Some nice replies thanks guys. Me personally i always thought fighters like Tyrell Biggs, Carl Williams, Tim Witherspoon, Pinklon Thomas, had more ability than Greg Page. Carl Williams and Tyrell Biggs even though they never won a title, looked alot less sloppy than Greg Page IMO. Tyrell Biggs looked very fluid and had nice handspeed, he just got rushed into Tyson fight and fought too aggressive. And Carl Williams had an amazing jab and was very fluid fighter aswell, but his chin let him down unfortunately.
Internationally, Page beat: 1976: Viktor Tereshchenko 1977: Petr Zayev Antoni Kuskowski Igor Vysotsky Vyacheslav Alexeyev 1978: Marcea Simon Khoren Indzheyan Juergen Fanghaenel. Lost to 1976: Evgeni Gorstkov 1977: Angel Milian Not a losing record.
I still think Pinklon Thomas had more ability than any other contender/ABC champ of the 80s. He was just like the rest though, wildly inconsistent as far as both motivation and performance went and ultimately kind of lame. A damn shame if you ask me.
Good stuff. Page had an excellent amateur career and beat plenty of Soviets as well as Romania's Olympic silver medalist. He won his share of titles and beat Tubbs 6-7. Vysotsky was a particularly good win as he'd twice beat the great Teofilo Stevenson. He was good enough to be America's #1 ranked amateur heavyweight so that's not too bad by any stretch. As a pro he had fast hands and feet, a fine jab, a hard snapping right hand, great reflexes and excellent durability. He impressively beat Marty Monroe in his 15th fight who as Ring rated #6 and showed top notch power against guys like Evangelista and LeDoux. There was no doubt he had plenty of talent. When he lost to Berbick he argued dropping down to 221 to please the critics drained him and vowed never to fight that light again. He also broke his right thumb in round 2. Having said that Berbick fought as sharp as I've ever seen him and actually took some very hard punches along the way but he showed little difficulty soaking them up as he did against Holmes as well. He pressured Page very effectively and was too much on the night. Pages trouble was that he never developed one bit as a pro. At some point the showy style needed to make way for better fundamentals and a more serious presence in the ring. In short he needed to be a lot more like Larry Holmes which leads to his second shortcoming. His motivation and dedication was absent more than it was present. He seldom dug deep but when he did get his teeth into a match like he did against Tillis and Coetzee he was hard to beat. He was also very impressive against the awkward Mr Snipes and it looked like he might be ready to turn the corner but alas it was a pipe dream. He also had a very negative mindset and thought "they" were out to get him. Personally i thought he struggled a bit against pressure fighters because his style was too lazy and lackadaisical against such challenges. Miles of raw talent that barely developed past the amateurs and commonly poor motivation and dedication. I have no idea what happened against Wills but Page never out on a good show at all post Gerrie Coetzee.
Very nice post as for the last part that's the thing that confuses me aswell. Because Page did have pretty solid chin. As I noted before after the 2nd loss to Wills, he went on to fight a prime Razor Ruddock. And gave a good account himself and took hellacious punches without going down. Yet against Mark Wills he was blasted out with one overhand right. Even in the 1st fight Wills almost stopped Page in the 1st round. Until he finally stopped him late on. What I'm saying is no one else did to Page, and Wills proved it wasn't fluke because he did it twice and once vs a slimmer Greg Page aswell. So was it just one of them very strange cases, where Mark Wills did indeed just have Greg Page's number ? Even though Greg Page is seen as a way better fighter.
This thread had been done before. No, it is not just a case of Wills having his number. Greg Page, although only 27 years old, was on the skids when he faced Wills the first time. Greg had had a lot of tough fights against very demanding competition. He was coming off decision losses to Tubbs and Douglas. In addition, he was in poor shape (of course, not the first time that occurred) against Wills. A prime Page would have fluidly boxed around the strong, but plodding, Wills. When he used his movement and reflexes, Page's tendency to drop his hands did not usually cost him. Against Wills, he showed poor movement and conditioning and was open for Will's telegraphed right hands and left hooks. As such he was caught and hurt. He also gassed out. Thus, he quit between the 9th and 10th rounds. In the second fight, Page was in much better condition (218 lbs) but his reflexes and ability to absorb punishment were diminished. He was poleaxed by a wild right hand that had no business landing on anything but a heavy bag. Put in proper context, these losses are not too shocking. I doubt it was just a matchup problem - I firmly believe a prime and in shape Page would have easily out boxed Wills for a clear UD or late stoppage. Wills reminded me of Stan Ward, although Ward was probably a bit better. Ward gave a prime Page some trouble, but Page out boxed him with speed of foot and hand until he busted up and it was stopped.
I do remember the shot Wills finished Page off with in the rematch was absolutely ridiculous. Nobody should’ve got hit with it. Page just got hit flush by an insanely telegraphed punch.
Just watched a bit of the 2nd Page vs Willis fight. Page is a fighter I haven’t seen a ton of and I’m never that impressed with. Just looking at the first round, I can see talent. Quick hands & decent power. He just doesn’t seem to know how to use his reach or maintain distance. Someone said he needed more of Larry Holmes in his style and that’s true. He seems so sloppy at times. Again , talented but needed more structure to his style. He’s just winding up and leaning in against Wills. Yeah that final knockout punch is a cartoon shot.
I remember watching those fights as they occurred live. Quite frankly, the results left me floored. 30+ years later, they have always lingered in my mind as one of the most surprising upsets I have ever seen.
I don’t think that it helped that he was also hyped by Ali himself…I remember reading an Ali Ring Magazine special which included his post-fight interview after the Berbick loss when he confirmed his retirement (after briefly considering a shot at Mike Weaver). They asked him who his successor would be, and he said probably Greg Page. I think my disappointment with Page was when he was the last of a string of opponents (Tillis, Bey) that lost dreadfully dull points decisions to Bugner in Australia back in ‘86/‘87.
There could be something fishy going on there with Bugs getting ‘some help’ from a promoter who provided financial incentive for letting Aussie Joe win, or either a bit of travel handicap — pay a high enough purse to bring someone halfway around the world, but the offering being of the fashion that they’re going to arrive close to fight time to not be able to get over jet lag and acclimate. It’s done with some frequency in various locales around the world.
That would not surprise me at all! Those fights were in Joes backyard in between losses to Tangstad and Bruno….they were awful to watch, and it definitely seemed like Tillis, Bey and Page were essentially journeymen….go the distance with no real threat.
Ward and Wills are two different fighters. There’s no transitive properties that say ‘Page beat Ward thus he’s better than Wills.’ Have you check to see if Ward had an excuse for the loss? Because you’re making them for Page. Greg and Wills fought twice. Page got KO’d twice. That means it’s not a fluke. That means head to head, Wills was better. They don’t put an asterisk in the record book that says — *Page had good excuse so disregard result. Floyd Patterson was scared of Sonny Liston, He got KO’d twice. Do we disregard it because if Patterson wasn’t scared he might have won? Page accomplished more in his career, had a better background and beat bigger names. Line up 10 top guys and let Page and Wills both fight them and Greg would have the better record. But there is zero to suggest that Page could actually beat Wills. In fact, just the opposite. I’ll go with the results. Wills > Page H2H.