Emanuel Augustus

Emanuel Augustus (born Emanuel Ya'kov Burton, January 2, 1975) is an American former professional boxer from Brownsville, Texas who competed from 1994 to 2011. He was known for his entertaining boxing style and showboating manner designed to confuse opponents. He faced top-level competition throughout his career, winning the IBA light welterweight title in 2004. He also had The Ring magazine's 2001 Fight of the Year vs. Micky Ward.

Early life

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Augustus (born as Burton) grew up in Louisiana and boxed out of Baton Rouge.

At the age of 17, Augustus found a trainer by the name of Frank James, who operated a gym in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. During his time at the gym Augustus would go on to meet two of the best friends James Georgetown and LJ Morvant. Morvant would later state “in the gym nobody could beat him. He'd go through the whole gym and still be the man in the middle of the ring just wishing somebody would give him another round. He just never got enough.” Augustus had 27 Amateur bouts before going pro.

Professional career

Augustus began boxing at age 17 under his birth name Emanuel Burton. In 1974, when his parents married, Burton adopted his father's last name of Augustus. He retained the nickname "YA", short for his middle name Ya'kov. Emanuel has frequently appeared on ESPN2's boxing programs Tuesday Night Fights and its counterpart Friday Night Fights.

Throughout his early career Augustus would mainly fight in the Southern United States. Having his first international fight on June 1st 1997 in Germany in a DQ loss to Stephen Smith. After going on a 4 fight losing streak in 1997-98 he would then hit the longest unbeaten run of his career of 10 fights. This would include Augustus flying out to Denmark on three days notice to fight a 38-1 contender Soren Sondergaard getting awarded a draw after knocking him down twice in the 8th. Then even more impressively just 10 days later he flew to England and beat Jon Thaxton by TKO to win both the IBF and WBO Inter-Continental Light titles. even in opponents' hometowns. Augustus frequently clowned in the ring to frustrate his opponents, engaging in his trademark "string-puppet dance." Augustus was also known for losing close controversial decisions on the road.

In 2000, Augustus fought Floyd Mayweather. Mayweather won, but with significant difficulty. Mayweather later said that Augustus gave him the most difficult fight in his entire career.

On July 13, 2001 Augustus would face Micky Ward in the 2001 fight of the year. The majority of the fight saw the two men standing right in front of each other. Ward was able to walk Augustus against the ropes for a good portion of the bout, where Augustus was more than comfortable exchanging punches. The fight was pure chaotic, non-stop carnage with both fighters throwing punches to the point of exhaustion.

Augustus achieved a measure of fame after his bout against Courtney Burton on July 6, 2004, which he lost by controversial close decision. On June 6, 1999, Danish boxer Allan Vester won his bout with Augustus with one second left in the twelfth and final round. Augustus was knocked down by a flurry of punches which occurred in the final seconds of the bout, and did not get up in time. Augustus later admitted he gave up out of frustration near the end of the bout, stating, "I just felt out of order, out of place." Due to Augustus not being afraid to fight anyone any time anywhere this led to him losing numerous controversial decisions when he would fight fighters in their home town. He is often regarded as one of the most robbed fighters in boxing.

Near the end of his career in 2008, Augustus had a three win fight streak, including a KO victory of Jakkirt Suwunnalirt to win the WBO oriental welterweight title. This would be the last title win of his career. As he would return to the United States and lose his next 5 retiring in 2011.

Other achievements

His fight against "Irish" Micky Ward on July 13, 2001, was voted 2001 ESPN "Fight of the Year", USA Today's fight of the year, as well as 2001 Ring magazine Fight of the Year. In June 2008 ESPN announced that this fight had been nominated for its "Fight of the Decade" award. Augustus was also named "ESPN's Most Memorable Fighter".

Boxing Style

Augustus is known for his unorthodox style. He would routinely dance in the ring, including his trademark string-puppet dance. Yet Emanuel was also known for his incredible defense, routinely slipping punches and using shoulder rolls to avoid punches. Augustus used exceptional conventional footwork, but also used unorthodox footwork.

