Ringside Report Looks Back at Popular Boxer Emanuel Augustus (Emanuel Burton)

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By Daniel Sisneros

Emanuel Augustus started out his career under his birth name “Emanuel Burton”, defeating Jamie Cooper via 6 round Decision, and after losing his next bout by decision few had an idea of the notoriety he would achieve.

He battled on undercards mostly in Louisiana and Texas before being noticed as a special boxer who gained lots of fans. The win that really put the spot light on him was Nov. 19, 1996 when he traveled to Ponce, Puerto Rico with a record of 8-6-3, 2 ko and was brought in as an “opponent” for Puerto Rican Lightweight Champion Wilfredo Negron (12-1, 9 ko). Emanuel Burton scored a shocking upset via majority decision. That win pushed him up into the rankings, and boosted his level of competition.

He went on to face contender after contender, prospects, champions, everyone wanted to have their skills “tested” against Emanuel Burton. U.S. Olympian Dezi Ford, Danny Acevedo, Diosbelys Hurtado, Juan “Golo” Gomez, David Toledo, and Louie Leija among them.

Sept. 26, 1998 Burton traveled to the U.K. and won his first title belts – both the IBF & WBO Inter-Continental Jr. Welter Title Belts via 7th round stoppage of defending champion Jon Thaxton (16-3, 8 ko). He got his first world title shot one year later – Sept. 17, 1999 in Las Vegas Nevada when he challenged Antonio “Tonio” Diaz (29-2, 21 ko) for his IBA Jr. Welterweight title belt. Burton lost his world title bid but pressed on, fighting more top names including Teddy Reid (15-3-1), John John Molina (50-6), Gerald Gray (17-4-1) and even faced an up and coming prospect named Floyd Mayweather Jr. (23-0).

In 2001 Emanuel Burton legally adopted his step-father’s name of Agustus and became Emanuel Agustus. He campaigned on and added top name after top name to his ledger including: Mike Griffith, “Irish” Micky Ward, Leonard Dorin, Leavander Johnson, Carlos Vilches, Omar Weis, Kelson Pinto, David Diaz, & Alvaro Aguilar.

April 2, 2004 saw Agustus get his 2nd chance at a world title and he made the most of it in a bout televised on espn2. He upset defending IBA Jr. Welterweight Champion Puerto Rico’s Alex Trujillo (23-1, 17 ko’s) by unanimous decision via wide scores of 119-108, 118-109, and 117-110. Emanuel would lose that title in his first defense via disqualification in a bout he was leading at the time of the stoppage.

Controversy followed Agustus his entire career, and in his next bout he lost a controversial split decision to Courtney Burton (20-2, 11 ko). The bout, televised on espn2, was a wild affair which included Agustus being penalized a point for “Spinning his self out of a clinch”. After 10 rounds the scorecards were all over the place… 98-94 for Agustus, 97-92 for Burton, and 99-90 for Burton.

Augustus’ unorthodox and clowning style kept him in demand for boxing events around the country. An 8th round tko win over highly regarded Ray “Sucra” Oliveira (47-10-2, 22 ko) earned him a shot at the NABF Jr. Welterweight title in October 2005 against unbeaten Herman Ngoudjo (11-0, 8 ko) in Montreal, Canada. It was a close but unanimous decision loss over 12 rounds for Augustus.

Emanuel battled on and faced more top names including: Jaime Rangel, a rematch victory by 8th round knockout over Courtney Burton, Almazbek “Kid Diamond” Raiymkulov, Ruslan Provodnikov and unbeaten Charles Hatley. That run included unsuccessful challenges for the WBO Inter-Continental Jr Welter Title, and the WBO Asia Pacific Jr. Welterweight Title, as well as winning the vacant WBC Continental Americas Jr. Welter and vacant WBO Oriental Welterweight Titles.

His final bout happened Jan. 29, 2011, on the undercard of Timothy Bradley vs Devon Alexander at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan. where he lost a decision to local favorite – unbeaten Vernon “Ice Man” Paris (23-0, 14 ko) over 8 rounds.

Emanuel Augustus earned a cult following over his 13 1/2 year pro boxing career. He is remembered as an entertaining and skilled boxer who was a threat every time he entered the ring. He finished his colorful career with a final record of: 38 wins, 34 losses, 6 draws, winning 20 by KO.

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