Former WBA 147 lb. champ James Page returns to ring Nov. 17

Hey guys,

So James Page was a WBA welterweight champ in the late '90s, engaged in a crazy underrated war with Jose Luis Lopez, and then got caught up in some terrible things. He recently got released from an 11-year prison sentence and has been back in the gym and just landed a fight on Nov. 17 on a small club show in the Sacramento area.

I've been following this story for quite a number of years while James was locked up and wrote something on his comeback for a small regional newspaper I have a boxing column for called the Martinez News-Gazette. This was posted a few weeks ago. Just note a few changes. Page will now be fighting Rahman Yusubov after initial opponent Cleven Ishe tested positive for something in New York. Also, he recently sparred with Alfredo Angulo at Virgil Hunter's gym and more than held his own.

Here is my story, please give me your thoughts. Not that this was written for a non-boxing audience so I had to simplify it a bit. But I still think it is a solid read. Check out the accompanying picture within the article as well, pretty awesome.

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Former Pittsburg Boxing Champ Tries To Turn Page
by Mark Ortega, Martinez News-Gazette


OAKLAND, Calif. – Adorning the walls of King's Gym on 35th Street in Oakland are legions of fight posters and photographs that likely number in the thousands.

Among the plethora of worn and torn snapshots of history are a handful from the glory days of Pittsburg's James Page, the one-time WBA welterweight champion who held the crown briefly from 1998-1999.

Now, more than a dozen years since he first defeated Andrey Pestryaev of Russia in two rounds for the vacant title, Page has returned to the famed East Bay boxing gym as he readies himself to climb back into the ring for the first time since losing in his attempt to regain his crown against Andrew Lewis in 2001.

It was announced Wednesday that Page will fight Nov. 17 in Sacramento at the Four Points by Sheraton against Cleven Ishe of Long Beach, a tough journeyman who is much better than his modest record would suggest.

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