Former heavyweight champ Page dies in fall

LOUISVILLE, Ky., April 28 (UPI) -- Former World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Greg Page has died at his Louisville, Ky., home after falling from bed, officials say.

Page, 50, whose final bout at age 42 in 2001 left him with permanent brain injuries, choked to death Monday morning after sliding out of his hospital-style bed and getting his head caught in its railings, Jefferson County Deputy Coroner Jim Wesley told the Louisville Courier-Journal.

Page knocked out Gerrie Coetzee in the eighth round to capture the WBA title on Dec. 1, 1984, in Sun City, South Africa, but lost it in his first defense of the title the next year in a unanimous 15-round decision to Tony Tubbs in a match attended by Muhammed Ali, to whom Page was frequently compared.

Page's knockout at the hands of Dale Crowe in Erlanger, Ky., in 2001 left him in a coma for nearly a week, and during post-fight surgery he suffered a stroke, paralyzing him on his left side, the newspaper said. Page won a $1.2 million settlement from Kentucky state boxing authorities, whom he said failed to provide an ambulance or medical personnel at the ring.