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02/01/2004 Archived Entry: "Diaz Fires Up Chicago Crowd in Barnburner versus Augustus"
Diaz Fires Up Chicago Crowd in Barnburner versus Augustus
By Juan C. Ayllon
Photos by Ed Zajak
Chicago, Illinois - Some experts would have you believe that boxing is dead or, at very least, on life support. According to one scribe, boxing sites on the Internet such as the Cyber Boxing Zone serve as caretakers, maintaining marginal interest in the moribund sport and helping prevent its complete and utter collapse into rigor mortis. Tell that to 2,000 screaming fight fans at the DePaul Athletic Center.
On a frightfully cold Friday, January 29, 2004, boxing was very much alive as junior welterweight David Diaz won a sizzling, eight round unanimous decision over Emanuel Augustus.
This was the same Augustus who gave popular slugger Micky Ward arguably his sternest test prior to his legendary bouts with Arturo Gatti. Unlike Ward, however, Diaz was fighting Emanuel Augustus sans the benefit of television coverage. For taking such a risk without the reward of TV exposure, David Diaz was crazy, insiders whispered.
Enthusiastic, maybe, but David Diaz was anything but crazy. He fought a disciplined and inspired aggressive fight against a fiery and cat quick Emanuel Augustus. As aggressive as he was, David Diaz remained composed throughout and did not leave himself wide open when baited with traps by the clever, counterpunching Augustus.
Physically more imposing, Diaz (now 23-0-0) was clearly several inches taller and fuller throughout the bellies of his musculature, especially in the upper body. Square jawed and solid, Augustus (now 27-23-5), for his part, sported a more Spartan and lithe physique clearly built for speed.
Round one started out slowly. A southpaw with a high guard, Diaz initiated, coming to Augustus and firing a right jab, followed by a straight left over the top. Augustus, holding his hands lower, countered in bursts of quick two and three punch salvos. Possessing an edge in speed, he darted in and out very quickly. The two studied each other cautiously, circling one another, engaging briefly and circled again. 
Diaz fired a right to the body and a right hook and straight left combination to the head. Augustus landed a hard right to Diaz’ head and dug a fast, hard right to the pit of Diaz’ stomach. Boxing carefully, Diaz continued to jab and threw three lead straight lefts to the head. At the end of the round, they came together, where Augustus unleashed a frenetic flurry, mostly missing, but landing a left hook to the head in the process. This was a close round and hard to call. Diaz appeared to have a slight edge in punches landed.
Round two was busier. Pressing forward, Diaz threw crisp right jab/straight left combinations. Emanuel countered with fast left-rights and dropped in a hard, lead right to the body. The tempo clearly quickened as the two traded punches more freely.
For his part, Diaz pressed the action with the right jab, right hooks and straight lefts to the head. He dropped in a left hook to the body. Using angles, shifting to the left and right, sometimes stepping back, circling and reengaging, Diaz made good use of the squared canvas real estate.
Emanuel countered spryly, coming off the balls of his feet, momentarily planting to fire blurry two and three punch bursts and returned back on the balls of his feet and out again. He landed a right uppercut to the head, hard left jab and right to the head.
Shouts of “C’mon Keebler”—David Diaz’ nickname—punctuated the din of an increasingly vociferous crowd as the flurries became more pronounced. Diaz threw a left jab and a right followed by a straight left. A smacking right hook to the body was followed by a left uppercut and another right hook. Right hooks paired with straight lefts to the head followed.
Augustus countered with dazzling fast combinations, throwing sprite left hook and rights. His punches reached a fever pitch at rounds end. As fast and busy as his hands were, however, a lot landed on shoulders, arms and gloves. Again, Diaz appeared to have a very slight margin in terms of effective aggression.
Round three picked up where round two left off. Diaz pressed and Augustus countered in busy exchanges. The crowd cheered lustily as the two increasingly mixed it up in frenzied skirmishes. David Diaz bled slightly from a small cut on the outside of his left orbital bone as he landed a left hook to the head. He continued to press forward, while Emanuel Augustus countered crisply. Diaz fired a right hook-straight left-right hook that snapped Augustus’s head back. In turn, Augustus snapped Diaz’ head back with a left hook, caught Diaz briefly on the ropes, fired a fusillade of blows, punctuating his flurry with a hard, short right to the head. Covering well, Diaz returned fire, backing Augustus back towards center ring where to the delight of the crowd, the two exchanged fiercely as the round came to a close. This round was difficult to call either way.
