Irving Ungerman, says that the King fight was a mistake.
"George has a great career ahead of him," said Ungerman. "And putting him in against an experienced fighter like King was a mistake. But we learned from our error. We plan to develop George at a more moderate pace.
"He has many years to go before he'll reach his potential, and there's no need to rush him along."
After watching Chuvalo take Pharo apart last night, I'm certain that Canada's current top heavyweight, James J. Parker, hopes that young George takes it nice and slow.