Forgotten champions: The best boxers you've never heard of

[Delroy Booth]

it is wrong that the onus should be on him to travel to america just to make a quick buck at the end of his career

Absolutely, but that's a matter of economics, that's where HBO have the multi-million pound television deals. Wringing your hands won't change it, but if you want to beat the best you've gotta fight in the USA which is where the best fights happen.

the big fights and big fighters avoided him

Frank Warren kept him from the big fights, for financial reasons.

he was the reigning champion, why isn't the onus on these 'big name fighters' to come to wales and challenge him?

How was he the reigning champion? He was a WBO titleholder, which is by most people's reckoning either the 4th or 5th most prestigous of the belts, and not taken very seriously outside of Europe. He wasn't the lineal title holder until he beat Jeff Lacy and took the IBF title (which had gone from Iran Barkley - James Toney - Roy Jones (relinquished) - Charles Brewer - Sven Ottke (retired) then Jeff Lacy) The WBO super middleweight title on the other hand was a more recent creation, invented to promote the 1989 Thomas Hearns - Sugar Ray Leonard fight as a "world title fight" when it was no such thing. After that it lay dormant, waiting for an enterprising promoter to attach it to their fighter. Chris Eubank won it in 1990, kept it for most of the early 90's, lost it Steve Collins who then retired, then the vacant title was awared to the winner of Calzaghe - Eubank. It was a much lesser title and a real sideline to the main title belts at the time.

the mandatory challengers were nobodies, that isnt calzaghe's fault

They were shit because it was the WBO belt and most high quality fighters prefer to go for either the WBC or WBA belts. WBO mandatories are notoriously weak. Besides, no-hopers like Tocker Pudwill, Mger Mkrtchyan, Will McIntyre, Peter Manfredo Jr etc weren't even mandatory challengers if memory serves, they were "voluntary" defences arranged by Frank Warren to pad Calzaghe's resume and make money from his hometown base.

it shows how corrupt and skewed boxing is, to truly believe that the usa is centre of the universe

It's about money. Purse bids for fights are almost always won by the American promoters with Showtime or HBO cable networks financially supporting them. That's why the fights happen in America predominantly.

at the twilight of his career he trapsed across to america to earn a wage that they should have paid him many, many years before

Indeed but had he been matched hard his whole career, been willing to travel to America like most world champion boxers, he might've got those paydays. Might've got a few losses on his record too.

But in truth he earned a lot more by fighting lots and lots of bums. Quantity over quality.

 

[Delroy Booth]

Anyway here's another great fighter - Emmanuel Augustus/Burton. 38-34-6 (20 KO's)

Don't let the record fool you, this guy was an amazing fighter. He never won a world title but he had some other titles he should perhaps lay claim to. Only Glen Johnson could compete for the title of "the most robbed boxer" in history, and the "best fighter to never win a world title" awards he's got to be up there.

Anyway Augustus started out as Emmannuel Burton, a bright young exciting prospect known for being quick of hand, sharp, technically skilled, tough and who was fit enough to throw thousand and thousands of punches. Always in shape, always ready to travel, he was a journeyman with the skills of a champion and the showboating arrogance of Roy Jones or Muhammed Ali. Although he fought as a journeyman, as a last moment opponent, and it's rumoured a lot of his early non-TV losses were total robberies. That's what happens in Boxing if you're the opponent not the champion, if you're the guy they ring at short notice. Here's a video of some of these robberies.