During a 2012 interview with boxing expert Dan Rafael, Floyd Mayweather Jr. stated Augustus was the toughest opponent he had faced in his career and Augustus's record didn't reflect the fighter's skills. Baton Rouge Police named 21-year-old Christopher Stills as a suspect in the crime, but subsequently dropped charges due to lack of witnesses or evidence of intent, as Stills was alleged to have fired a gun several times in the air but not at a target. Augustus eventually recovered, and was living with his sister in Baton Rouge. As of 2016, Augustus was engaged to be married, was in improved health and spirits, and had returned in training.

In August 2025, Augustus was added into the boxing video game Undisputed as DLC.

Professional boxing record

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

!Result

!Record

!Opponent

!Type

!Round, time

!Date

!Location

!Notes

|78

|Loss

|style="text-align:left;"| Vernon Paris

|UD

|29 Jan 2011

|style="text-align:left;"|

|77

|Loss

|38–33–6

|style="text-align:left;"| Charles Hatley

|UD

|25 Sep 2010

|style="text-align:left;"|

|76

|Loss

|38–32–6

|style="text-align:left;"| Ruslan Provodnikov

|TKO

|9 (10)

|21 May 2010

|style="text-align:left;"|

|75

|Loss

|38–31–6

|style="text-align:left;"| Wale Omotoso

|TKO

|9 (10)

|21 Aug 2009

|style="text-align:left;"|

|74

|Loss

|38–30–6

|style="text-align:left;"| Francisco Figueroa

|SD

|8 Nov 2008

|style="text-align:left;"|

|style="text-align:left;"|Undercard fight for the main event Joe Calzaghe vs. Roy Jones Jr.

|73

|Win

|38–29–6

|style="text-align:left;"| Jakkirt Suwunnalirt

|KO

|2 (12)

|4 July 2008

|style="text-align:left;"|

|72

|Win

|37–29–6

|style="text-align:left;"| Jun Paderna

|UD

|30 May 2008

|style="text-align:left;"|

|71

|Win

|36–29–6

|style="text-align:left;"| David Wiremu

|KO

|2 (8)

|1 Feb 2008

|style="text-align:left;"|

|70

|Loss

|35–29–6

|style="text-align:left;"| Sergey Sorokin

|UD

|12

|31 Aug 2007

|style="text-align:left;"|

|style="text-align:left;"|For WBO Asia Pacific Super Lightweight Title

|69

|Win

|35–28–6

|style="text-align:left;"| Marteze Logan

|UD

|18 Apr 2007

|style="text-align:left;"|

|68

|Loss

|34–28–6

|style="text-align:left;"| Almazbek Raiymkulov

|UD

|10

|11 Jan 2007

|style="text-align:left;"|

|67

|Win

|34–27–6

|style="text-align:left;"| Russell Stoner Jones

|UD

|10

|9 Dec 2006

|style="text-align:left;"|

|style="text-align:left;"|Won vacant WBC Continental Americas Super Lightweight Title

|66

|Win

|33–27–6

|style="text-align:left;"| Courtney Burton

|KO

|8 (10)

|1 Sep 2006

|style="text-align:left;"|

|65

|Win

|32–27–6

|style="text-align:left;"| Marteze Logan

|UD

|17 May 2006

|style="text-align:left;"|

|64

|Loss

|31–27–6

|style="text-align:left;"| Arturo Morua

|UD

|12

|10 Mar 2006

|style="text-align:left;"|

|style="text-align:left;"|For WBO Inter-Continental Super Lightweight Title

|63

|Win

|31–26–6

|style="text-align:left;"| Jaime Rangel

|TKO

|10 (10)

|10 Feb 2006

|style="text-align:left;"|

|62

|Loss

|30–26–6

|style="text-align:left;"| Herman Ngoudjo

|UD

|12

|15 Oct 2005

|style="text-align:left;"|

|style="text-align:left;"|For NABF Super Lightweight Title and vacant WBC International Super Lightweight Title

|61

|Win

|30–25–6

|style="text-align:left;"| Ray Oliveira

|TKO

|8 (10)

|8 Jul 2005

|style="text-align:left;"|

|60

|Win

|29–25–6

|style="text-align:left;"| Dillon Carew

|TKO

|8 (10)

