Hate it that Page never got to fight Holmes or Cooney. Yes, I realize Page lost to Berbick and Cooney lost to Holmes on the same night or they likely would’ve fought if they both won.
To me, Page-Berbick was about even, slight edge to Page, when in the second round, Berbick went hard to the body, and Greg backed off real slowly, then seconds later almost went down. Greg's best performance was Marty Monroe, where he dominated against a talented fighter from jump. But you can make a case for his match with Ira Martin. Early that year in 1979, Ira went 8 rounds with Michael Dokes. Greg took him out impressively in 1 round.
I will mention his best performances. W12 Snipes Tko 8 Tillis ko 8 Coetzee It may have been exciting for some to see a club fighter like Wills poleax a sadly deteriorated Page but I prefer to mention his best performances in his prime.
The Marty Monroe fight may have been the performance where Greg looked the best. Monroe was a live prospect who had lost a decision to Scott LeDoux but bounced back to stop Lynn Ball and Eddie “The Animal” Lopez, two very good results. Page basically ended his career with a dominant showing.
Ha!!! Stan Ward Marty Monroe The way he pole axed Evangelista LeDoux James Tillis Renaldo Snipes Gerrie Coetzee
I remember watching the Page / Norris bight on ESPN. Actor Gene Hackman was in the audience and came by to discuss his love of boxing. Nothing spectacular that I remember. Norris just out boxing a guy several inches taller. I hadn’t seen much of Page at that point and I wasn’t impressed. I like a lot of the 80’s heavyweights but Page is a tough one to get in to. He clearly had talent and shows heart & toughness. To me though, he shows some bad technique. He moves around like late 70’s Ali but his footwork doesn’t seem to accomplish much. Quick Tillis moved with a similar “bouncing” style. He doesn’t show much defense. He had some power but throws punches in strange fashion at times. The jab with the right hand held out like a fencer always gets me. He looks like he needed someone to work on his technique and make use of his obvious gifts. He just doesn’t look polished. I’m still looking for a fight that impresses me.
One thing about Page always stood out with me and that was his ability to take a shot. Here is his fight with Stan Ward. In the 5th round Ward hits Page a counter right and I remember watching this the first time around and was stunned that Page just shook it off. A shot that would have put down a lot of fighters. Anyways, I rewatched it today due to this thread and here is the shot I'm talking about. It happens at the 15:21 mark. This content is protected
Man forgot what a furious insider this was. Few fighters were as skilled as Ward yet so unsuccessful. It's just unbelievable.
Ward was an impressive performance by Greg, but Stan kept catching him frequently. If Page couldn't take a good shot, this might have ended differently.