Former boxing champ and advocate Greg Page dies

Page, 50, and his wife worked toward better medical protections for boxers after he sustained a brain injury and paralysis in his last fight.

The former World Boxing Council heavyweight champion died after a fall.

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.

In addition to the financial settlement, it was agreed "to name the regulations it enacted in 2006 the “Greg Page Safety Initiative,” among them a provision that a licensed ringside physician conduct a thorough physical examination of all fighters after bouts".

Page, who began to fight professionally at the age of 17, also won the US Boxing Association heavyweight title.