|21 Jan 2005

|style="text-align:left;"|

|style="text-align:left;"|Corner retirement~Carew deducted 2 points for spitting out his mouthpiece in the 8th rd

|59

|Loss

|28–25–6

|style="text-align:left;"| Courtney Burton

|SD

|10

|6 Jul 2004

|style="text-align:left;"|

|style="text-align:left;"|Augustus penalized one point in 8th for spinning himself out of a clinch

|58

|Loss

|28–24–6

|style="text-align:left;"| Tomas Barrientes

|DQ

|7 (12)

|18 Jun 2004

|style="text-align:left;"|

|style="text-align:left;"|For IBA Light Welterweight Title, Lost IBA World Super Lightweight Title, Augustus ahead at time of disqualification

|57

|Win

|28–23–6

|style="text-align:left;"| Alex Trujillo

|UD

|12

|2 Apr 2004

|style="text-align:left;"|

|style="text-align:left;"|Won IBA World Super Lightweight Title

|56

|style="background:#abcdef;"|Draw

|27–23–6

|style="text-align:left;"| Alvaro Aguilar

|MD

|28 Feb 2004

|style="text-align:left;"|

|style="text-align:left;"|Undercard fight for the main event Érik Morales vs Jesús Chávez

|55

|Loss

|27–23–5

|style="text-align:left;"| David Diaz

|UD

|30 Jan 2004

|style="text-align:left;"|

|54

|Loss

|27–22–5

|style="text-align:left;"| Kelson Pinto

|UD

|10

|17 Jun 2003

|style="text-align:left;"|

|53

|Loss

|27–21–5

|style="text-align:left;"| Michael Warrick

|UD

|10

|17 May 2003

|style="text-align:left;"|

|52

|Loss

|27–20–5

|style="text-align:left;"| Omar Gabriel Weis

|UD

|10

|7 Feb 2003

|style="text-align:left;"|

|51

|Win

|27–19–5

|style="text-align:left;"| Carlos Wilfredo Vilches

|TKO

|8 (10)

|19 Jul 2002

|style="text-align:left;"|

|style="text-align:left;"|Fight stopped due to a cut, Augustus took the fight on 2 days notice as a late sub for Vince Phillips

|50

|style="background:#abcdef;"|Draw

|26–19–5

|style="text-align:left;"| Leavander Johnson

|SD

|10

|7 Jun 2002

|style="text-align:left;"|

|49

|Win

|26–19–4

|style="text-align:left;"| Luis Alejandro Ugalde

|UD

|12 Apr 2002

|style="text-align:left;"|

|48

|Win

|25–19–4

|style="text-align:left;"| Jesus Abel Santiago

|TKO

|8 (10)

|31 Jan 2002

|style="text-align:left;"|

|47

|Loss

|24–19–4

|style="text-align:left;"| Leonard Doroftei

|UD

|10

|28 Sep 2001

|style="text-align:left;"|

|46

|Loss

|24–18–4

|style="text-align:left;"| Micky Ward

|UD

|10

|13 Jul 2001

|style="text-align:left;"|

|45

|Win

|24–17–4

|style="text-align:left;"| Mike Griffith

|TKO

|10 (10)

|16 Feb 2001

|style="text-align:left;"|

|44

|Win

|23–17–4

|style="text-align:left;"| Orlando Milian

|TKO

|2 (6)

|10 Feb 2001

|style="text-align:left;"|

|43

|Loss

|22–17–4

|style="text-align:left;"| Floyd Mayweather Jr.