So the first thing you need to remember is that in this huge 79 fight record quite a lot, if not most, of the losses he recieved were total robberies. However his exciting showboating style and high punch output meant he eventually ended up fighting on ESPN's Friday Night Fights series quite a lot, getting a cult following. The names on his resume are absolutely intimidating. He fought Jesus Chavez in his just his 10th pro fight, losing by TKO. he fought champions Disobelys Hurtado and Ivan Robinson for world titles both on a few days notice. He fought the British light-welterweight champion Jon Thaxton on 2 days notice and knocked him out in his home town. He beat up Teddy Reid again on short notice but got famously robbed by the judges, and the same happened with John John Molina and Antonio Diaz. He beat an extremely highly rated prospect called Carlos Vilches. He gave a young Floyd Mayweather the toughest fight of his whole career, which Mayweather has publicly stated many times (here). It was the first time anyone had really made Mayweather extend himself and dig deep for a win. He fought Micky Ward in 2001 in an absolute barnstormer of a fight, losing narrowly but fairly, and winning The Ring magazine's Fight of the Year award for 2001. He got a loss to Courtney Burton, one of the worst robberies of recent years that led to a criminal investigation by the State of Michigan, but sadly the result wasn't overturned. But he did get a rematch and knocked out Burton in 8 rounds. But there's so many names on his resume. Kelson Pinto. David Diaz. Herman Ngoudjo. Ruslan Prudnikov. Omar Weiss. Leo Dorin. Ray Oliveira. All these people were world class, many were world champions, and he fought them all, at short notice. But every fight he was in is worth watching. Lots of top fighters refused to fight him. He called out Miguel Cotto when he was on the rise but Cotto wanted nothing to do with him. He wanted a fight with Ricky Hatton too, and aggressively pursued it publicly challening him in post-fight interviews, but Hatton's management Frank Warren wouldn't have let him anywhere near a guy like Augustus, preferring softer options (Mike Stewart? Joe Hutchinson?) just like Calzaghe, only Hatton broke with Warren as soon as he could and went and signed up to Golden Boy Promotions in the USA to get the big fights he needed. That would've been an amazing fight for Hatton. Arturo Gatti was another a opponent that was mooted for Augustus but never happened. No-one wanted to fight this guy unless they had no choice or a sympathetic set of judges.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Augustus was his unique style. He's also the best practicioner of the "drunken boxing" style i've ever seen - an idea that comes from Chinese martial arts I believe, where the fighter imitates the movements of a drunk person to confuse and bamboozle an opponent. Arms flying everywhere, weird body angles, Augustus the only fighter I've ever seen actually use it effectively in the ring. He'd lean back and forward, throw his arms around, utterly confuse and misdirect his opponents. Whilst they were looking at his movements, or trying to copy them out of bravado, they'd get distracted for a fraction of a second and BAM! he'd hit them with some shot out of nowhere. There's real method in the madness but you need to be ultra skilled to pull it off. The art of misdirection, it shows how much of this sport is beating your opponent psychologically. You remember the knockdown of James Toney by Roy Jones? One of the best bits of sports psychology ever? Imagine a guy fighting his whole career like that. No-one had more tricks up his sleeve than Augustus. You ever seen a double punch before? Now you have. That was from the fight against Ray Oliveira back in 2004, one of his most dominant performances and worth watching in full especially for the stepover uppercut he landes whilst doing his drunken thing, about 15-16 minutes in, one of the single most incredible punches I've ever seen land by any fighter. Even highly experienced fighters like Ray would struggle to know what to do when faced with this kind of stuff. Alex Trujillo in particular, another highly rated and undefeated young prospect Augustus beat, just mentally fell apart when faced with a guy doing this kind of stuff (here). You can't find sparring partners who can prepare you for this maestro in action. But on the other hand it also cost him - judges don't like clowning around, and in some fights referee's disqualified him for not putting a stop to it when asked. Really unlucky guy.

Recently retired, it's a real shame he never got a title shot. There was supposedly a documentary coming out about his life called The Journeyman but I've never seen it, would love to know what happened to it.

Highlights (terrible music warning - stepover uppercut about on 2mins)


vs Floyd Mayweather


vs Micky Ward

 

[Mikey77]

Why did you pick the Clinton Woods fight as being some special time. Woods was crap. Like Benn said, Calzaghe would always have been a quality fighter. It looks like you are a Roy Jones fanatic. I can understand that as I liked to see his super human speed, but the reality was he was never super human. Tarver always had his number as a southpaw.

As for Euro fighters, they should have travelled to the US to fight Jones. Not doing so was their own problem. Jones should have retired long ago.

 

[Delroy Booth]

Why did you pick the Clinton Woods fight as being some special time.

Because it was the last time Roy Jones looked truly dominant. I could've said anytime before that really, but the Woods fight was one of Jones' better performances against one of his better (ie more willing) opponents. After that was the John Ruiz fight, and the weight loss after Ruiz ruined him.

Woods was crap.

