Sean Rooney Medicine Hat News: I’ve been doing some research and I guess I’ll start off with a question I was going to ask mid-way through. I was looking at your Alberta (Sports) Hall of Fame induction thing and the bio online says in 2005 you were also inducted into the Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame, which we never reported.
Bill Page: I don’t know anything about it.
News: Oh! That’s odd. Because it says online you were inducted.
Page: Well I don’t remember anything about that at all.
News: Congrats? I’ll have to check that out. Oh well, online is sometimes wrong anyhow. (Attempts to contact the Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame in Ontario were unsuccessful by press time).
Page: It’s not important to me.
News: I guess there are other things to be concerned about?
Page: You bet.
News: This is coming out the week after the (Ev Nieman Memorial card), it’ll still be top of mind to most folks. Can you give us a wrapup, were there any highlights of the night as far as you were concerned?
Page: I don’t know…
News: Obviously Kody (Fahlman’s) fight was the one we highlighted.
Page: I was really happy for Kody. He’s had a tough time, now he’s in the winning column and that was a pretty quality opponent that he fought. It was just a good show all the way around. We had some boys that really performed up to expectations, had a couple kids we lost by one point with Tanner Wilson and I thought it was suspect, which we always will, I guess. The other boy was Jace Lundy. We have a system of boxing here where we emphasize the left hand, which the pros still do. It’s the basis of all boxing but there’s a certain group of officials that don’t believe that a jab counts, they won’t score it.
News: They’re only counting heavy punches?
Page: Yeah. Our boys and girls, they live on the jab. We stagger people, we hurt ‘em with the jab. It’s a real punch if thrown properly and I think that’s where the difference came up with Tanner and with Jace. There’s no question about it.
News: Well, you’re not going to tell them to change that based on they might get a bad judge once in a while, or a judge that disagrees to be more politically correct.
Page: It teaches them proper offence and defence, and they’re able to look after themselves so long as they use that effectively.
News: Sure. It worked for Ali.
Page: Well, yeah. And on the street, if someone’s going to beat them up, there is no better weapon, you know? It’s the best defensive mechanism there is.
News: Obviously, you mention out in the street and stuff like that, do you hear any things about, God forbid, they ever get into a fight?
Page: I can’t remember when the last time was when one of our boxers was in trouble on the street. I really can’t.
News: Was there ever a time where that was common?
Page: There was a time when we had a certain group in there, a couple of times where we’ve had a group that filtered in and they weren’t there for the right reasons, but we get that sorted out. It sometimes might take a little while, but we emphasize that boxing is a recreational thing, it’s an asset to everything that you do, but academics is first and character is first, boxing helps develop character.
News: And you’ve got to have some character to do it properly, I would assume.
Page: Any kid that has the courage to get in the ring and box develops character, yes they do.
News: You and Ev started the club in ’76, right? Was it just the two of you?
Page: I’ll tell you what the scoop was. Back in ’74, the recreation department in Medicine Hat, quite a few people had been approaching them about a boxing club. Ev Nieman was approached, and we got it organized as a club. I think we had a season in before we got exposed as a club.
News: So maybe it was more ’75…
Page: Fall of ’76 we really took off, we started competing shortly after. We were the biggest club in Canada in the late '70s.
News: Well, you guys had over 100 members at one point…
Page: We had 122 registered members one year. We had 54 boxers compete, we had three teams traveling the same weekend, it was unbelievable. We had a team in Regina, a team in Great Falls and we had a team in Edmonton. I can remember these stats because I used to live on it, what we were accomplishing. Out of the 54, 32 were from single-parent families or problem backgrounds.
News: Interesting.
Page: I’m so proud of the function of the club right now because Darrell Maser, Kerry Fahlman, myself, Brian Christman, the people that are involved, it’s a family thing almost. They feel this is part of the success of the club, that we’re close. It’s a really, really good place to be right now.
News: And I know we’ve addressed this before, boxing isn’t as popular now as it was back when you guys founded it, and yet the club here still seems to bring in . . . Kerry was amazed how many people you guys had early this season showing up on a regular basis. I’ve got to think that’s more a testament to the culture you’ve built around it rather than what’s going on in the rest of the world.
Page: It speaks to the coaches we have, the people involved. We know the kids, we know their background. Some of the kids have problems, they come to us with them and we talk to them; we’re concerned about them as a person, not just as a boxer. That’s the bottom line.
News: I’ve got to ask, though, about the thing with MMA and the UFC stuff, what your thoughts are. Trevor Stewardson, he’s now 4-1 after winning by KO on Friday night and he’s made the transition from one to the other. Where do you see that whole aspect of it fitting in?
Page: Myself, I don’t care for the MMA. I think two guys can go out in a back alley and perform like that. I don’t see the discipline, the respect for your opponents, it’s not my type of sport. I don’t care for it, I don’t like it, I really don’t.
