At Weyburn Comp School:

BOXER TALKS ABOUT COST OF DRUG ADDICTION TO FAMILY

In a saner world, George Chuvalo might have been joined on the stage at the
Weyburn Comprehensive School by his son Steven.

A few days after a documentary on the former Canadian heavyweight champion
aired on national television in 1995, someone suggested to George that he
and his son speak to young people together on the dangers of drug abuse.

George discussed it with Steven, who was serving a term in federal prison.
He thought it was a great idea, George said.

But the two never got the chance. In August of 1996, while George was in
New Mexico working with a younger boxer, Steven finally succumbed his
heroin addiction and fatally overdosed.

He was found, George said, with a needle sticking out of his left arm and
an unlit cigarette in his right hand.

"Before my son could even light a cigarette, he was dead," said Chuvalo to
the students assembled at the Comprehensive School Cafetorium.

Wednesday morning marked Chuvalo's second trip to Weyburn, his first visit
being in 1997. A boxer renowned for never being knocked down or knocked out
in 97 career bouts, Chuvalo has been traveling around the country for years
now speaking about his greatest defeat: the loss of his three sons, George
Lee, Steven and Jesse.

All three died as a result of their heroine addiction, as the two oldest
boys died of overdoses and the youngest boy, Jesse, took his own life.

Chuvalo also lost his first wife, Lynne. She killed herself just days after
George Lee died, taking pills she saved "for the day she knew she couldn't
continue," Chuvalo said.

In depth, Chuvalo described to the students at the Comp the details of his
son's deaths and of their addictions - how they would lose control of their
bodily functions, how they committed numerous burglaries and assaults to
fund their addiction, and how they popped in and out of Canada's prisons.

His son, Steven, would have wanted to talk to the students about the things
that troubled him as a youth, George said. He would have talked about the
importance of education, about self-esteem and peer pressure, about the
steps leading up to becoming an addict and about how demeaning that life
can be.

Speaking out against all forms of substance abuse, Chuvalo even touched on
smoking cigarettes, pointing them out as a first step towards greater forms
of addiction.

Before beginning his speech, Chuvalo had shown an edited form of the
documentary that aired in 1995, indicating that it would help the students
understand who he was and bridge the generation gap between him and them.

In the video, it showed interviews with Steven, who was still in prison at
the time. Presented as a strong-looking and articulate young man, it was
perhaps hard for people to believe that he couldn't put his addiction
behind him.

"My son couldn't beat heroin. None of my sons could beat heroin," he added.