Emmanuel Augustus is one of the most entertaining
and skillful fighters to have ever laced up gloves with Floyd Mayweather maintaining for years that
Augustus was his toughest opponent and calling his talent unbelievable Augustus knew the ins and outs
of fighting so well that he could literally dance around his opponents earning him the nickname
of drunken master Augustus is subtle displays a defense but suddenly morph into a bizarre but
trilliant display of skill as he abandoned all semblance of form to completely humiliate his
opponent he would even occasionally use his dance moves as elaborate setups or faints as such
Washington provides a multitude of entertaining examples on how to best transition through several
different head slots foot positions and ranges the way that Augustus fought using the extreme
variations of several techniques and styles provides a great chance to break down many of the
principles and tactics from previous videos and blend them together into one cohesive poll so
let's look at how Augustus smoothly blended so many elements together in ways that few fighters
have ever been gutsy enough to try starting with his more subtle skills and then working up to
a truly made him the drunken master [Music] we'll start from close range and work our way
back at close range foot position still matters but it matters less and head and upper body
positions take prevalence most fighters prefer the outside position resting their head on the
opponent's lead shoulder this protects their jaw from the opponent's power hand by shielding
it with the opponent's head but whether in an open or a closed head position disengaging
and moving inside comes with more risks and more rewards and Augustus loved to take risks
at this range smothering the opponent's guard by pressing against him becomes a vital tactic
and Augustus excelled at weaving from shoulder to shoulder masterfully targeting openings in
his opponent's guard before finally pressing in to find safety and pin his arms straightening
up allows for better vision and more targets but leaves the fighter the most hoping it must
be done briefly before finding safety on the inside once again that being said augustus
chose to stand right in front of his opponents on multiple occasions at times dropping his
hands and relying entirely on head movement of course what work can still be a crucial weapon
at this range watch how it gust his size steps to escape the ropes and turn the time of the round
and his antic fight against Micky Ward [Music] at mid to long range these same principles
still apply since it's impossible to find safety by smothering the opponent assistants
head movement in tandem with footwork takes prevalence for sophisticated defense moving
the shoulders between a squared up position and a safer more narrow position can take
on a vinyl defensive role no pun intended as well as put a fighter in position to counter
a square posture provides lateral head movement in either directions allowing a fighter to set
up shots off of the center line here Augustus slips and weaves inside and outside in order
to evade his opponent punches and load of power into his counters in contrast a more narrow
posture provides for greater protection and allows greater lateral movement but only in one
direction a combination of shoulder rolls poles and ducts can make for a powerful defense part
of what made Augustus special was his ability to shift forwards and backwards in order to
extend the range of his head movement and take advantage of multiple positions for instance
Augustus would commonly step back into South claw to shoulder roll beat side attacks and
then duck low to exit out at an angle [Music] Augustus performed these feats to the far side of
plausibility doing things that just shouldn't work and in fact they didn't always work but that never
stopped the gustas from trying them at long range these body postures can be extended and enhanced
by for work for instance the outside position can be obtained by stepping the rear foot outside in a
closed stance or the lead foot outside in an open stance this takes away the opponent's ability to
land with his rear hand while the fighters still remains offensively capable while Augustus is well
aware of the benefits of using footwork to take an outside angle he was especially good at utilizing
footwork on the inside moving inside of the centerline the fighter can take the same attitude
as an in fighter squaring up and risking attack to keep both hands within striking distance Augustus
shows his tactic here closing the distance between his rear foot and his opponent foot to get it as
ribs alternatively the fighter can move into an inside position that opens up his opponent and
keeps himself safely sideways Augustus does so here keeping sideways to flick out his jab and
move back to the center of the Ring but Augustus most excelled when he used footwork to move
between an open and a narrow stance just as he did with body posture in this exchange Augustus
begins in an open stance slipping inside to avoid a jab and then countering with the body shot he
gains an advantage by keeping his lead foot on the outside he then these shifts outside to exit
at an angle switching into an Orthodox stance he steps forward to throw and then steps back with
a lead hook regaining safety by staying in a narrow posture Ward moves in with a rare hook
and Augustus responds squaring himself up to slip inside and returning fire with a leap hook of
his own anticipating another attack he shifts back squares up to sleep then smothers were to press
him back and create space after slipping a few more punches he exits off the ropes while the last
exchange was no doubt impressive augustus took it to a whole other level when he danced a Gustus
would play with all footwork positions postures and head slots smoothly moving through all the
ranges while doing so here Augustus squares up inside to lead with multiple crosses when his
opponent tries to push back a Gustus steps into southpaw and then steps forward immediately into
a wide square stance pulling back to angle in an uppercut he then weaves under a punch and steps
back to exit in a defensive narrow stance that was impressive but let's go up one more level
here Augustus shifts into southpaw to go on the offensive and then switch shifts back into
Orthodox to evade his opponent punch before rebounding back with a one-two-three he then pulls
back and steps outside to angle an ax counter right over his opponents jab now let's go up one
more level and look at what was perhaps Augustus his most impressive exchange ever augusta steps
in with the cross presses in to smother his upon his guard then turned slips multiple punches
he then switched shifts to avoid a punch and immediately switch shifts back to land a hard
uppercut he dances his way into a cross uppercut combination slips another punch and then dances
his way inside his opponent is left so out of position he's forced to step back to return to an
orthodox stance meanwhile augustus has danced his way into a southpaw position and lands with the
leading cross he next steps through a de mono shifts inside again and continues his rhythmic
barrage Manuel Gustus is truly one of a kind sadly to quote Floyd Mayweather
Augustus's record did not reflect his talents Augustus was prone to unfair
judging on several notable occasions many of his bouts were taken on a few weeks
or even a few days notice and I guess this would show up under wait not yet fully recovered
from his last bout and despite all of his skills Augustus is lack of power prevented him from
winning several fights all the same Augustus his antics and skillful display of boxing has
earned him a devoted following of lifelong fans many of which have been asking for a break down
every single video since the inception of the channel all I can say is sorry I took so long if
you're interested in upping your own footwork or we'd like to know how to put more power into
your punches you can check out my books linked below for the modern martial artist this has
been David Christian wishing you happy training
