How is training going for your fight?

Training, truly training has just got started. My main training and focus for my upcoming fight just got started last week on Monday although I was making preparations while I was working with Kostya Tszyu and getting my self together working with him to get ready for this fight.

You were in attendance there in Manchester, England for Tszyu's fight against Ricky Hatton. What did you think of the fight?

I didn't like the fight even though I talked to people that said Kostya Tszyu should have had a better plan and all that other kind of stuff you know. It's kind of hard… It's still hard to fight people that just hold, and then he also had other kind of situations. I am not the type of person to come up with excuses and things like that but I am the kind of person that likes to fight. I box I don't wrestle, you know and everything was so much against Kostya Tszyu even though he was the champion. Even when Tszyu would try to do the same things back to Ricky, (Ricky was doing all the holding) he would push him to the ropes, hold him on the ropes and fight him on the ropes. When Kostya Tszyu tried to do it, the referee stepped in and broke them apart, then allowed Ricky to keep holding as if the referee was saying "the only people that can hold here is Ricky" and I didn't think that was the respectful way of how to treat the champion, after he traveled and came to the challenger's hometown, which is why, I guess I see why champions don't travel to defend their title.

Many say the time slot of the fight and the change of Kostya Tszyu's training schedule might have had some effect on Tszyu's performance that night.

No, you can't say nothing about nothing. We trained and made adjustments since the fight was going to happen at two o'clock in the morning. Everybody got enough rest and everybody was prepared and we made the proper adjustments when we flew over from Australia to London, but that has nothing to do with it. Truly, you know he did loose to the better man that night, but again you know, it just still had too many things that went against him as far as… you know I'm a fighter and most fighters would prefer to fight instead of wrestle and that's my biggest…that's my real, truly biggest complain of the whole fight was the fact that Ricky Hatton's main fight plan was to wrestle and hold, back him back on to the ropes, that's not boxing, even when Kostya tried to do it back the referee wouldn't let it happen you know there was only one person going to do all the holding and it was like if it was already said "Ricky Hatton is going to win" and that's that. I do feel bad that I couldn't of done more to get him ready for, you know he picked me (to train with Kostya) because I throw a lot of punches and I apply a lot of pressure but he should have picked somebody else that do a lot of holding so he could have been better prepared.

Ha, ha... So you say he should have picked a wrestler for his preparation in training for the Hatton fight instead of you?

Yeah! Because when he picked me, he picked a person that likes to fight. That's me, to help him get ready. He didn't pick someone that likes to hold, cause I don't like to do that nor do I like to get held. If me and Ricky fight, I already know how the fight is going to turn out, it's going to turn out just like me and Micky Ward, because that's who he reminds me of a younger Micky Ward. Ricky likes to go to the body much like Ward used to is that why? Yes, although he holds. Ricky uses many tactics like when he uses his head to split your gloves. He head buts a lot if you look back on that film whenever Kostya Tszyu was on the ropes, first thing Ricky would do was to put his head right between Kostya's hands (guard) to split the middle.

Ala Evander Holyfield?

Ok, see, but yet nobody said anything about that.

But let me ask you Emmanuel, did it surprise you that Kostya did not want to continue on for the 12th and final round in the fight?

Yes, (with a sorrow low tone voice) that surprised me. Definitely surprised me because you know I just knew that he was going to be able to pull it out, I just thought that he would be able to pull it out. Even though it was kind of hard, having trouble the whole fight, the whole night. Still, there is that little glimmer of faith, you know, all it takes is for Kostya Tszyu to land that right hand and that will be that.

Yeah I agree. It did surprise me. I had Hatton up by only one point at the end of the 11th round so if Kostya completes the fight and wins the 12th round in my eyes it would have been a draw although the official judges would've had it very differently than my scorecard if it went to the cards or like you said Kostya connects with that right hand of his and well, that would be that. It was a huge benefit to Hatton that the fight was in his home turf because you as a fighter get a big boost to hear your name being yelled out loud round after round in support.

Yeah, you know what (tone of voice changes back to norm "with swagger") at the same time you get knocked out the same way, it is a double edge sword, that's why I say it ain't nothing. My whole career no one has ever really chanted my name (Emmanuel travels to fight in every opponents backyard) no one is ever been down with me, but it didn't stop me from doing what I had to do.

Speaking of you, what are your plans?

