Louisville’s Greg Page, former Heavyweight Champion, dead at 50

Louisville, KY – Some sad news to bring you this afternoon.. Ex-Heavyweight Champion and Louisville native, Greg Page was found dead in his home this morning by his wife Patricia.

Page died of complications stemming from a severe brain injury he suffered in a 2001 fight.

Page grew up in Louisville, and by the age of 15 was sparring with The Greatest, Muhammad Ali. He became the National Golden Gloves heavyweight champion in 1978 at age 20.

In December of 1984 Page knocked out Gerrie Coetzee in the eighth round of their bout in South Africa to claim the WBA title, but lost it on points to Tony Tubbs five months later.

Page continued boxing through 1993, then took two years off after being knocked out by Bruce Seldon. He started back up in 1996.

Then, at 42 years old and sporting a 58-16-1 career record, Greg Page entered into a $1,500 fight against Dale Crowe at Peels Palace in Erlanger, Kentucky, near Cincinnati. Crowe was 24 and a budding star in the sport. Page went down after 10 rounds and didn’t get up.

The Greg Page apartments on the University of Kentucky’s campus, adjacent to Commonwealth Stadium and my former home for a year, Shawneetown, are named in his honor.