Round four witnessed a subtle sea change in the bout as Diaz slowly wrested momentum and control of the bout. With the crowd behind him, he boxed smartly, weathering Augustus’s fearsome punch output at the beginning. He was in a fight with a very scrappy and tough opponent, no doubt about it. However, his potent straight lefts were regularly finding a home on the granite chin of his opponent. Firing these in conjunction with right hooks, uppercuts and hooks to the body with both hands, he increasingly imposed his will on his hardy opponent. This was clearly his round.
Rounds five, six and seven were torrid, blistering fought affairs, with the fifth and sixth apparently banked in Diaz’ favor.
About halfway through round seven, Diaz, clearly tiring from sheer exertion, backed up and Emanuel became the advancing aggressor. Augustus appeared to be mounting a rally, while Diaz’ retaliatory blows appeared to lack steam. Firing a proliferation of combinations, Augustus had Diaz on the defensive, alternatively throwing punches, ducking, blocking and even eating a few punches as he tried to fend off his advancing foe. Augustus was not about to let Diaz have an easy breather.
Summoning up reserves, Diaz intensified his punches, backed Augustus up to the ropes. Augustus escaped and retreated to center ring. Diaz landed a hard, chopping right hook to the head and followed suit with combinations. In turn, Augustus jabbed and landed a four-punch volley of lefts and rights to wind down the seventh. This round was close but arguably went to Emanuel Augustus.
The eighth round was electric. As an appreciative crowd cheered on, the two unloaded viciously on one anther. Emanuel Augustus backed Diaz to the ropes and fired a blistering fusillade of one-twos and hooks as David Diaz covered up. Then it was Diaz’ turn. He fired back with a vengeance and pressured Augustus back to center ring with a fury of his own. Earlier eschewing a body attack, Diaz unleashed a body barrage as the two engaged in heated infighting. Augustus countered with a hard left-right to the head. Diaz surged with hard right jab-straight left combinations and backed Augustus up to a crescendo of cheers. The two exchanged torrid combinations. However, whereas the greater preponderance of Diaz’ blows landed cleanly, many of Augustus’s punches landed on shoulders and gloves. The two finished the fight in a furious exchange, as the crowd roared its hearty approval.
The judges scored the fight 74-70, 74-70 and 79-73 for David Diaz. In a show of true sportsmanship, Emanuel Augustus raised David Diaz’ hand as the crowd cheered approvingly. Moments later, applause cascaded onto the ring as the dashing promoter-in-chief of 8 Count Productions, Dominic, raised both fighters' hands.
In earlier action, Ramon “Rocky” Martinez (40-9-1) won a frustrating and close fight by majority decision over slick boxing Rashaan Blackburn (7-26-2) by scores of 59-55 (Martinez), 57-57 (draw) and 58-56 (Martinez).
Popular Chicago bombers Miguel Hernandez and Luciano Perez primed the crowd for this special evening by extending their respective hot streaks of kayos. Middleweight Miguel Hernandez (7-1-0) stopped game, but outgunned Donnie Simms (0-3-1) one minute and 44 seconds into the second round. Welterweight Luciano Perez (4-0-0) stopped crafty Mark Norge (5-11-2) at 2:02 of round one.
“Irish” Matthew McCarthy (0-1-1) engaged in a surprisingly competitive slugfest that started out looking like a one sided, systematic beating of his opponent, hard punching Mike Rush (1-3-1). Rush, who proved to be the heavier puncher, surged in the latter portion of the bout and made a very tough fight of it. To his credit, McCarthy fought back and held on to garner a majority draw (38-38, 39-37 for Rush and 38-38).
In the end, this fight card warmed the hearts of its attendants. If anything, with shows like this, boxing has a very lively and promising future.
