Greg Page - An overhyped bum or a lost potential?

lost potential far from a bum

 

And Larry knew he was a threat, hence his avoidance of him.

 

A good summary, but I think his physical assets while clearly good are a little overrated ( power and speed ) Otherwise, he'd have more wins. An underachiever yes, but many of his opponents also had similar problems, and some of them had drug problems.

The 1980's in a nut shell was full of Greg Pages. I'm not even sure if Page was a top 8 heavyweight from 1980-1990. I'd guess no.

 

He was such a threat that a mere contender in David Bey defeated Page, so Holmes fought him instead a few months later.

Holmes would have had a field day on Page as he was not a technical fighter. Sure Page could punch, but no harder than Shavers who landed his bomb on Holmes

A prime Holmes pitched a shut out 15-0 over Trevor Berbick. Berbick out boxed page and took the decision. Any questions?

Page was never the sum of his parts, and could not pull off a Buster Douglas type of performance.

Holmes would have beaten him eaisly.

 

Not overrated at all. He, Dokes and Holmes were the top 3 for handspeed with Dokes probably first and Holmes 3rd. Page had big power in the right hand but it was underused and in his poor performances too close to non existent.

Having certain assets and weapons doesn't = x amount of wins.

What would 10 good examples?

 

18 odd months later, but let's not let facts get in the way. This has been explained to you many times in the most simplest of forms over the years.

 

Great post, John! Couldn't agree more:good

 

Cheers Clint!

 

You never disappoint, young man:good

 

18 months is hardly a long duck, and there were politics in terms of making the match. Let's look at what happened.

Page lost in 1982 to Berbick, on the undercard of Holmes vs ****ey, and also lost to Witherspoon in 1984. Holmes of course beat both men.

Beating Brebick would have done wonders for Page. But he lost.

The book closed on Page in 1984 when he lost again to Bey, who Holmes eventually gave a title shot to.

By 1985, Spinks had beaten Holmes., and page once again lost to Tubbs in the same year.

You could say 1983 was the ideal time for a Holmes vs Page match, but Holmes fought Witherpsoon instead, and history shows Witherspoon was the better fighter. Had Holmes fought Page, his legacy takes a small hit, and then the anti-Holmes guys would be saying he never fought Witherspoon!

Page didn't help himself either. He was overweight, and sunk himself like you said with laziness. He had his chances.

 

So delighted you're back:good

 

:good

 

We've been thru it all before and i'm not going to waste time going thru it again.

I like it short and sharp nowadays

 

I think Greg needed a premier trainer his whole career to guide him properly. An Angie Dundee or a Futch to handle his career and development. Polish the diamond a little bit more. And help maybe with the matchmaking and get him more advantageous fights or opponents. Not the Don King match my guy with another of my guy's for a small payday thing.

Maybe that type of trainer and guidence see's him making multiple title defenses. But it'd be hard to see him doing much different than say a Holyfield. Win 3 or 4, lose & then regain the title in a rematch. Defend once, lose again and so on. But I do think he could have put together the best title run of those 76 olympians & that solid list of up and comers from that late 70's timeframe.

 

18 months is hardly a long duck, and there were politics in terms of making the match. Let's look at what happened.

Page lost in 1982 to Berbick, on the undercard of Holmes vs ****ey, and also lost to Witherspoon in 1984. Holmes of course beat both men.

Beating Brebick would have done wonders for Page. But he lost.

The book closed on Page in 1984 when he lost again to Bey, who Holmes eventually gave a title shot to.

By 1985, Spinks had beaten Holmes., and page once again lost to Tubbs in the same year.

You could say 1983 was the ideal time for a Holmes vs Page match, but Holmes fought Witherpsoon instead, and history shows Witherspoon was the better fighter. Had Holmes fought Page, his legacy takes a small hit, and then the anti-Holmes guys would be saying he never fought Witherspoon!

Page didn't help himself either. He was overweight, and sunk himself like you said with laziness. He had his chances.

Okay, in other words, what I said has too many facts and dates, with a kicker of Page losing to several of the guys Holmes defeated.

In terms of heavyweight champions avoiding a challenge Holmes vs Page doesn't rate highly. I could easily name 10 better matches that never happened.

Page had his chances.