Canadian heavyweight legend George Chuvalo is famous for his incredible chin. Never once knocked down, either in sparring or in a fight, of which George had 93, Chuvalo was truly made of iron. Back when he was still lucid – George is sadly battling dementia today, with the 87 year old receiving around the clock care in a nursing home – Chuvalo engaged in an interview with Maclean’s, in which the 1960s and 1970s heavyweight contender listed the hardest punchers he ever faced during his long ring career.
It comes as no surprise when reading the article that both Joe Frazier and George Foreman are in there, with Chuvalo saying Frazier’s left hook “messed up my right eye, I felt the pain of the punch as it drove my eyeball through the optic floor.” And with Chuvalo remarking how getting hit by Foreman was “like getting hit by a Mack truck going at 50 mph.”
But there is another fighter that Chuvalo listed, and his name many not be at all familiar to many fight fans. Mel Turnbow, a heavyweight from Paterson, New Jersey, is the man. A look at Turnbow’s listed numbers on invaluable site BoxRec shows he had a pretty average-looking record at 9-13(2), with Turnbow being stopped some 10 times.
But digging into Turnbow’s career makes for interesting reading. Various reports say Mel was “too passive” in the ring, that he “lacked killer instinct.” Case in point, Turnbow decked the murderous punching Cleveland Williams in their March, 1966 fight – twice – only for apparent nice guy Mel to let Williams off the hook and lose on points. Turnbow is also said to have decked the great Muhammad Ali in sparring, and Floyd Patterson.
Of course, what happens in the gym stays in the gym, and there is no firm confirmation that proves Turnbow did in fact deck both heavyweight kings. Turnbow, though, certainly shared a ring with some notable fighters, including: Williams, Chuvalo, Joe Frazier, Buster Mathis, George Foreman, and Ron Lyle. Quite amazing when we see Mel only boxed 22 times as a pro.
Fighters like Turnbow – who was taken out quickly by a young Foreman on this day in 1970 – deserve to be remembered. Chuvalo sure remembered him, and his punching power. For despite the fact that Mel logged up just two KO wins, Chuvalo said the man hit like hell.
“I remember just getting rocked, like, ‘Whoa man!’ Boom!,’” Chuvalo said of his encounter with Turnbow in the interview with Maclean’s. “I didn’t wobble, but it was a good right hand to the temple.”
Chuvalo recovered and he stopped Turnbow in the 7th round in their fight of August, 1966.
Turnbow, who stood at 6’3” and tipped-in at around 205 pounds when starting what was initially a promising pro career, with him scoring an upset over Cody Jones on the Ali-Sonny Liston II card in 1965, fell into sparring partner mode by all accounts. Turnbow, who had an 85-inch reach, sparred numerous big names, including Ali, Patterson, Chuvalo, and he is said to have given them all great work on a consistent basis. Mel worked with the prime Ali, over the years 1964 to 1967, and the fact that Ali kept Turnbow in regular employ lets you know how good he was.
But who really knows how good Turnbow was, or might have been had things worked out differently for him and his pro career? It’s certainly notable indeed that George Chuvalo, the man who so many experts say had THE greatest chin in heavyweight history, listed Turnbow in the top three or four hardest hitters he ever faced. This alone makes Turnbow a fighter well worth reading about.
Mel passed away back in 2013. What a fascinating interview he would surely have been.
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