Greg Page-Tragic Warrior

[BoztheMadman]

Greg Page is one of boxing's saddest and most tragic stories. One of the most promising heavyweights of the 80's who was touted to be the next Ali even, he failed to achieve his goals, even though he briefly captured a world title but ultimately his career was largely unsuccessful and worse of all, he ended it as a paraplegic. After one fight too many, fighting too far past his prime, he suffered a bad knockout and as a result was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He was described as a big, strong guy who had a wide assortment of punches and a good jab and hit hard. He is one of boxing's tragic cases, both because being unable to fulfill the potential he as amateur showed and because of that tragic accident that in the end claimed his life prematurely. This is the story of Greg Page.

 

Page was born 25 October 1958 in Louisville, Kentucky, the place which produced Muhammad Ali and Jimmy Ellis, so the comparisons with Ali were inevitable. Interestingly, nobody touted him as the next Jimmy Ellis, they thought he could get farther than that. Page started boxing at 15 under the tutelage of Leroy Emerson at Louisville Park Department's gym. He first came to the public attention after sparring a few rounds with the great son of the city, Muhammad Ali. Page was only 16, but afterwards Ali said "That boy hit me so hard, it jarred my kinfolk in Africa." In 1976, at the USA-USSR amateur championships in Las Vegas, he made a great achievement when he beat Igor Vysotsky, the only man who beat Teofilio Stevenson twice. He also beat James Tillis, Tony Tubbs, Mitch Green and Marvin Stinson. He won the national AAU heavyweight championship in 1977 and 1978 and the Golden Gloves in 1978. He posted a record of 94-11 before turning pro in February 1979. He made his pro debut at home in Louisville, in a packed Commonwealth Convention Center and beat journeyman Don Martin by KO 2. He won his first 8 fights by ko and then went the distance against George Chaplin, winning by a MD10. He scored five more knockouts before fighting the Uruguayan contender Alfredo Evangelista in June 1981. Evangelista had previously lasted 7 rounds against Larry Holmes in a title fight in 1978. Page knocked him out in 2, furthermore cementing his status as a serious contender. He had previously won the USBA title and defended it against the older, but still game and slick, Jimmy Young. Page won by a rather close UD12 to defend his title.

 

However, in his next fight, he would face adversity in the form of the 6'2 strongman Trevor Berbick from Jamaica. The fight was held at the Caesar's Palace Outdoor Arena on 11 June 1982 and Berbick the underdog (who had gone 15 against Holmes the previous year and given him plenty of trouble) surprised everyone by pounding Page into defeat, twice knocking his mouthpiece out and softening him up with punches to the midsection. Page was also stunned and in trouble in rounds 2 and 6 and barely made it to the final and 10th round, losing on points. It was then revealed that Page had broken his right thumb in round 2 and he couldn't do much with his right hand after that, which was the reason for the unexpected debacle. He bounced back from this shocking defeat to beat James Tillis in a war. Page was first down in the second, before putting Tillis down in the eight, after which Tillis' trainer entered the ring to stop the fight. Tillis had previously been stopped only once, by Pinklon Thomas, also by TKO 8. After decisioning the solid Renaldo Snipes, who once knocked down Larry Holmes, Page expected to be given a shot at Holmes' WBC title. But it wasn't to be and Holmes instead vacated that title to accept the newly formed IBF one. He stated that he didn't want to fight Page and therefore vacated the belt. Instead, Greg got to fight for the WBC belt against another one of Holmes' former adversaries, Tim Witherspoon. Witherspoon was both a very good puncher and a very good boxer and a tough guy. Page was affected by his father Albert's death of lung cancer at only 45 and had to sign with Don King and Butch Lewis. He didn't look to be in good shape and came in at almost 240, standing 6'2. Witherspoon on the other hand, came in at 220, even though he was an inch and a half taller. Witherspoon kept backing him up into a corner throughout the fight while Page counterpunched well, but his punches didn't have the same effect as Witherspoon's, perhaps because of his weight they had lost their sting and sharpness. In the end, though one judge scored the fight even, the other two both gave it to Witherspoon with 117-111 and thus, Page's dream of becoming a world champion had been shattered. At least for now.

