Jill Diamond

There isn’t a contact sport on the earth that doesn’t put the players in jeopardy. We have worked to make our sport as humane and risk free as possible. Sometimes, things end badly. Sometimes, even a champion looses. One such athlete was young Greg Page. Knocked down and gasping for breath, he waited forty-five minutes for an ambulance to arrive. A medical review panel for the Kentucky Boxing and Wrestling Authority was established as a result of this horrendous incident. So, again, one man’s personal tragedy may have saved another from the same fate. But that’s not what makes Greg Page a hero. Despite the devastation to his body, Greg never stopped fighting… only now it was outside the ring. So says his wife and love of his life, Patricia Page. And I believe her.

Jill: Tell me about Greg?
Patricia: Greg was born Gregory (after Gregory Peck, his mother’s favorite actor) Edward (after his maternal grandfather, Edward Dolsey) Page on October 25, 1958. Greg was the second of four brothers. He was raised in the Beecher Terrace housing projects, an impoverished neighborhood right outside of downtown Louisville, KY. By all accounts, Greg (as he was called) was a very active, precocious child. He was very lively and pretty easy. When you grow up in the projects, things can be tough financially, but families are very important. A lot of the families in the neighborhood are very close knit and look out for one another. Greg’s parents were Albert Louis Page, who passed away of lung cancer in May 1981and was a factory worker. He was a very strict, stern no nonsense father. His mother, Alice M. Dolsey was primarily a housewife while the boys were at home. Mr. Page demanded that the boys adhere to the rules and demanded respect from them and tolerated nothing less.

Jill: What made him decide to become a boxer?
Patricia: Greg’s father, Albert, his uncles William (WT) and Asia (Jr.) were all boxers. They boxed in the era of Muhammad Ali and had been Ali sparring partners at various times of their career. By the time that Greg was about 12 years old, Mr. Page took him and his oldest brother Dennis to a community center in Southern IN under the care of “Baby” Leroy Edmerson to learn how to box. He gave them the choice, “you can either box or you can box.” He wanted them to learn the discipline and the art of defending themselves and since boxing was what he knew, he went that direction. At that point, at times when the boys had difficulties or got into trouble, he would have them lace on the gloves and box each other. For all of his amateur career, and the early parts of his pro career, “Baby” Leroy would train him and teach him the skills that would ultimately make him a world champion.

Jill: Who helped him make this journey?
Patricia: First and foremost, Greg‘s father, Albert was his rock as he started out with his boxing career. Greg was in awe of his father, a man who wanted his boys to do the right thing. Greg and Mr. Page spent a lot of time on the road together as Greg’s amateur career ignited and his pro career took off, this allowed them the time for their bond to strengthen. Mr. Page acted as his son‘s manager, hand picking each and every individual who might be involved in Greg’s life in any way. It was a crushing blow when in early 1981; Mr. Page was diagnosed with lung cancer and passed away in May of 1981. Prior to the passing of Mr. Page, he called his oldest son into the hospital room and it was in that meeting that the mantle to handle Greg and his career were placed onto his older son, Dennis Page. Dennis was a professional boxer but at the insistence of his father, he retired and managed Greg’s career. Greg‘s trainer was “Baby” Leroy a boxing champion in his own rite had a unique style training. While he was in his 50’s and 60’s he ran in combat boots and insisted that those he trained ran with him and did as he did. With Baby Leroy in his corner, Greg took amateur boxing by storm and had a stellar career as an amateur--racking up strings of wins, Golden Gloves champ, Outstanding boxer awards rained down on him.

Jill: Tell me a little about his life outside the ring?
Patricia: Although Greg’s marriage to Brenda Hiner was full of hardship and pain, Greg’s pride and joy were his daughters, Allison and Alicia who were born of that union. After his loss to Bruce Seldon in 1996, he retired and for the next 3 years was a stay-at-home dad. He loved cooking his girls and taking them to school and picking them up. They were inseparable during those years. When he went back on the road boxing and training fighters, he was very sad about leaving them and being separated from them and that was undoubtedly was the most difficult thing that he could have possibly have gone thru. Due to the estrangement from their mother, he rarely got a chance to talk to them on the phone while he was gone and that caused him so much grief. ]

Greg’s most shining moment next to the birth of his daughters, will probably always be winning the WBA Championship in South Africa, against all odds. He went there the underdog, and snatched the title. In one of the pictures after the fight, Greg looks like he is flying across the ring!! He beat the odds and came home a world champion. One of Greg’s funniest stories about that time would have to be in the morning while doing his road work on the golf course in South Africa, the baboons would come down out of the trees and run with him and chase after him. He has told that story a zillion times. To him, it was hysterical.

