For Part One, Click HERE
In 2000, Greg knocked out Terrence “KO” Lewis in a shootout in Rosemont, Illinois, and this one was a true upset. His last fight would be against heavily tattooed former Toughman champion Dale Crowe (21-4) in the dank environs of Peel’s Palace, a seedy nightclub in Erlanger, Kentucky. In fact, it was so filthy that decaying dead rats reportedly littered a corner of Page’s dressing room. The fight was for the vacant Kentucky State Heavyweight Title, a title that had been invented the previous year. Greg was coming off another KO win—this time against unknown Mark Bradley. Crowe was a muscular journeyman type who lost every time he stepped up (against the likes of Lawrence Clay-Bey, Fres Oquendo, and Brien Nielsen), but he was not without decent skills. His biggest win was a one-round icing of Troy Weida (37-7-2) in 2000.
Against Crowe, whom he fought for a scant $1500, something happened to Greg in the 10th round. It was probably a left that landed flush just before the push that put him down or a combination of earlier punches that had a delayed reaction, but whatever it was, something left the 42-year-old fighter on his back and on his way into a coma with a dreaded brain bleed. “The timekeeper smacked the mat with his hand toward the end of the fight to indicate 10 seconds were left, and that’s when I went after Greg with one last flurry…He fell on me instead of backwards,” Crowe said. “And I tried to push off for a little room just to punch…and that’s when he went down.”
While Crowe and his mates celebrated, Page’s concerned friends at ringside said that, within 30 seconds, Greg was in a different world. Longtime friend and cornerman Kelley Mays said, “His eyes were open, and yes, you could say he was conscious for a couple of minutes, but to my eye–there was nobody home. It was a deep dark glaze in his eyes. He wasn’t there, anymore.”
Here is the Crowe-Page fight, dank gym and all. The end is difficult to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXeBepUaV18
As for the devastated Dale Crowe (who finished his career in 2005 with a 27-8-3 mark), he was never the same after the incident. Shortly after and based on skeletal remains found at a Sam’s Club in Columbia Township, Ohio, from a 2002 killing Crowe was arrested and indicted for the 2002 murder of Frank Banam, 23, whose body was found in a trash bin in Cincinnati,. Crowe was charged with aggravated murder, murder and aggravated robbery, for beating and strangling his friend Banam during an argument. He was subsequently sentenced to 20 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter, aggravated robbery and engaging in corrupt acts. He is currently serving his time at Warren Correctional Institution in Lebanon, Ohio. His scheduled release date is February 11, 2026
During post-fight surgery, Greg suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed on his left side and confined to a wheelchair. In 2006, he was put on life support at Jewish Hospital in Louisville suffering from acute respiratory failure, sepsis, hypothermia and seizures. However, in recent years, his health had improved ever-so-slightly, though he remained paralyzed on his left side and suffered from severe cognitive and memory deficits.
Although the State Athletic Commission had sanctioned the fight in Erlanger, any number of state and federal laws governing boxing safety seemed to have been violated. Reportedly, for example, there was no emergency oxygen and no stretcher at ringside and the doctor at ringside may have lacked a license from the State Athletic Commission to act as a ringside physician. It also took an ambulance 22 minutes to get to the venue, when one should have been there in the event of an emergency, along with a paramedic who also was missing. As Greg’s caring and beloved wife, Patricia Page, states in an article, “The Legacy of Greg Page” (published by BoxingInsider on April 15th, 2008).
“On July 7th, after much lobbying and the establishment of a new authority, the Kentucky Boxing and Wrestling Authority (replacing the Kentucky Athletic Commission in charge the night that Greg was critically injured) introduced new regulations to finally go on the books in the State of Kentucky. These regulations will, among other things, make an ambulance, EMTs and resuscitation equipment mandatory at all state sanctioned boxing matches. Additionally, these new regulations will require HIV and hepatitis testing, as well as the establishment of a medical review board to advise the KWBA on medical matters. These new regulations will bring the State of Kentucky more in line with federal regulations. While these regulations will not help the state of affairs for Greg Page, it may prevent another boxer from suffering the same fate in the future.”
In 2007, Greg Page accepted a $1.2 million settlement over the shameful lack of medical personnel at the Crowe fight from the state of Kentucky. Boxing officials also agreed to establish a medical review panel for the Kentucky Boxing and Wrestling Authority to check the health conditions of participants who may be at risk for injury. The injury also led to the creation of the Greg Page Foundation, which links people with disabilities to the services and treatment they need.
The End
On April 27, 2009, the former champ’s beloved and ever-caring wife, Patricia, found that he had passed away after slipping from his bed. He was just 50. According to Mrs. Page, the ex-champ passed away from multiple complications due to boxing injuries and paralysis. Poignantly, she told The Associated Press that her husband was “in a better place now.” One of the quotes at his funeral services at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church drives this home better than I ever could: “What happened should never be repeated,” Ray Monsell, a board member with the American Association of Professional Ringside Physicians, told those gathered at the funeral. “And things will change. That’s Greg’s legacy.”
Just two years later on November 2, 2011, Patricia Page joined Greg when she passed away at her home In Louisville. She was 52. She had done the very best she could under brutal circumstances. Both dealt with all the difficulties in their quiet way. But too few helped. “The people who we needed the most weren’t there,” said his stepson, Robert Grady.
Writer Pedro Fernandez had this to say about this brave woman in RINGTALK, November 15, 2011:
“…both Greg, who died in 2009, and Patricia were great people, a couple with class that struggled in poverty before the state of Kentucky settled a lawsuit with Greg and Patricia. It’s hard to find a good woman to take care of you when you’re 100 %. Here Greg was permanently injured and she doted over him 24-7. I’m not a real religious guy, but if angels do exist, Patricia Page is surely one of them!
The Rev. Mark Johnson, a friend who traveled with Greg in his heyday, described him as “tenderhearted, real and dedicated to family.”
Culture of Boxing
Jim Lampley once wrote in a profound piece on the ring death of Leavander Johnson that he could accept a boxing fatality if it occurred within the culture of the sport. What he meant was that if everything that could be done to protect the boxer was done and still a tragedy occurred, then it derives from the culture of the sport. However, in the matter of Greg Page, this, like the case of Willie Classen in New York City (http://theboxingtribune.com/2016/03/lest-we-forget-willie-classen/ ) was NOT the case and those responsible should never be forgiven.
Greg Page’s professional record after his retirement in 2001 was 58-17-1 with 48 knockouts. But what is most important is that Greg Page be remembered as the catalyst for making boxing a safer sport.
“He’s gonna be missed…But he’s not going to be forgotten.” said Stephen Peoples, a friend from Central High in Louisville
Greg and Patricia Page deserve to be free from suffering and at rest in peace and eternal comfort.
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