Greg Page (58-17-1, 48 KO’s) Born: 10-25-1958, Died: 4-27-2009
Page is a former USBA and WBA world heavyweight title holder who faced many of the top contenders of the late 80’s and early 90’s. As an amateur he had boxed in an exhibition with Muhammad Ali, and showed great promise as pro early on, but his run as world champ only lasted until his first defense. He had little success facing top level opponents following his title loss, and retired briefly in 1993 after a knockout loss to Bruce Seldon. He returned three years later, beating a string of the usual suspects, but again had trouble when stepping up his opposition level. He would fight on until the age of 43, his final bout leading to injuries that would contribute to his death eight years later. After being knocked out by Dale Crowe in the 10th round of their bout, lack of proper medical precautions at the Peel’s Palace in Kentucky had the injured Page waiting 45 minutes before being taken to a hospital. He had suffered bleeding on the brain, and had a massive stroke during surgery that left him paralyzed on the left side of his body. In 2009, the former champ had slid out of the hospital bed he had in his home, and wedged his head between the bed and the bed rail, causing him to suffocate.
Kiko Bejines (27-8, 16 KO’s) Born: 1-1-1962, Died: 9-4-1983
This Mexican bantamweight passed at the young age of 21, after losing to Alberto Davila in a challenge for the WBC (interim) bantamweight title. Despite not having fought over the previous 12 months, he was ahead on two of the three judges’ scorecards heading into the 12 round, and only had to make it to the end to win the fight. Nearly half a minute into the round, Davila landed a solid right, followed by two jabs and another straight right hand that put Bejines down. The fight was waved off when Bejines failed to beat the count; he lost consciousness shortly after and doctors were unable to revive him. Over the next few days, doctors at the Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center removed a blood clot and part of his brain in an effort to reduce swelling, though they were unsuccessful in saving his life; he died three days after the contest.
Randie Carver (23-1-1, 14 KO’s) Born: 12-3-1974, Died: 9-14-1999
The 24 year old Carver was the undefeated NABF super middleweight champ when he made his first title defense against Kabary Salem in his home town of Kansas City, Missouri on September 12th, 1999. Carver was on the receiving end of numerous head butts from Salem, and was finally stopped in the 10th round after getting dropped and failing four times to get to his feet. He fell unconscious, and passed away two days later due to injuries related to blunt force trauma sustained in the fight.
Frankie Leal (20-8-3, 13 KO’s) Born: 10-25-1986, Died 10-22-2013
Frankie Leal was a fighter whose death was preventable, as he shouldn’t have been fighting any longer to begin with. After narrowly escaping with his life following a stoppage loss to Evgeny Gradovich in 2012, he continued to fight in Mexico, competing five times in 2013, including his final contest against Raul Hirales on October 19th of that year. Hirales dominated the bout and dropped Leal in the sixth round, then again in the eighth, stopping him two seconds before the rounds conclusion. Despite being given immediate medical attention, Leal slipped into a coma and passed away three days later.
Michael “Mick” Pinkney (3-1) Born: 9-27-1949, Died: 2-2-1972
Pinkney was just 22 years old when he career and life were cut short in a super lightweight bout against Jim Moore on February 2, 1972 in the U.K. Pinkney was knocked out in the fifth round of a scheduled six round bout, and died when he choked on his own blood. Oddly, the inquest report said there was no sign of where the blood had come from.
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