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.
Police say Jayson Williams suicidal
NEW YORK, April 28 (UPI) -- Ex-NBA star Jayson Williams allegedly trashed a suite in a suicidal rage and was subdued by a stun gun and taken to a psychiatric clinic, New York police said.
The 325-pound, 6-foot-10 former all-star was rushed to St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan Monday after allegedly destroying his room at the Hilton Embassy Suites, the New York Daily News reported Tuesday.
Williams, 41, is in the middle of a divorce and faces a retrial for the fatal shooting of his chauffeur in 2002, the Daily News said.
Police used a stun gun and two sets of handcuffs to subdue Williams. They allegedly found suicide notes and empty bottles and vials of sleeping pills, antidepressants and human growth hormone, police sources told the New York Post.
The former New Jersey Nets player was not charged with a crime and was in stable condition late Monday, said his lawyer, Chris Adams.
Williams is considering whether to accept a plea deal or face retrial on a charge of reckless manslaughter in the death of his driver, Costas Christofi, the Post reported. In 2004, he was acquitted of aggravated manslaughter, but the jury deadlocked on reckless manslaughter.
Square Eddie out of Kentucky Derby
LOUISVILLE, Ky., April 28 (UPI) -- Canadian-bred Square Eddie, a 35-1 long shot in early lines, was pulled from Saturday's Kentucky Derby due to a shin injury.
Trainer Doug O'Neill said the injury doesn't appear to be career-threatening but has been a concern for three months. A flare-up of the injury Tuesday led horse owner Paul Reddam to hold Square Eddie out of the derby.
"He's been adamant all along to err on the side of caution," O'Neill told The Courier-Journal newspaper in Louisville, Ky., of Reddam.
"The shin has been ice cold and sound and (Tuesday) he had a little heat in there. That's the first sign of some possible trouble."
Square Eddie has had eight starts, winning twice while finishing second three times and third twice. One of the second-place finishes was in last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile. The horse has career winnings $817,366.
Square Eddie is the second horse in as many days to be withdrawn from Saturday's 135th Kentucky Derby. Quality Road, which had been the third favorite in betting lines, was taken from the race due to a quarter-crack injury to its right front hoof.
Datsyuk a Selke Trophy finalist
TORONTO, April 28 (UPI) -- Detroit center Pavel Datsyuk, last year's Selke Trophy winner, was selected Tuesday as a finalist for the NHL's top defensive forward award in 2008-09.
Datsyuk, Philadelphia's Mike Richards and Vancouver's Ryan Kesler were named the finalists for the Frank J. Selke Trophy, which has been given to the league's best defensive forward. It was first awarded in 1978.
Datsyuk was fourth in the NHL with 97 points and second in the league with 89 takeaways and his plus-minus rating of plus-34 was third best in the NHL this season. He is looking to join Sergei Fedorov as two-time Selke Trophy winners from Detroit.
Richards led the NHL with seven short-handed goals and tied for the league lead among forwards with 90 blocked shots and was third among that group with 83 takeaways.
Kesler was seventh among forwards with 70 blocked shots and 74 takeaways. He played on a checking line as a center and was a forward on Vancouver's top line.
The NHL is to announce its award winners June 18.
