Greg Page, what if?

[NYDominican]

Greg Page began his professional boxing career back in February, 1979. From February, 1979 till October, 1983, Greg did very well in the ring. But, Page's career from March, 1984 till August, 1993, wasn't that good.

The early part of Greg's career, he displayed A LOT of talent, primarily very good punching power in both his fists. He also displayed pretty good movement's for a guy his size.

From March, 1984 till August, 1993, it seemed that Page's mentality and mindset weren't fully into boxing.


Had Greg been more mentally focused on boxing and physically committed to the sport as in his training? Had Page not been lazy, and not lacking a work ethic? --------

1. Do you think that Greg could have been somewhat near among the top greats of the heavyweight division?

If so, why? If not, why not?


Please explain.

[Controversial]

You could ask these questions about lots of fighters. Boxing is full of wasted talent and most fighters could do better if they tried harder, had the right focus, mindset and dedication. Could Page has achieved more, sure he could, talent alone isn't enough though, lack of heart and mental strength separates the good from the great.

[Ambling Alp II]

He was never going to be a great fighter. That being said, had he been in better shape, he could have had a better career. like a lot of his rivals of his era, he was inconsistent. He looked awful against Tubbs for example, but in other fights he fought pretty well. Saw him fight a lot on network TV. to his credit he seemed willing to take on anyone. Sad what happened to him at the end.

[bwu]

Even if Page’s mental game matched his physical gifts, I don’t think he’d be an all-time great. However, I could see an alternate world Page heralding the division between Holmes and Tyson or Holyfield.

[DrDuke]

He would be an undisputed champion and outclass all them Holmses, Tysons and Holies.

(No)

[f read]

When Greg Page first appeared on the scene many were comparing him to Muhammad Ali. He was also from Louisville Kentucky. He proved to have talent yes but overall was an underachiever. He never lived up to the potential he had. I can think of others who fall into this category. Riddick Bowe did have some great wins however he also was a big disappointment.

[AntonioMartin]

He would be an undisputed champion and outclass all them Holmses, Tysons and Holies.

(No)

You are being.. sarcastic right?

He'd never beaten Holmes or Holyfield. Tyson is a possibility because he dropped him in that Tokyo sparring session, but a very remote one at best.

[Tony1244]

Cus D"Amato said, "Will is more important than skill." Whether he was right or not it damn sure is important. If Page had Ali or Marciano like focus, who knows, perhaps the sky could have been the limit. He had fast hands and hit fairly hard, so the potential was there.

But like others said, you can say this about many fighters. Leon Spinks and Dokes partied like John Belushi. Cooney liked drinking and a bit of nose candy too. None of that helped.

Don't know if Page liked to party, but he did like to eat more than train.

[Controversial]

Cus D"Amato said, "Will is more important than skill." Whether he was right or not it damn sure is important.

There’s a lot of truth in that, when the going gets tough it’s a fighters mental strength that gets them through. You can be as fit, strong and as skilful as you like but if you have the quitter mentality then it could be the difference between winning and losing.

[Ambling Alp II]

Some guys don't train hard in the gym, but fight hard in a real fight. Obviously if you are a trainer, you want both. If don't train hard, you won't reach your full potential even if you try hard in an actual fight.

Page didn't look like he trained hard in the gym. Sometimes he seemed to be giving a good effort in the actual fight; at times he was lazy.
He certainly had some talent. Like other guys of his era, (like Thomas, Witherspoon, and Dokes) he looked very good at times and certainly not other times.
Compare him to a guy like Trevor Berbick. There is very little impressive about Berbick. But somehow or another, he managed to win fights against guys with more talent.
Against Chaplin and Tubbs he looked lazy for the most part. In other fights he was fairly impressive.

[Caractacus]

who had been his trainers and what gyms did he train at ?

[Caractacus]

him being from Louisville Kentucky probably could not get out from out of the shadow of "The Greatest">

[Caractacus]

Greg Page 10th professional fight-February 1980
( with some high-lights of his pro debut-Don Reid-Feb 1979\
his 6th pro fight-James Reid (Nov. 1979 and 10th pro fight-Clamen Parker-March 1980)
His 10th pro fight begins at 21:00 of this clip)

[Caractacus]

Greg Page 11th pro fight (with some video-footage of his 7th pro fight vrs Ira Martin)

[Caractacus]

-14th professional fight-

-15th pro fight-

[Caractacus]

-1982-

[Seamus]

Because the Heavyweight division has no weight limit, it's always HW's we ask this question about. What if Page, Witherspoon, Toney, Kirk Johnson, etc decided to train like Joe Calzaghe. At the very least, they'd be better than they were.

[Caractacus]

-1983-

[Caractacus]

-1984-

[Caractacus]

-1985-

[Ambling Alp II]

The first time I saw him was against George Chaplin. It was on network TV, though not in primetime. It was only his 10th fight. He was inexperienced, but you tell he had some ability. He was lucky to get the decision though. Also remember the Tillis fight. That was on primetime network TV. He got decked, but came back to win.

[f read]

Because the Heavyweight division has no weight limit, it's always HW's we ask this question about. What if Page, Witherspoon, Toney, Kirk Johnson, etc decided to train like Joe Calzaghe. At the very least, they'd be better than they were.

Good point and observation. I always thought with no weight limit you could lose motivation. Should there be a super heavyweight category like in the amateurs?

[Ambling Alp II]

No. The unintended result would be that people that don't know the sport and its' history (but think they do) would diminish the great heavyweights of the past. You would hear idiotic comments like "Muhammad Ali was only a heavyweight". He couldn't compete with the "Super heavyweights of today".

[oogiebe]

No. The unintended result would be that people that don't know the sport and its' history (but think they do) would diminish the great heavyweights of the past. You would hear idiotic comments like "Muhammad Ali was only a heavyweight". He couldn't compete with the "Super heavyweights of today".

We hear that shite today.

[funso banjo baby]

It's the story of don king and the tainted champions of the wba
A bizarre period during the golden age of boxing

As stated above, a whole crop of American heavies had all the talent to be true greats

Page
Dokes
Witherspoon
Tubbs.

They all did a 'bugner'