MMA star Michael ‘Venom’ Page made his debut as a professional boxer last Friday at Indigo in Greenwich. Page kept his hands down as he boxed, swaying to showboat when he landed. With a single right hand he knocked out Jonathan Castano in the third round.
Page defended his style of boxing. “I wanted to enjoy it a bit more and be in there a bit longer. The finish was what it was. I think it was a good start to the career, I think a lot of people are going to watch that and probably want to jump in and test that style. It always happens. Everyone says the hands down thing won’t work and trust me it will and I’m going to keep proving it,” he said. “When I get more enthusiastic fighters, you’ll see my style do better against them. A lot of people think when I get harder opponents it’s going to be worse. It actually opens up more because they’re going to be throwing more.
“It went how I thought it would go. I wanted to get more out of it.”
His showboating, he explained, “That’s just me. It’s one of those things that’s part of my personality. I can’t switch it off. When the lights, cameras are rolling, that’s the action that comes out. That’s just me.”
He will continue to box and compete in mixed martial arts. There is no confirmation on where, when or in what sport his next bout will be, although he hopes for a slot on the David Haye-Tony Bellew undercard at the O2 on December 17. “Nothing’s confirmed,” he cautioned. “It just depends on what comes up, it depends on what my coaches decide, it depends on what Scott Coker and Bellator [his MMA promotion] decide.”
“It could be MMA, there’s nothing in the diary yet. I’m just enjoying this moment,” he continued. “I’m not stopping MMA at all. I’ve got a lot to prove, a lot to do in MMA.”
But he will continue his development as a boxer. “I’m not ready to do 12 rounders just yet. It’s not going to take me that long,” he said. “I can fight for 12 rounds but I won’t be myself for every single round and that’s what I want to be. I’m just going to keep doing me and I’m sure people are going to be shouting me out.”
