BoxRec

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Former WBA heavyweight champion Greg Page, who sustained brain damage during a 2001 fight, was hospitalized and in critical condition.

The 47-year-old Page was transferred Friday to the intensive care unit at Jewish Hospital a day after being admitted, hospital officials said. He has acute respiratory failure, sepsis, hypothermia and seizures.

“We are hopeful he will recover from this as well,” said Page’s wife, Patricia.

Page was left with brain injuries from his fight five years ago against Dale Crowe. He slipped into a coma, then had a stroke during post-fight surgery. He is paralyzed on his left side and uses a wheelchair.

Last week, Crowe was charged with murder in the death of a Cincinnati man.

Get well soon Champ.

get well Greg!...

...whats the story on Crowe being on this murder charge?...

silkov wrote:...whats the story on Crowe being on this murder charge?...

Heavyweight boxer Dale Robert Crowe is under arrest, charged with the August 2002 murder and robbery of man who body was found in a Dumpster near his home.

The 29-year-old Crowe was charged in a sealed indictment with aggravated murder, murder and aggravated robbery in the death of Frank Branam, 23, of Pleasant Ridge.

Crowe, arrested by Hamilton County sheriff’s deputies outside the Courthouse on Thursday, was arraigned in court this morning and ordered held on $1.6 million bond.

Branam disappeared on the evening of Aug. 10, 2002, Rick Gibson, an assistant Hamilton County prosecutor said this afternoon. His body was found Sept. 22, 2002, in Dumpster behind a vacant store in the 5400 block of Ridge Road in Columbia Township.

“That is very near his residence, but across the county line,” Gibson said.

The Hamilton County Coroner’s office used dental records to identify the skeletal remains.

Gibson said authorities believe Crowe killed Branam on the evening of Aug. 22 or the early morning of Aug. 23, and then put his body in the Dumpster, which was not far from victim’s Mapleleaf Avenue home.

“We know they were acquaintances,” Gibson said.

The victim’s relatives, who reported Branam missing, told investigators he was last seen with Crowe on the evening of Aug. 10, 2002, Gibson said.

“He was a suspect early on,” Gibson said. “He was the last person to see Frank Branam alive.”

During the past 3½ years, detectives have interviewed “an awful lot of people, including many that seemed afraid to talk to authorities, Gibson said.

“Over time people did decide to come forward,” he said.
Amanda Mappes, 30, of Deer Park, a sister of victim, said they both had known Crowe for years. “We grew up with him in Norwood. Him and my brother were good friends,’’ she said.

She said she always suspected Crowe knew something about her brother’s disappearance although Crowe had told her that he had dropped her brother off in Norwood the night he disappeared.

Her brother had spent time in prison on a drug charge, but was in the process of turning his life around when he disappeared, Mappes said. “He was changing his life. He was planning on getting married.”

Gibson said Crowe, who was arrested outside the courthouse after he appeared in court on an unrelated misdemeanor criminal damaging charge, had not been involved in boxing in recently. He had most recently been working laying tile and carpet, he said.

Crowe, a graduate of Norwood High School, made headlines in March 9, 2001, when he defeated former heavyweight champion Greg Page during a fight in Erlanger. He has a record of 27-8-3.

A Crowe punch to Page’s chin sent him into a coma. Page has been in a wheelchair since that fight.

Before his next fight with former heavyweight champion Michael Moorer in July 2001, Crowe acknowledged he probably wouldn’t have gotten the bout if not for what happened in the Page fight.

“They aren’t billing me as “the guy who almost killed former heavyweight champion Greg Page, “but let’s face it, that’s what I’m known for right now,” he told the Enquirer’s John Erardi. “I don’t like it, but that just the way it is.”

some good nes guys

He has been transferred to a Rehab facility and continues to
get a bit stronger. The pneumonia is still causing him problems but
hopefully he will be able to be released soon.


keep Greg and Pat in your thoughts

Well that's good to hear! Does anyone know how he is doing financially?

yeah its been a real struggle for Pat and Greg, Pat works obviously but as you can imagine with all these medical bills it hasnt been easy.

why any ideas how we can help barry, I mean donations are all well and good but if you have something in mind please do lt me know, I speak to Pat and greg on email regularly.

Does the Retired Boxers Foundation, which Alex Ramos started, help out any?

Back in the old days, whenever an old fighter was having difficulties, almost all of the top boxers of the day would all get together and have a benefit where they would have a program of exhibitions and comedy skits with all proceeds going to the fighter in distress, which is something that you never see nowadays, but if fighters would get together and just donate one evening of their time, they could make a real difference in a lot of former fighters lives.

One thing that I know of which would be of some help would be if a writer with the ability, means and resources could graciously write a biography about Page and donate all proceeds to Page and family. Teddy Blackburn did it for Gerald McClellan. I know that it would not be a lot, but a little still helps, plus it would be an account of Page’s career and life.

There was I believe, a benefit for Gerald here in Illinois not long ago, but I dont know how sucsessful it was. Maybe something like this could be done for Page.

good ideas lads, ioll have a chat with pat at some point (not right now she has neough on her plate i guess) but will get back to you.

thanks for taking the time and for giving a shit

>>>thanks for taking the time and for giving a shit<<<

I just wish that some of the people who could really make a difference would! The big time money-makers.