Dunno about crap, he operated at a top level for a long time. Had a good career did Clinton, took on some good fighters in their prime, never ducked anyone. The man went 36 rounds with Glen Johnson, which is 36 more rounds than Calzaghe managed to do with Glen. Beat Rico Hoye by KO, which was a big upset there were Americans who really rated Hoye at the time. One of the best chins in recent boxing history. Shame he fucked up in the Tarver fight though, I thought he'd win that.

It looks like you are a Roy Jones fanatic. I can understand that as I liked to see his super human speed, but the reality was he was never super human. Tarver always had his number as a southpaw.

I'm not a Roy Jones fanatic at all, I just recognise a fact when its staring you in the face. This guy beat James Toney in his prime, embarassed him. James Toney ffs. Knocked out Virgil Hill with a bodyshot. Beat Bernard Hopkins easily. Embarassed John Ruiz. No-one beat world-class fighters with such contemptuous ease like Roy did.

Tell me honestly, do you think there's a single light-heavyweight in history who would've been able to deal with the Roy Jones who did this to Montell Griffin?



Head to head I really can't think of a better fighter.

As for Euro fighters, they should have travelled to the US to fight Jones. Not doing so was their own problem. Jones should have retired long ago.

At least on this we agree.

 

[Mikey77]

Tell me honestly, do you think there's a single light-heavyweight in history who would've been able to deal with the Roy Jones who did this to Montell Griffin?

Yes, Antonio Tarver. I used to have that fight on tape and always remember the ring entrance. All I seen with Griffin in that fight is a guy who goes flat footed and leaves himself vulnerable every time Jones steps forward. What's good about that?

Remember that many of Jones opponents were in awe the same way Tyson's were. The James Toney performance against Jones was a half-hearted disgrace. I say again Woods was not much of a fighter.

I appreciate the fascination with Jones and the name dropping of his opponents. I loved watching all my Jones fights. He is a fascinating guy with amazing talent, but styles make fights and if you look hard enough at the Lou Del Valle fight you will realise his Achilles heel and that Tarver always had his number.

There are great interviews with Tyson on Youtube about psychology and his opponents at the time he was faking it til he made it - those are his words. I think many of Jones opponents were scared stiff.

Oh, final thought. Please don't mention Ruiz. I predicted not only the outcome but how Jones would beat him nearly every round. This was not down to Jones talent alone, but was a result of a Ruiz who was too lazy to jab in the fight against Rahman. A terrible boxer.

 

[silverfish]

Great thread and vids. Cheers gents

 

[Delroy Booth]

Yes, Antonio Tarver. I used to have that fight on tape and always remember the ring entrance. All I seen with Griffin in that fight is a guy who goes flat footed and leaves himself vulnerable every time Jones steps forward. What's good about that?

Seriously? Whether or not Tarver would've always been Jones' achilles heel is one thing (after all Jones did win the first Tarver fight, even if it was a close call) but Griffin? I mean the Griffin rematch just shows exactly how devastating Jones could be when he threw caution to the wind and went for it. He absolutely pulverised Griffin, he knocked him halfway accross the ring with the first left hook he threw. Jones was a very cautious fighter who avoided risk as much as possible, but in that fight we got a glimpse of what he was like when he went for it.

And Griffin is no mug. Flat-footed perhaps but he was a very good fighter, an excellent counter puncher. Besides I don't remember Tarver being known for being light on his feet. But how can you counter a guy who throws punches that quickly? How can you counter a guy who throws left-hooks leads faster than most people can throw jabs? Who can double up on those hooks faster than most can follow up on a jab?

Remember that many of Jones opponents were in awe the same way Tyson's were. The James Toney performance against Jones was a half-hearted disgrace.

I disagree totally. James Toney is not in awe of anyone, he's not that kind of fighter. Nor he is the sort of fighter who balks under pressure. He's also one of the most gifted defensive boxers in the history of the sport. But again, even a true master like Toney couldn't find a way to cope with the sheer speed of Roy at his best. How can anyone counter against someone so quick?

I say again Woods was not much of a fighter.

Well that's an improvement on crap I suppose. I'm not trying to suggest he was anything special but Woods had a lot of heart and a good chin, fascinatingly enough he's one of the few guys Jones fought at his best who actually didn't fight as if he were in awe or psychologically overwhelmed. He was outclassed in terms of talent, by a order of magnitude, but he came to fight. He brought out the best in Jones simply because he went there and had a go, which is one of reasons I picked the Woods fight as an example, rather than say Glen Kelly.