|TKO

|9 (10)

|21 Oct 2000

|style="text-align:left;"|

|42

|Win

|22–16–4

|style="text-align:left;"| Gerald Gray

|UD

|12 Aug 2000

|style="text-align:left;"|

|41

|Loss

|21–16–4

|style="text-align:left;"| John John Molina

|UD

|10

|12 May 2000

|style="text-align:left;"|

|40

|Loss

|21–15–4

|style="text-align:left;"| Teddy Reid

|UD

|12

|19 Mar 2000

|style="text-align:left;"|

|style="text-align:left;"|For vacant NABF World Super Lightweight Title

|39

|Loss

|21–14–4

|style="text-align:left;"| Antonio Díaz

|UD

|12

|17 Sep 1999

|style="text-align:left;"|

|style="text-align:left;"|For IBA World Super Lightweight Title

|38

|Won

|21–13–4

|style="text-align:left;"| Terrell Finger

|KO

|8 (8)

|30 Jul 1999

|style="text-align:left;"|

|37

|Loss

|20–13–4

|style="text-align:left;"| Allan Vester

|KO

|12 (12)

|25 Jun 1999

|style="text-align:left;"|

|style="text-align:left;"|Lost IBF and WBO Inter-Continental light welterweight title

|36

|Win

|20–12–4

|style="text-align:left;"| Jamar Carter

|UD

|19 Feb 1999

|style="text-align:left;"|

|35

|Win

|19–12–4

|style="text-align:left;"| Sammy Sparkman

|KO

|5 (?)

|2 Dec 1998

|style="text-align:left;"|

|34

|Win

|18–12–4

|style="text-align:left;"| Jon Thaxton

|TKO

|7 (12)

|26 Sep 1998

|style="text-align:left;"|

|style="text-align:left;"|Won IBF and WBO Inter-Continental light welterweight title

|33

|Win

|17–12–4

|style="text-align:left;"| Eduardo Martinez

|KO

|6 (?)

|16 Sep 1998

|style="text-align:left;"|

|32

|style="background:#abcdef;"|Draw

|16–12–4

|style="text-align:left;"| Søren Søndergaard

|PTS

|4 Sep 1998

|style="text-align:left;"|

|31

|Win

|16–12–3

|style="text-align:left;"| Jozef Kubovsky

|UD

|28 Jun 1998

|style="text-align:left;"|

|30

|Win

|15–12–3

|style="text-align:left;"| Fredd Ladd

|TKO

|8 (10)

|7 May 1998

|style="text-align:left;"|

|29

|Win

|14–12–3

|style="text-align:left;"| Santos Lopez

|KO

|3 (8)

|17 Apr 1998

|style="text-align:left;"|

|28

|Win

|13–12–3

|style="text-align:left;"| Louie Leija

|UD

|10 Mar 1998

|style="text-align:left;"|

|27

|Win

|12–12–3

|style="text-align:left;"| David Toledo

|KO

|10 (10)

|21 Feb 1998

|style="text-align:left;"|

|26

|Loss

|11–12–3

|style="text-align:left;"| Juan Gomez

|UD

|10

|31 Jan 1998

|style="text-align:left;"|

|25

|Loss

|11–11–3

|style="text-align:left;"| Silverio Flores

|UD

|14 Dec 1997

|style="text-align:left;"|

|24

|Loss

|11–10–3

|style="text-align:left;"| Juan Antonio Lopez

|UD

|14 Nov 1997

|style="text-align:left;"|

|23

|Loss

|11–9–3

|style="text-align:left;"| Diosbelys Hurtado

|UD

|10

|2 Oct 1997

|style="text-align:left;"|

|22

|Win

|11–8–3

|style="text-align:left;"| Danny Acevedo

|TKO

|5 (6)

|13 Jul 1997

|style="text-align:left;"|

|21

|Loss

|10–8–3

|style="text-align:left;"| Stephen Smith

|DQ

|3 (10)

