On March 9, 2001, two men met in the boxing ring of a seedy Kentucky nightclub. Greg Page, 42, black, was a former world heavyweight champion, past his prime, broke, and desperate for another shot at glory. His opponent, Dale Crowe, 24, was an undefeated, white boxer and former Toughman competitor with a troubled past, who had bulled his way into legitimate prize fighting from the smoky clubs of the mid-South.

 

It was to be a battle between a former world champ’s talent and experience and a journeyman’s raw power and youth. Despite the paltry fifteen hundred dollar purse, there was much at stake for both men. A win would revitalize Greg’s flagging career. Beating the champ would bring worldwide attention and put Dale on the map.

 

The odds were twenty to one in Greg’s favor. No one in the boxing world believed an untested white boy could bring down the fighter once touted as “the next Ali”. But fate would intervene in the tenth round and change the lives of both men in ways no one could have imagined.

 

The Tenth Round is the true story leading to this tragic encounter and the shocking events surrounding it. In that final, critical round, Greg Page went down in what seemed a standard knockout, but a massive brain hemorrhage left him fighting for his life. A subsequent series of strokes rendered him paralyzed on his left side -- a pitiable shell of the powerhouse he once was.

 

As Greg struggled with rehabilitation and life-threatening infections, Dale’s world devolved into drugs, alcohol and self-destruction. Consumed by guilt, his promising career crumbling, his personal life teetering between ruin and suicide, one stunning moment of violence would forever alter the trajectory of his life.

 

In the days following this terrible event, Dale reached out to the only person who could save him -- the man whose life he had devastated in the ring. The unlikely friendship that ensued would set these two men on a journey of healing; allowing them to find meaning and redemption in the tragedies that nearly destroyed them both.