Augustus and Oliveira Throwing Down Tonight

By Charles Presnell

08/07/2005

Augustus and Oliveira Throwing Down Tonight

Tonight, ESPN 2 Friday Night Fights will bring you one of the better matchups of the year.  Combined, the fighters have fought the likes of Floyd Mayweather Jr., Vivian Harris, Ricky Hatton, Vince Phillips, Vernon Forrest, Charles Murray, Micky Ward, Leavander Johnson, Leonard Dorin, Ivan Robinson and Jesus Chavez.  Fighting several big names is typical of a journeyman fighter, however, not only have they won against some of those fighters, they’ve fought wars with them as well.  The two have some of Compubox’s highest punch output numbers in history.  While Emanuel Augustus and Ray Oliveira are not rated by Boxingtalk, expect them to put a fight worth watching.

Emanuel Augustus’ record is certainly a deceiving one at 30-24-6.  Many of his fights were taken on short notice in addition to several bad decisions.  In 2001, he fought in the fight of the year against Micky Ward.  Many who watched the fight thought the scores should have been closer than they were or that he won the fight.  His most recent bouts, he lost two very controversial fights against Tomas Barrientes and Courtney Burton.  In the Barrientes fight, Augustus argued with referee Laurence Cole to the point Cole disqualified Augustus when he was winning the fight.  His next outing turned out to be one of the worst decisions in the last few years when he dropped a split decision to Courtney Burton.  This fight spurred an outrage towards Michigan’s judging towards the local fighters that is still widely talked about.  Augustus rebounded this past January with a TKO over Dillon Carew.  Augustus’ biggest wins, much like Vitali Klitschko, are losses; coming in the fights with Burton and Ward. 

Rebounding off of a loss to Jr. Welterweight King, Ricky Hatton, will be on the mind of Ray Oliveira.  Sucra Ray has enjoyed several success and failures as a prizefighter.  With victories over good opposition, Oliveira is looking for one more chance to win a big fight.  Oliveira’s career can be compared to Arturo Gatti’s, wherein he has won against good fighters, he has a strong local following, however, he has failed when he has tried to step up to the elite level.  Oliveira has wins over two known commodities, Vivian Harris and Vince Phillips.  At thirty-six, Sucra Ray knows this is his last chance to finally reach the level he has never been able to achieve.

This fight has the making of being a classic.  Two fighters, both looking for redemption, who are very skilled veterans and trying their hardest for a chance to shine.  They throw loads of punches, although, neither has the major pop in their blows.  Stylistically these two should fight a possible fight of the year.  After the money ESPN has spent this year on terrible fights, we can all hope this one turns into a classic.

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