Greg Page or John Tate - Potential

I don't think neither man was destined for anything spectacular. At their absolute best, its a pick em' fight. I was actually pretty impressed with Tate's boxing ability and physique on film. There was definately potential there, and truth be told, his career was not that bad. He was a bronze medalist as an amateur. As a pro he became an alpha champ after denting a prime Coetzee's undefeated record. I think his problems were more mental than anything else. Perhaps Page had more potential, but if we're going by what both men ACTUALLY produced, I don't think I'd rate one much higher than the other.

 

He actually lost a couple of close decisions, based on what I was told.

 

Page showed flashes of Ali type brilliance. Unfortunatly it was 70's Ali, Out of shape, laying on the ropes & fighting in spurts. If he applied himself. Page had all the tools to be a top notch fighter.

 

Very well put and with great examples of others who, at one time had excellant whiskers only to have them cracked and never recover. Sean O'Grady did an intervie/article with either World Boxing or International Boxing (magazines) after he lost to John Verderosa (whom he would have eaten alive a couple of years earlier). He simply said "all of a sudden, I couldn't take a punch". That does very well happen to certain boxers and I think John Tate is a good example.

 

I think one of the reasons Tate lost to Berbick so badly was that he came back way to soon after the Weaver fight. I think it was only 3 months in between those fights. Way to soon to start fighting again after being knock completely unconcious.

 

Mustafa Hamsho was a similar case. He took an incredible amount of punishment off Hagler first time around and when they did it 3 years later Hagler took him out in solid fashion. From memory he said his legs kept going. All the punishment over the years (especially from the initial Hagler fight) had probably caught up with him i'd say. For a time he always won the best chin at 160 award and was considered by many to have the best chin in boxing.

 

Sometimes fighters can't recover from a bad KO loss. Taking a punch is part mental.

I do think Page had more ability than Tate.

 

Originally Posted by he grant View Post
When Stevenson flattened him in the Olympics ... after the loss to Weaver he got crushed by the relatively light hitting Berbick .. Tate was no 20 year journeyman with tons of wear and tear whose chin chipped away over time ... he simply never had a great one and it is a shame because he was a very good fighter ... they said at the time of his loss to Weaver that on that night for 14 and 2/3rd's rounds Tate was the best heavyweight in the world ..
I think one of the reasons Tate lost to Berbick so badly was that he came back way to soon after the Weaver fight. I think it was only 3 months in between those fights. Way to soon to start fighting again after being knock completely unconcious.

DOES ANYBODY REMEMBER THAT Trevor Berbick knocked out tate by punching him in the back of the head? That was weird. Tate was SUPER tired, but still... Berbick won on a rabbit punch.

 

Tate turned and started running didn't he

Poor bugger.

 

Tate was very nimble on his feet for such a big guy.

 

So was Page.

 

For anyone that has'nt seen the Tate - Stevenson finish


[YT]Ti9iEraS0ns[/YT]

 

Tate's chin cant have been that bad if he went 15 rounds with Coetzee. And Knoetzee was no slouch either. Mercado was a banger.

He beat these guys. If he was really chinny he must have been a defensive master to avoid getting hit by them.

 

He only had 27 fights total and never smashed the quality of people that Shavers did.

Undoubtably a huge hitter but lets not undermine poor Earnie!!