I appreciate the fascination with Jones and the name dropping of his opponents. I loved watching all my Jones fights. He is a fascinating guy with amazing talent, but styles make fights and if you look hard enough at the Lou Del Valle fight you will realise his Achilles heel and that Tarver always had his number.

I'll rewatch the Del Valle fight and get back to you but other than a flash knockdown I don't remember it being particularly close. Been years since I've seen it.

There are great interviews with Tyson on Youtube about psychology and his opponents at the time he was faking it til he made it - those are his words. I think many of Jones opponents were scared stiff.

No doubt, but even the ones who weren't scared stiff (Hopkins? Toney?) got beaten comprehensively. Pyschology goes so far, but Jones had enough talent to back it up. Tyson did too for most of his early career, but the myth continued long after the reality was broken and faded.

Oh, final thought. Please don't mention Ruiz. I predicted not only the outcome but how Jones would beat him nearly every round. This was not down to Jones talent alone, but was a result of a Ruiz who was too lazy to jab in the fight against Rahman. A terrible boxer.

The most interesting thing about the Ruiz fight for me is why Ruiz decided to try and trade jabs with Roy in the centre of the ring, when his only realistic chance of winning was to tuck up and bumrush him. That might've been an interesting fight has Ruiz used his size properly. But for some reason Ruiz wanted a boxing match, and so he lost every round.

 

[Mikey77]

Good post, and I can see why you can justify the unbeatable, naturally-talented fighter in your argument. Last point first. Ruiz' only chance was to clinch and put his weight on Jones. However, Jones was the smaller man, and as you might know he has the habit of not clinching in the centre of the ring. He usually moves back and puts his back to the ropes. That left Ruiz with only the option of leaning against him while he was against the ropes. The referee was never going to allow it. Jones knew this and was too smart to let Ruiz rush him and do anything without putting his back against the ropes. I haven't seen that fight for years either, but like I said it was a predictable outcome in my mind given both the disparity in weight and Ruiz being a terrible heavyweight - watch his fight with Rahman.

The Del Valle fight was interesting. Not sure if it is on Youtube, but Jones never looked like the superb champion you have in your mind against any decent southpaw he fought. His magic was upset by his difficulty in handling these fighters. I remember having this conversation with a Roy Jones fan some years back, but you can watch the fight.

Oh, Glen Kelly. I seem to remember without googling that he was an Ozzie dustman, but maybe not the worst of Jones opponents. I recall a terrible Jamaican southpaw as well. I no longer have my fight tapes.

Psychology does go far. I believe the Tarver loss ended the myth in both the eyes of Roy Jones and his opponents - Glen Johnson etc. I don't think this can all be blamed on physical demise. As Johnson said, and this is not verbatim "when a guy jumps at me to throw a punch, it's a chance for me to hit him". I don't believe James Tony or many other previous opponents had the same attitude.

I could go on, but then I don't disagree with you about his immense talent. He was a joy to watch. I just think every boxer is and was beatable, including Ali. It's only a matter of finding the right opponent. For me the unpredictability and the "styles makes fights" idea is what makes boxing far greater than any individual boxer.

 

[Delroy Booth]

Just rewatched Emmanuel August (Burton as he was known then) versus Jon Thaxton, a Norwich based light-welterweight who had some hype behind him at first and who was later seen getting beaten up in an awful bloody encounter with and up and coming Ricky Hatton. He actually went on from that to win the British title in 2006 and defend it several times, then the European light-welterweight title, which is the period I really remember him from, but anyway he had a good career, and this is actually one of Augustus' best wins.

Jon Thaxton was a strong fighter and a good puncher, he was a Brendan Ingle trained switch-hitter in the style of Herold Graham and Prince Naseem, switching between southpaw and orthodox stance to confuse and bamboozle. Against overmatched journeymen that made him look quite spectacular at times, but he was actually quite one dimensional. He'd already lost to some unknown fighters early on his career, and the fight with Augustus is a textbook masterclass in watching a hometown fighter get exposed.

