Seventeen days before battling Muhammad Ali at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto’s George Chuvalo is at home with his wife before receiving the call that would change his life.

“Honey, are we doing anything on the 29th?” Chuvalo asks. “Want to come and watch me fight?”

Lynn Chuvalo wonders, “Who are you fighting?”

“I’m fighting heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali.”

Just like that, a local Toronto fighter went from fringe contender to challenging the best fighter in the world. But even on short notice against the most talked about fighter in history, Chuvalo wasn’t fazed.

“To me it was just another fight,” Chuvalo explained. “It sounds kind of strange but that’s the truth. I did what I usually did - I went running through High Park and trained as I always do.”

Chuvalo already knew what it was like to have a fight on the big stage. A year earlier, Chuvalo lost a close decision to former champion Floyd Patterson in the 1965 Ring Magazine Fight of the Year at Madison Square Garden. Later that year, Chuvalo lost a questionable decision to Ernie Terrell for the WBA Heavyweight Title in Terrell’s first defence. Chuvalo doesn’t look back at that fight fondly, but not because he lost.

“It was a lousy fight and wasn’t a pretty fight to watch. I’m not proud of that fight. I still think I won. So did the media and fans.”

So just how did Chuvalo end up across the ring from Ali that night?

Terrell and Ali were expected to fight in Chicago. However, Ali was facing the possibility of being drafted in the Vietnam War which he was vehemently against. Ali’s notorious quote “I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong” did not sit well with the Illinois State Athletic Commission, but Ali refused to apologize for his remarks. Ali and his team were run out of the state and no venue in America wanted to host the fight after Ali’s controversial comments.

After Montreal was chosen as the new location, local politicians and military groups voiced their displeasure of having the controversial champ headline in their city. Numerous refusals later led Ali’s handlers to choose Toronto as their site. A few cities in America refused to broadcast the bout, leading to Terrell withdrawing from the fight for financial reasons.

The cancellation of an Ali fight was not an option to his handlers, fearing the long term ramifications if the heavyweight champion was not able to fight because of his political stance.

Chuvalo was then given the opportunity.

Of course Ali was known for his hand speed as well as his lip speed, delivering insulting combos with his mouth just as fast and devastating as he did with his hands.

A year before Ali and Chuvalo met in the ring, Ali stopped by Chuvalo’s training camp before his fight with Patterson, mocking the Canadian and calling him a "washer woman". Rather than being insulted, Chuvalo embraced the comment and even showed up at an Ali press conference wearing a dress and wig.

“It was an opportunity to have fun with it. I played along and embellished it. I was it, I was the washer woman.”

Despite his bull-like physique, Chuvalo was expected to be an easy fight for Ali. Ali was coming off two knockout wins over Sonny Liston and a stoppage win over Patterson. Fearing how one-sided the fight could be, Vegas bookies were refusing bets for either fighter the morning of the bout. But this washer woman could fight.

“The idea was to smother him and hit him to the body,” Chuvalo recalls. “Keep him away from the centre of the ring. I knew what I was up against. But it didn’t matter how much he was favoured by the press.”

Ali’s blinding speed and skill kept Chuvalo at bay but Chuvalo didn’t stop coming forward, landing thunderous shots to the body any chance he could. Shockingly to many, Chuvalo was still there at the final bell. Ali was forced to fight beyond the 12th round for the first time in his young career. The Louisville Lip was unable to stop the rugged Canadian and the judges awarded Ali a 15-round unanimous decision win.

The scorecards may have been one-sided for Ali, but that only told one side of the story.

Chuvalo celebrated his defeat by going out dancing with his wife. The champion on the other hand, spent time at St. Michael's Hospital for bleeding kidneys.

Ali won the match, but Chuvalo won the fight. He also won the respect of Ali, who called Chuvalo “the toughest fighter I’ve ever fought”.

Little did Chuvalo know that his performance in this bout would set a new bar for Canadian fighters, including former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis.

“He set a stage for other Canadians to try and reach,” said Lewis. “The impression of Canadian fighters back then was that ‘they’re soft and they just have igloos up there’. But George brought respect to Canada.”

Ali was fast and loud. George was strong and humble. But the two polar opposites had many similarities.

Chuvalo would not go down in the ring and Ali refused to be knocked out of boxing because of politics. Ali was already under criticism for his war views and under the spotlight after beating Sonny Liston by the “phantom punch” in their second fight. Chuvalo wouldn’t be taken out by a phantom punch or any punch for that matter. Chuvalo’s performance as a heavy underdog saved boxing from imploding.

Ali spent three years away from the sport after refusing to serve in Vietnam before returning to be the fighter that he is remembered for today. Chuvalo meanwhile remained as a contender for years while never being knocked down in his entire career.

“Guys work on their punching muscles; I worked on my ‘take punches’ muscles.”

Not many fighters in any era would take a fight of such magnitude on short notice and send the champ to the hospital no less.

Like Lewis said, “it showed the world that Canada has some tough fighters and guys that are not easy to knock off their feet.”

None tougher than George Chuvalo.