News: And yet it’s about as popular now as boxing was about 15 years ago.
Page: It’s a blood sport, that’s what it is. They all go to see somebody hurt, to see the blood flow.
News: Sure. Do you think it could ever evolve past that?
Page: I don’t know. Not the way it’s going right now. They’re going to have to change their goals and their attitudes. I just can’t see it.
News: It’s a tough thing because of the popularity of it. It’s sort of a train, you’re either on or you’re off.
Page: There’s some tough characters, I give them that. Trevor Stewardson is a warrior, there’s just no question about it. He lives to box, to fight, and he’s gone to this because there’s a chance to make a buck.
News: And he’s been honest about that.
Page: That man is a warrior, I’ll guarantee you.
News: I’m sure you’d love to see him try his hand at pro boxing.
Page: Pro boxing and amateur boxing are two different sports, and so it should be. If Trevor’s going to go professional, I wish him all the luck in the world.
News: Do you think he’d have what it takes to go that route?
Page: He’s tough enough. Whether he has the skills and the know-how to get by the boxing promoters and their agenda, that’s the only thing that scares me. It’s not Trevor’s ability and his drive, that man will outwork anybody on Earth . . . I’m just afraid, they don’t hesitate to sacrifice somebody, you know?
News: For their bottom line, yeah.
Page: And their bottom line is the dollar bill. It’s not the welfare of Trevor Stewardson or his four little boys. I’ve been around several professional promoters, boxing people, and most of them I don’t care for their ethics.
News: If there’s one boxer you could meet, past or present, who would it be?
Page: I would like to have met and known Billy Lauder. He’s the father of boxing in Medicine Hat. He came from Scotland to Canada, he was the lightweight champion of Canada for six years, retired undefeated. He fought Abe Attell twice for the world title, and Abe Attell said a man did not live that could go the distance with Billy Lauder and outpoint him. Our lead jab comes right from the time of Billy Lauder, all the way through the '20s, '30s, '40s, '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s. We tried to get him into the boxing hall of fame, and they didn’t see fit to. He was a gentleman, a clean living person, an athlete, everything you want to see in a champion.
News: How did you learn about him?
Page: Ev Nieman and my dad were coached by him when they were boys. When he was an old man he would go out to his backyard and be coaching kids. Anybody who came to his door, he would work with him.
News: Neat. Well, I wanted to go away from boxing for a little bit and ask, it’s actually quite related, about your running. We get the results in from all the local runs and you and Rosemary are always first or second. You do a lot of running when you’re boxing, so that’s probably how you got into that?
Page: I like to run. I grew up in the country and I just love to run, it’s something that made me feel good. When boxing came along they said the more you run, the better you are, so I just carried on. I did drop it for a few years through my lifetime, but I kicked it back in when I was just over 50 years of age, and I’ve had a terrific go since then. I wouldn’t trade my position in life right now, my health and my future and everything else I’ve got going for me, for anything. Running is something that allows a person to compete when you get to be too old to do anything else.
News: Well, you can always compete with yourself, which is a big part of that. You always try to beat your personal best.
Page: Run against the clock. I’ve been fortunate, I won a gold medal in the Canada Senior Games a few years ago, the 3,000 metres. I’ve done some pretty good things. I was running a 5:20 mile back in the mid-90s.
News: Did you ever run a marathon?
Page: I ran one in Victoria, B.C., I was 3:38 at the time. I wanted to be under the 3:30 and I would’ve been, but I blew my right fibula.
News: And you finished? With a broken leg?
Page: I came in on one wing. I enjoyed it. But don’t ever run on the island out there, they have rock for a base. It’s not like running in Medicine Hat, which has a little bit of give in the foundation under you.
News: Would you ever consider doing a marathon again?
Page: Really I am thinking very seriously about it. I have had an ankle injury for the past year, I hope to next summer hopefully.
News: Good luck on that. I assume you’ll try to drag Rosemary with you.
Page: And Ryan, my grandson.
News: He’s doing pretty well too.
Page: He’s been a very successful runner so far.
News: How many grandkids do you have?
Page: I have eight grandchildren. All eight run to a certain degree, they all think it’s neat because grandpa does it.
News: So on Christmas morning, is there a family run or what?
Page: (laughing): No, I’m afraid not. They’re not foolish.
News: Do you ever get a sense of what your place is in the community?
Page: Sometimes, we had the fight card on the weekend and I’m not out amongst the public, I just focus on the boxing club and my family, and my little circle. And there’s so many people who spoke to me by name on the weekend, and… ah, I don’t remember everybody. They’re all way younger (in my mind). That part is really rewarding. I can be in Calgary, Edmonton, a lot of places in Canada and somebody will come up and say ‘Mr. Page, you coached me back in ’78 or ’83’ or whatever and usually I remember if they give me a name. But I think I’ve made a contribution to life. I feel good about that. |