|1 Jun 1997

|style="text-align:left;"|

|style="text-align:left;"|Augustus disqualified for a low blow

|20

|Loss

|10–7–3

|style="text-align:left;"| Terrance Churchwell

|UD

|10

|14 May 1997

|style="text-align:left;"|

|19

|Win

|10–6–3

|style="text-align:left;"| Dezi Ford

|UD

|26 Feb 1997

|style="text-align:left;"|

|18

|Win

|9–6–3

|style="text-align:left;"| Wilfredo Negron

|MD

|19 Nov 1996

|style="text-align:left;"|

|17

|style="background:#abcdef;"|Draw

|8–6–3

|style="text-align:left;"| Arturo Ramos

|PTS

|28 Sep 1996

|style="text-align:left;"|

|16

|Loss

|8–6–2

|style="text-align:left;"| Ivan Robinson

|UD

|10

|21 Jul 1996

|style="text-align:left;"|

|15

|style="background:#abcdef;"|Draw

|8–5–2

|style="text-align:left;"| Larry O'Shields

|PTS

|23 Apr 1996

|style="text-align:left;"|

|14

|Loss

|8–5–1

|style="text-align:left;"| Pete Taliaferro

|UD

|10

|4 Mar 1996

|style="text-align:left;"|

|13

|Win

|8–4–1

|style="text-align:left;"| Danny Reyes

|UD

|23 Jan 1996

|style="text-align:left;"|

|12

|Win

|7–4–1

|style="text-align:left;"| Roberto Chala

|TKO

|6 (6)

|12 Dec 1995

|style="text-align:left;"|

|11

|Loss

|6–4–1

|style="text-align:left;"| Lupe Miranda

|UD

|14 Sep 1995

|style="text-align:left;"|

|10

|Loss

|6–3–1

|style="text-align:left;"| Jesus Chavez

|TKO

|7 (8)

|20 Jun 1995

|style="text-align:left;"|

|style="background:#abcdef;"|Draw

|6–2–1

|style="text-align:left;"| Bill Coddlington

|MD

|14 Mar 1995

|style="text-align:left;"|

|Win

|6–2

|style="text-align:left;"| Barry Guidry

|PTS

|5 Mar 1995

|style="text-align:left;"|

|Loss

|5–2

|style="text-align:left;"| Ed Tobar

|MD

|31 Jan 1995

|style="text-align:left;"|

|Win

|5–1

|style="text-align:left;"| Barry Guidry

|TKO

|4 (6)

|10 Jan 1995

|style="text-align:left;"|

|Win

|4–1

|style="text-align:left;"| Richard Armstrong

|PTS

|3 Dec 1994

|style="text-align:left;"|

|Win

|3–1

|style="text-align:left;"| Teddy Randolph

|MD

|30 Nov 1994

|style="text-align:left;"|

|Win

|2–1

|style="text-align:left;"| David Herrod

|PTS

|18 Nov 1994

|style="text-align:left;"|

|Loss

|1–1

|style="text-align:left;"| Eldon Sneed

|UD

|13 Oct 1994

|style="text-align:left;"|

|Win

|1–0

|style="text-align:left;"| Jamie Cooper

|UD

|23 Jul 1994

|style="text-align:left;"|

Notable opponents

In just his 10th professional fight faced Jesus Chavez and was TKO'd in the 7th round.
Lost a 10-round UD against Pete Taliaferro.
Took a short notice fight against Ivan Robinson and almost threw off Robinson's title aspirations (L10).
Won a tight MD over Wilfredo Negron.
Fought Diosbelys Hurtado on short notice (L10).
TKO'd England's Jon Thaxton after taking the fight on short notice.
Lost a 12-round decision to Antonio Diaz.
Lost a controversial 12-round decision to Teddy Reid.
Fought John John Molina (L10).
TKO'd by Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the 9th round after his corner threw in the towel. Mayweather maintains to this day that Augustus was one of his toughest opponents.
Took part in 2001's fight of the year against Micky Ward (L10). Ward maintains that Augustus, along with Arturo Gatti, was one of the toughest men he ever fought.
Fought Romania's Leonard Doroftei (aka Leo Dorin, L10).
Drew with the late Leavander Johnson.
Upset Carlos Wilfredo Vilches with a TKO win.
Lost a 10-round decision to Omar Weis.
Lost a 10-round decision to Kelson Pinto on short notice.
Lost an 8-round decision to David Diaz.
Dominated in a 12-round win over Alex Trujillo.
Stopped Ray Oliveira in 8 rounds.
Lost an exciting 12-round UD to Herman Ngoudjo.
Took a short notice fight against hard hitting prospect Ruslan Provodnikov and was TKO'd in the 9th round.
Lost to Vernon Paris (L8) in his last ever fight.

References

External links

Official Emanuel Augustus YouTube Page
Augustus interviewed in 2005
Augustus chat plus fight clips October 2006