YEAH I know what you mean mate.

a samll amount to them would make an impressive diffrence to these folks lives.

I'll give what i can whn i get my bonus at the end of the month to Pat and Greg, was hoping they could go for a really top nitch meal or something with the cash but it looks more likely to go on med bills.

still guess it all helps no matter how it is used.

Someone really needs to set up a nice looking greg page website where you can donate into his bank account online have his bio, record, pics, updates etc & make it look real nice (check Gerald McClellans) then get fightnews secopndsout etc to advertise it or mention it etc.

update and some good news on greg and pats situation.

The state has agreed to pay $1.2 million to former heavyweight fighter Greg Page to settle allegations that it failed to have proper safety measures in place at a fight in 2001 when he suffered catastrophic brain injuries.

The settlement signed this week also calls for new boxing regulations enacted last year to be called the “Greg Page Safety Initiative.”

And it says the state will work to establish a medical panel to advise the Kentucky Boxing and Wrestling Authority and review the conditions of boxers who might be at risk of injury.

Patricia Page, Greg’s guardian, said the settlement provides “a paltry sum considering what he’s lost.”

But she said they will be able to use the money to buy a handicapped equipped van and make her husband more comfortable.

She said he also was excited about the proposed safety reforms and that the amendments to Kentucky’s boxing rules will bear his name.

“He feels like he’s a martyr for a cause,” she said.

Page, the former World Boxing Association heavyweight champion, slipped into a coma after the fight in Erlanger, then suffered a stroke during surgery.

He was left paralyzed on his left side and requires use a wheelchair. He was hospitalized twice last year and must be fed through a feeding tube, his wife said.

The suit filed by Page and his wife in 2002 alleged that the state athletic commission failed to meet their duty under the law to provide an ambulance or medical personnel with appropriate resuscitation equipment; a physician continuously present on site; and health insurance to cover Page for any fight injuries.

The suit named other defendants, but none of them had any assets, Patricia Page said.

She is a customer relations agent for Metropolitan Sewer District and said she and her husband live from paycheck to paycheck.

Thanks for the update, J.

Best of luck to both Greg and Pat for the future.

Thanks for the update J.
Hope alls well with you.

Thanks for the info.It's good that Greg got his settlement, but it won't be worth more than a penny if someone doesn't handle his finances right.

Thanks for the update J and say hello to Greg from us all.

I hope the money improves his standard of life.

...i was an eyewitness to a pre-fight physical exam in kentucky....early 70s....young doctor..at least he had a stethescope....checked the heartbeat of each fighter....both wearing shirts which they didn't open...and pronounced each okay to fight. that was the entire physical. this was one half hour before the actual fight,and took place outside the door of the small arena. when i checked i also found out there had been no weigh in of any of the fighters , but there was only one fight....but hey, one is too many....where there was an obvious too much of a weight difference....in the smaller division where it counts.

if nothing else, i hope the page tragedy results in a change.

in fairness, i should add the card i'm tallking about did not take place in louisville, but in a smaller town along the ohio river.

Jaclem wrote:...i was an eyewitness to a pre-fight physical exam in kentucky....early 70s....young doctor..at least he had a stethescope....checked the heartbeat of each fighter....both wearing shirts which they didn't open...and pronounced each okay to fight. that was the entire physical. this was one half hour before the actual fight,and took place outside the door of the small arena. when i checked i also found out there had been no weigh in of any of the fighters , but there was only one fight....but hey, one is too many....where there was an obvious too much of a weight difference....in the smaller division where it counts.

if nothing else, i hope the page tragedy results in a change.

in fairness, i should add the card i'm tallking about did not take place in louisville, but in a smaller town along the ohio river.

Small world Jaclem....The town's name you are looking for is New Albany Indiana.......I was playing a night club in that town on that very day I believe it was called "Thelma's" if my memory serves. I'll have to call up some old buddies to confirm the Night Club name.

...boxbuzz....actually the town i referred to was either covington or newport....i saw boxing shows in both....even did some publicity for a couple....so i'm not sure which...

..as for new albany...apparently the dismal "protection" given to boxers included indiana as well....

That's just great news to hear that Page got that settlement, so hopefully that will take some worry off of Page and his wife, which worry in itself can be very hazardous to a person's health. Get well and carry on.

As to Kentucky...they are a fine example of the need for a national commission. The KY commission is as bad as any out there and that is pretty sad considering how lame some of the commissions are. It's good to see that the Greg Page amendment has been signed into law...more laws drawn up in the nature and spirit of that law would do boxing a tremendous service.

thanks Chaps Ill be sure to pass on your well wishes.

and thanks Expug as well for your help in the past I know Pat was very moved by your actions.

top man

I interviewed Patricia Love-Page for Boxing News in the aftermath of Greg's injury. Terrible stuff. No oxygen at ringside and not even an ambulance on site. Took something like 40 minutes for one to arrive. If any good has come of this tragedy (and that sounds a strange thing to say) at least it became mandatory to have ambulances on site.

Back then, Alex Ramos was helping Greg and Patricia, so I imagine he still is.

Unfortunately I fell out of touch with Greg and Patricia (no reason, just one of things with the passage of time), so if anybody could PM me their email address(es), I'd be very grateful.

sure mate i can no probs.