Part 2 - The Road Warrior [Emanuel Augustus Career Tribute]

Part Two showcases a pair of Augustus' most notable performances, both taken amidst a demanding schedule of top opponents in dramatic bouts, which are also highlighted. Emanuel was without a hometown of his own, so to speak, which meant he was always on the road taking fights in unfavorable circumstances. Regardless of the situation or outcome though, Augustus always endeavored to put on a show.

Gor Man Productions 2022

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬[ CHAPTERS ]▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
00:00 Intro
01:24 First showcase bout set up
02:57 Testing The Best Ever
11:41 Career trajectory & highlights
16:56 Second showcase bout set up
18:15 The art of war
27:52 Outro

▬▬▬▬▬[ ADDITIONAL CONTEXT ]▬▬▬▬▬
[SPOILERS BELOW]

VS DIAZ: Augustus edged out Diaz early, but his inconsistent work-rate over 12 rounds let him down. I scored it for Diaz 115-113, although even if Emanuel's performance had been more convincing it was obvious that on that night the judges were not looking to give him credit.

VS REID: This should have been a close but comfortable win for Augustus. It looked like the judges gave the tighter rounds to Reid. He did have his moments, but Augustus was overall the better man on the night. Until he fought Ruslan Provodnikov, Augustus credited Reid as the hardest puncher he'd faced.

VS MOLINA: This was an action-packed fight in which Molina, a 2-time world champ accustomed to fighting at lighter weights, used his speed and work-rate to overwhelm Augustus. Although Molina deservedly won a wide decision, it was competitive throughout and Emanuel had plenty of quality moments against the skillful veteran.

VS MAYWEATHER JR: Augustus went on the record to say that Floyd had the best defense, fastest hands, best footwork, and best boxing skills he'd faced. "After him everybody looked like they were in slow motion... I wasn't a fan of his style but he did his thing. He had fast hands, good footwork and a defense that forced combos". In his post-fight interview, Augustus said that he felt like he gave the people what they wanted to see, which was the classic battle of a boxer against a fighter.

VS MILIAN: Each one of Milian's 13 wins had come against opponents with losing records. Matching him up with a 22-17-4 Augustus looked like a reasonable match up on paper, but his inexperience was exposed and Augustus scored a relatively simple stoppage in the 2nd round.

VS GRIFFITH: Griffith's previous bout was a commendable loss against 29-0 Paul Spadafora for a world title, but against Augustus he was outmatched skill-wise. He was hurt multiple times but refused to go down, showing plenty of heart. The ESPN crew accused Augustus of "carrying" Griffith because it seemed that Augustus was spending more time clowning instead of finishing Griffith off. Nonetheless, a barrage of heavy punches led to a stoppage in the 10th and final round.

VS WARD: This was "Irish" Micky Ward's 26th appearance on ESPN. He had also made a habit of delivering fan friendly fights. Emanuel displayed tremendous resilience in going 10 brutal rounds with Ward. Afterwards, Augustus credited Ward with the best chin he's ever faced. “It was two hardheads in there trying to get it,” said Augustus. “I could have said something about the knockdown, but hey, that was my rest period... Sometimes I wonder if I wouldn’t have took that knee, would it be a draw". Considering that two judges were blindly scoring for Ward (Fagin and Nolan - sound like Irish lads), it was highly unlikely that Augustus was going to receive anything but a loss. Those two inexplicably scored the first round 10-7 & 10-8 for Ward - scores generally reserved for rounds featuring knockdowns. Despite the outcome, Emanuel and Micky became great friends after the bout, "You can definitely see the brotherhood with him and Micky,” a friend of Emanuel's, LJ Morvant, said. “That right there is different from the rest of them. Micky had two dance partners that took it to that level and that was Emanuel and, rest in peace, Arturo Gatti."

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬[ REFERENCES ]▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Athletes Quarterly - https://athletesquarterly.com/athletes/you-cant-keep-a-good-man-down/
Ringtv.com - https://www.ringtv.com/569966-best-i-faced-emanuel-augustus/
THE FIGHT with Teddy Atlas - https://youtu.be/WH4NM-b3U3I

▬▬▬▬▬[ NON-ORIGINAL MUSIC ]▬▬▬▬▬
Vs Mayweather: pixabay.com - drums1-838
Career trajectory & highlights: Warcraft 2 OST - Orc 02 [https://youtu.be/v_f8UFv_Ytc]
Vs Ward: Lords of the Realm 2 OST - Scroll 3 [https://youtu.be/dIH5ibaP0FA]
Outro: Lords of the Realm 2 OST - Setup [https://youtu.be/FgIvMBZ1ZAc]

#emanuelaugustus #boxing #career #highlights #mrgor24 #tribute