Jill: You have an amazing family -- will you talk a little about them?
Patricia: My oldest daughter, Teisha Love Page moved back home to help me after Greg’s injury. She is the daughter of Greg’s oldest brother, Dennis whom I had dated for five years, another lifetime ago. She was one of Greg’s favorites with her fiery “Page temper” and sense of humor. For the first couple of years, she helped out with Greg’s in home care and then she moved out and on with her life. My middle daughter Sierra is 17, almost 18 and a junior in high school has literally been my rock and been right by my side thru all of Greg’s injuries and illness. Greg was very impaired; being paralyzed on his left side he had to have help in the first years with eating and bathing and I could always count on Sierra to be there to help me. In the later years, he needed total care and again, it was Sierra that I knew would always be there. My youngest daughter Ashley, now 16 almost 17 had a difficult time living in this environment. Most of the family has found it extremely difficult to see Greg in his disabled condition. Greg was a very sick man, and that was obvious to all who came into out home. His medical needs were extreme. He loved to talk about the old days, his girls, his fights. Boxing was his life and he relished in all of the moments.

Jill: His condition would've made most people bitter... what was it about Greg that made him such a champion outside the ring?
Patricia: In November 2000 Greg was watching a television show on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (the religious network). He called me and told me about it. He told me, “Patty, something is going to happen to me. I don’t know if it is good or of its bad but my spirit tells me that I’ve got to be ready for it.” Four months later, he was hurt in a fight that he felt would be over in 3 rounds. Greg always believed that what happened to him (March 9, 2001) was by GOD’s design. He felt that GOD was using him for a purpose to reach other people. He never blamed GOD for his injuries and the aftermath and he actually thanked GOD for allowing him to be used to benefit others.

Jill: Where did he find the courage to inspire?
Patricia: Greg was once asked if he blamed GOD for what happened, and in response, he said, “no, cause then I’d have to ask why not me?” Who inspired him? Greg’s first hero would be his father. Mr. Page raised a family of four boys, on a laborer’s salary and it is true that he was very strict; he made them the men they are today. Probably the foremost person that inspired him after his injury was a little girl, Erica Hughes, who at the age of 2 was shot several times and left for dead. Her mother was killed in the assault that took place at their residence. We were watching the evening news when the story aired. Greg’s eyes filled with tears and said “only a monster could look that angel in the eyes and pull the trigger.” Within weeks of her catastrophic injury, Greg had a chance encounter with her at Frazier Rehab. We had stopped to visit old friends, and there was little Erica, bouncing around, you could barely notice that she has been injured. He smiled at her and said “hello cutey” and she came running to him. His smile was huge. As we left, he said how could I “possibly complain about what I am going thru, she lost her mother and will have lasting effects and she is just as happy!!” Shortly after, we became involved with Louisville’s Christopher II X and his Crimes Against Children’s Partnership.

Jill: You said you admire the WBC. Can you tell me why?
Patricia: I have total admiration for the WBC. Even though Greg was not a WBC champ, the WBC has repeatedly reached out with well wishes for Greg, and even donated a replica WBC belt for auction to help with Greg’s expenses. Additionally, some of our great friends, Lisa and the G-Man Gerald McClellan have been recipients of the WBC’s generosity. In my mind, the WBC was the first organization to step up and formally acknowledge women’s boxing and give it credibility and acceptance. I am a fan of athletes giving back to the community and the WBC does that in a huge way with WBC Cares as well as in other ways. I recently heard of the WBC giving the proceeds of a life insurance policy to the family of one of its champions who had passed away. The WBC is a top notch group by every standard!!

Jill: What was this like for you, Patricia? How did you deal with his injury and subsequent loss?
Patricia: I want to the fight that night as friend and observer with a group of friends to just hang out. Greg was in a great mood and expecting the fight to be over in a few rounds. He left the fight almost an hour after the fight was over fighting for his life. I was in shock to say the least. At first I was in denial. Greg was 42 yrs old and he as in great health. He ran daily 5-10 miles in steel toed combat boots. So he was in great condition. He never drank and he never smoked. I expected he would bounce back, few days in the hospital and then onward. I had no idea the extent of his severe brain injury and what lay ahead. I had no idea that everything I had ever known in seconds would changed forever. As time went on, and I found out that the fights that night were carried out in a corrupt fashion and learned the extent of the corners that were cut, all that caused Greg’s injury to be more fatal, I got furious and then from that fury, I demanded action. I have been very public in my charges, frustration and animosity and from that anger and frustration; we made changes happen, all in the name of Greg Page.

Jill: Do you have any advice you can share with others who have gone through similar experiences in their lives?
Patricia: The main advice that I would give to anybody is to live life to its fullest and to not have any regrets. Live each day like it is your last because it just may be. Love your family and never let anything left unsaid, because tomorrow may not come. Greg was only 42 and he thought the rest of his life was ahead of him.

Jill: Do you have any regrets? Anything you would've changed, if it were in your power to? Did Greg?
Patricia: It would be foolish if I were to say I didn’t have any regrets. I am sorry Greg ever entered that ring in Peel’s Palace in Erlanger, Ky that night. The “ringside physician” was not licensed to practice in the State of KY and was on probation in Ohio where he did hold a license for illegally dispensing narcotics. There was no ambulance or oxygen ringside and after Greg went down at the end of the fight, the place erupted in utter chaos. It took ambulance personnel at least 45 minutes to be notified and to arrive to render aide to Greg who by that time was in cardiac and respiratory arrest, clinging to life. Part of me, obviously wishes that this night would have never happened to Greg. HOWEVER, Greg Page never questioned that this was destined for him.

Please go to the link below, learn more about Greg, and keep his dream alive.
http://www.gregpagefoundation.com/