 

Page expressed he was tired of fighting and that he can't take it anymore, indicating that he was quitting boxing. But it didn't happen and he came back on 31 August '84, 5 months after losing the title fight, but again lost to David Bey, who was then undefeated at 13-0. It was a close decision and an upset, since Bey was the underdog. And then, when he least expected it, he got the offer to fight for a world title against Gerrie Coetzee. Bey himself refused to fight in South Africa, so Page readily accepted the offer. Everybody expected the hard-hitting Coetzee to win at home, but Page pulled off an upset and looked rejuvenated. It was an even fight but Page got the upper hand in the 7th when he decked Coetzee twice and then knocked him out in the next round with a left-right. However, the round had gone almost a minute too long when Coetzee was counted out, it turned out. Despite that, Page was the winner and was allowed to keep the title he had just won. "They told me I was through, they told me I was washed up", he jubilantly shouted after the fight. It was the first time Coetzee had been stopped so soon, having been stopped in 13 rounds by Mike Weaver previously. But this triumph and newfound vitality wouldn't last too long for Page. He again looked flabby and out of shape in his first defense against Tony Tubbs, whom he had defeated six times in the amateurs. Because of that, Page was confindent he would win, perhaps overconfident. He again came in at 239 1/2 and was thoroughly outboxed, Tubbs having an answer to any Ali feint or trick Page tried. Tubbs won by a clear unanimous decision after 15 rounds and that was it. Page would never taste the sweet taste of world championship success again. "They told me Greg was playing basketball and not training," Tubbs said, "Maybe he was thinking back on the amateur days."

 

After that he lost to the young James "Buster" Douglas by UD10 and then suffered his worst defeat yet against the 5-5-1 Mark Wills. He was horribly out of shape at 242 and even though he decked Wills in the second round, he was down in the first and in the sixth he made a mistake of sticking his tongue out at Wills, who then hit him and it made Page bite his tongue, resulting in some bleeding. After getting dropped in the 9th by a right to the chin, he retired in his corner following the round. In May '87 he beat James "Broadaxe" Broad, once a fearsome contender who had since suffered 3 defeats. They exchanged knockdowns before Page won by MD10. He then lost to Joe Bugner and Orlin Norris, both times by decision. He became a regular sparring partner for Mike Tyson in the late 80's and before Tyson's fateful fight against Buster Douglas, he decked Tyson during sparring. Which told more about Tyson not being in best shape than Page being in great shape. In 1990, he rematched Mark Wills but walked into a big punch in the 6th and got knocked out. To make matters worse, he was well behind on two of the scorecards. In February '92, he faced big punching Donovan "Razor" Ruddock and was stopped after 8 rounds, by retirement. In September that year he made a fine effort against Italian contender and former WBO champion Francesco Damiani, but got two points deducted and lost by a close decision. Without the deductions, it would have ended in a draw. In August '93, after getting stopped by Bruce Seldon by TKO 9, he retired from the sport. For a while, he worked as a trainer and trained Oliver McCall. He was in McCall's corner when he knocked out Lennox Lewis in 1994 to claim the WBC title.

 

He came back in 1996 and reeled off 14 straight wins, all but one by knockout and 12 coming in the first round. But the opponents he faced were subpar, naturally. All journeymen with losing records. In October '98, he faced the promising up and comer Monte Barrett and lost to him by a lopsided decision. In 1999 however, he got his revenge over Tim Witherspoon, fighting on the undercard of the fight between Larry Holmes and Mike Weaver. He decked Tim with a flurry in the first round and although Witherspoon came back, he later tore a muscle and didn't answer the bell for the eight round. In February of 2000, he also pulled off an upset by knocking out Terrence Lewis in 7, after getting knocked down in the second round. However, in his next fight he was stopped by undefeated Robert Davis by TKO 8 and then, after winning one more fight by TKO 1, came that tragic last fight. 9 March 2001, Peel's Palace, Erlanger, Kentucky: he was fighting the much younger Dale Crowe for the vacant Kentucky State title. The purse was measly, only 1,500 bucks. Crowe was ahead and there were only a few seconds left of the tenth and final round when Crowe nailed him on the jaw with a straight left. It made Page fall face forward on Crowe and Crowe tried to push him away and it made Page fall to the mat senseless. The ambulance took 22 minutes to get there because the ring doctor had left the building and had to be called back. There was no oxygen mask available ringside, so Page suffered a severe brain damage and slipped into a coma. He had a stroke during post-fight surgery, which left him paralyzed on the left side of the body and confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Page sued the state of Kentucky and settled the matter out of court for 1.2 million in 2007.

 

For the rest of his life, he suffered numerous complications and was hospitalised several times for pneumonia, acute respiratory failure, sepsis, hypothermia and seizures. He was taken care by his wife Patricia. In the early morning hours of 27 April 2009, he slid out his bed, like he had done before and died of asphyxia, being unable to breathe in that position. His head also got lodged between the rail and the bed. A terrible way to die and unworthy of a former prizefighting champion. He was only 50. His funeral was greatly attended and lasted over 2 hours. He left behind a boxing record of 58 wins, with 48 ko's, 17 losses and 1 draw. A career that never quite took off like it was supposed to or expected to, and a life that ended tragically. That is the story of Greg Page, a story that never should be forgotten.