Las Vegas, Nevada (August 25, 2008) Current World Boxing Organization oriental welterweight champion Emanuel “The Drunken Master” Augustus arrived in Las Vegas, Nevada today at 10:15 A.M. pacific time at McCaren Airport from Sydney, Australia to begin training with Roger Mayweather at the Mayweather Boxing Club. Emanuel Augustus has relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada to prepare for an all out assault on the Jr. welterweight division and the opportunity to fight for a world title..
Most boxing observers think Emanuel Augustus has no chance in hell to win a world title. But a focused and determined Emanuel Augustus is ready to prove the boxing world wrong. Emanuel Augustus wants to thank his fans for never giving up on him. Sin City Sports & Entertainment wants to thank the WBO for all of their support of Emanuel Augustus and we will be honored to fight for the WBO Jr. welterweight title in the near future. We also would like to thank the entire ESPN family for their continued support of Emanuel Augustus throughout his career and we look forward to fighting on ESPN next season.
Emanuel Augustus says “After 73 pro fights and 14 years in the boxing game I finally feel that everything is finally coming together for me. I came up in boxing the hard way but now I feel I have the right team that can guide me to a world title.”
Nick Sampson & Macke Roberts of Sin City Sports & Entertainment LLC says “Emanuel Augustus is an older fighter but he also is a wiser more determined fighter. Emanuel Augustus is a television executives dream he puts asses in the seats and his fights get good TV ratings. Emanuel Augustus has one of the most entertaining and fan friendly boxing style in the business. When Emanuel Augustus fights on TV he doesn’t have boring fights. At the end of the night fans go home saying wow Emanuel Augustus is incredible I can’t wait to see him fight again.”
Emanuel Augustus says “I want to let all my future opponents know that Emanuel Augustus is on a mission to win a world title. Your manager, your promoter, the judges or the referee will not be able to save you when I get you in the ring.”
Nick Sampson and Macke Roberts of Sin City Sports & Entertainment LLC says “Earlier in his boxing career Emanuel made some mistakes by taking fights on short notice & not training properly. Before Emanuel fought on his natural god given boxing ability and he fought in competitive fights with six world champions. Emanuel Augustus at this point in his career he has a solid team and strong foundation behind him. We ask the boxing world not to judge his past or his boxing record but to give Emanuel a second chance to show the world what a dedicated Emanuel Augustus can do in the ring.
Nick Sampson and Macke Roberts of Sin City Sports & Entertainment LLC says “Roger Mayweather is one of the best trainers in pro boxing. With his training techniques and championship fight experience Emanuel Augustus will shock the world and become Jr. welterweight champion of the world.”
Emanuel Augustus has been nominated along with “Irish” Mickey Ward for the ESPN fight of the decade award. Tune in to the season finale of ESPN “Friday Night Fights” on ESPN 2 on September 5, 2008 live from Austin, Texas to find out the winner of this prestigous award. In the main event of this live boxing telecast James Kirkland goes up against Ricardo Torres in a ten round junior middleweight fight.
Amir Khan Congratulates James DeGale
Amir Khan has congratulated James DeGale for his fantastic achievement on winning Olympic gold and the GB boxing team on their greatest medal haul in over 50 years. Khan, silver medalist at the 2004 Athens Olympics, watched on TV the progress of the battling Brits in Beijing and sat riveted to the screen as DeGale conquered dirty Cuban Emilio Correa Bayeaux – who sank his teeth into the Londoner in the opening round.
The Bolton star, who is preparing for his big fight next month against Breidis Prescott in Manchester, said, “Firstly, I send my congratulations to James DeGale on his magnificent achievement to become the Olympic Champion. He has done himself and Great Britain proud and I’m so happy for him. What he has done will change the course of his life. He will probably still be in dreamland for a while and it might not have sunk what he has done yet.”
He added, “I did my training session early so that I could watch DeGale in his final bout. I couldn’t believe it when Correa bit Degale but it was a desperate move as he was five points behind. The bout was very close until the end but Degale showed his class and overcame a difficult opponent to win the greatest achievement in the amateur sport,”
Khan was the only GB boxing representative at the 2004 Athens Olympics and the nation were glued to their TV screens as they watched the heroic exploits of the then 17-year-old.
In Beijing there were eight representatives – seven after Frankie Gavin failed to make weight – and they had their most successful team since the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
He said, “I’ve been watching and supporting all the lads on TV whenever they have been boxing – I would have been in Beijing cheering them on if I wasn’t training for my September 6 fight – and I thought all the guys were tremendous out there,”
“Tony Jeffries and David Price did fantastically well to win bronze medals and I send my congratulations to those guys for their superb performances. And also a big congratulations to Billy Joe Saunders, Bradley Saunders, Joe Murray and Khalid Yafai – even though they didn’t win medals the experience would have done them the world of good and will stand them in good stead for the future.
“Obviously I was disappointed when top prospect Frankie Gavin couldn’t go and who knows what he could have achieved had he competed.”