Part 1 (the rest are easy to search for via Youtube)


A few thoughts. Richie Woodall can't score a fight to save his life, but I think the judges would've probably been scoring the rounds for Thaxton anyway. The Sky commentators keep saying inane things ("Can Burton keep up this pace? Is he fit enough?" I dunno mate ask Micky Ward) Boxing's supposed to be effective aggression, but if you're the hometime fighter just throwing a lot of useless punches and creating the impression of dominance is often enough secure a win on points. This is the position the journeyman like Augustus is always in, why being able to knock a guy out is crucial.

Right from the start Thaxton is throwing Augustus around, pushing him over, spinning him around and hitting on the break, and the referee never contemplates taking a point from Thaxton. This is what a journeyman is up against. Thaxton, thinking he was up against a no-mark, came steaming out after Augustus right from the start hoping to get his night's work over with quickly, only to find Augustus matching him punch for punch in a frantic opening round, laughing and smiling every time Thaxton landed a punch.

It's a great example of a few things about Augustus that prove his class. Yes he could clown around and dance, but he could really fight too. He could take a punch as well as anyone, and would go toe-to-toe with anyone. Thaxton was trying to be a bit flashy and is always moving around the ring, switching stances, throwing leaping hooks and so on. But Augustus see's through it. The shots are all relatively easy to see coming, and Thaxton wastes a lot of energy in the ring moving and switch hitting trying to be like Herold Graham or Naz. Superficially it looks like Thaxton's winning the rounds because he's full of frenetic activity but if you watch carefully Augustus is totally calm, utterly relaxed, smiling and having fun. He's using psychology whilst Thaxton's desperately hoping for one eye-catching shot to finish the guy off. Thaxton's wearing himself out whilst Augustus is thinking of the later rounds.

By about round 4 Thaxton realises he's in deep trouble. The key moment is here when Thaxton tries to push Augustus over again and Augustus uses that insane sense of balance to counter Thaxton with a big shot out of nowhere, leaving the Prince Naseem style switch hitter looking a bit shocked. I think at that point Thaxton realises what he's doing isn't working, and this isn't confused or intimidated by him switching from southpaw to orthodox every few moments. Augustus is countering everything he does with ease, and Thaxton towards the end starts just circling around trying to avoid engagements. Augustus is controlling the fight, even when he's being outlanded, and cutting off the ring. This is proper ring generalship, Thaxton's totally at sea and out of ideas.

The knockout comes in round 7 and it's a good one. Augustus wasn't known as a puncher but he does have some good knockouts to his name. Good job he got it really because the judges would've robbed him in this one, no doubt about it. Thaxton was knackered, demoralised from the taunting and mindgames, and it came about as much through exhaustion and psychology as through Augustus's punching power

 

[Delroy Booth]

And whilst i'm on the topic of great fighters who got robbed, here's an interview with Glen Johnson who's one of my favourite fighters of all time after he got robbed against Chad Dawson. Boxing is such a fucked up sport.

 

[Ponyutd]

My great grandmother had a sweet shop bang opposite Manor Place Baths. Anyone guess the future world champion on this bill?

 

[DaveCinzano]

...for what it's worth I thought Robin Reid should've got the decision against Calzaghe that night in Newcastle (meaning Reid, himself maybe a contender for this thread, beat both the reigning and lineal supermiddleweight champions Joe Calzaghe and Sven Ottke but got robbed in both....)

Yes - I saw that Ottke-Reid fight, and even to a know-nothing idiot spectator like me, it just seemed like a ridiculous robbery of a fight, like an early draft of a Rocky IV script that got rejected for being too hokey.

 

[Delroy Booth]

Yes - I saw that Ottke-Reid fight, and even to a know-nothing idiot spectator like me, it just seemed like a ridiculous robbery of a fight, like an early draft of a Rocky IV script that got rejected for being too hokey.

Never seen a referee as openly biased in favour of the hometown fighter before or since, absolutely shocking.

Reid was basically forced into not throwing punches for fear of disqualification. Had the referee not threatened him so many times he could've knocked out Ottke in 6 rounds I think. Video here



Reid's career is pretty interesting actually might be worth writing something about it, if it weren't for the fact a lot of British boxing fans already know him fairly well.

 

[Ponyutd]

Mickey Duff died yesterday. He once came over and sat on my dad's lap at the Albert Hall I think it was. I was only a kid....he scared me.
Never forget him with Honeyghan after the Don Curry fight.

 

[diond]

Thanks to this thread I've just looked up Mickey Duff. I never knew he was Polish! Fancy That.