Yes, we were going to see what's happening I got to fight this guy I'm fighting, Ray Oliveira and beat him and then talk to my promoter and see if we can get in line to fight either Ricky Hatton or Floyd Mayweather.

Your opponent Ray Oliveira is also known to be a non-stop punching fighter that brings exciting matches to the ring and viewers of the squared circle so he is very much like you. He has fought and defeated Vivian Harris who owns one of the 140-pound title belts via unanimous decision. However he did lose by TKO in the tenth round against Ricky Hatton in has last fight. What do you think about him or do you know anything about him?

No, I don't know anything about him other than he is a volume puncher. Which is good, very good. We will be giving the people what they want to see and there definitely will be no holding, at least not by my part anyway. It will be an action packed fight that goes without saying. Maybe even the new fight of the year for 2005. My best fights (referring to his loss against Floyd Mayweather at 135) have always been at 140. You let me get my hands on Mayweather at 140, I just hope he don't hurry up and try to move up (in weight) too fast, too soon, cause those guys at 147, even though he is fast, when they catch him it will be over with.

How do you think he will do against Arturo Gatti?

I think the only way Arturo Gatti looses is if the fight is fixed or he just says f *!#k it.

Really, you don't think….(interrupting me)

Yeah, Gatti has got no business losing to Mayweather.

Didn't you just say speed….(interrupting me)

Speed is all fine and good but Mayweather can't hurt Gatti man! Gatti has been long enough in this business to say "Ok, you fast, punch when you punch and lets see who stay standing." You know what I'm saying? Really, truly it's just that simple. Let's just say, Gatti ain't going to stand right f*!#ng there (to get hit) either, Gatti is a boxer now, he been going back to boxing, which means he is not really going to be there.

So, what's your pick?

I say fourth round TKO, Gatti is victorious. I really want to say sooner, because I will tell you what, ever since Mayweather moved up in weight to 140 he caught himself trying to be a puncher. When he fought DeMarcus Corley he caught himself trying to bang with him, to be a puncher, anyway it filled his head up telling himself he is a puncher. All he is, is fast, that's it and the speed can hurt you because it's like you blink your eye and then you get hit.

Well, what about his defensive skills? He has that shoulder roll and counter punching ability along with that speed….(interrupting me)

Ah man, all that can get dealt with, you know what I mean, that's what I'm saying, Gatti going to be….I can do it (beat Mayweather) at 140. You know the things that I saw at 135 (when he fought Mayweather) you know is still there since he moved up to 140.

Is that who you want at 140, Floyd Mayweather?

I want Floyd Mayweather and I want Ricky Hatton.

What about Miguel Cotto, he is also at the top at 140?

Then I will get him later. I want all the top ones but the ones I have a beef with or a personal vendetta sort of speak is Mayweather, because my corner stopped the fight controversially, which is why they are not with me anymore.

Well, Mayweather has said that you are the toughest fighter he has ever faced.

Well, again, my corner stopped the fight…. and I appreciate (Mayweather's compliment) that, you know what I mean? I am not knocking him on that but I want the opportunity to finish the damn fight. You know what I mean? Don't stop the fight unless he stops me. They was going to stop the fight one time I had blood coming (busted eardrum) out of my ears, they was looking for excuses to stop the fight. Everybody see I got blood coming out of my nose and blood coming out of my ears, too. Sometimes the corner sees the fight from another perspective to…… Man! They can't see nothing. That's not your job (referring to the corner in stopping the fight) your job is to get me ready for the next round, that's it!

When Diego "Chico" Corrales fought Mayweather he was also stopped from continuing to fight by his corner, which got Diego so mad that he was yelling at his corner, even though he got drop multiple times consecutively.

That's right, (agreeing with Corrales being upset) hell yeah! Don't you stop my….. we f%#king warriors, how the hell you going to stop a warrior from being a warrior (raising his voice emphatically). You know what I'm saying, ever since they ever made them bullshit ass rules talking about how the referee has to be there for the fighter(check on the fighters well being and stop the fight). No he is not! The referee is the conscience, that's it. You can't protect somebody who come there to get hurt, or come there to hurt the other guy. We all… it's just like police officer, the best thing a police officer can do, is wear a vest, you know, and be a marksman shooter. Other than that, he is on his own. The best thing a boxer can do is keep his hands up, bob and weave, just like they tell you before the fight, protect yourself at all times. But all that goes out the window when you are dealing with the referee, the referee wants to control the fight. Referee can't control the fight and then they want to take it off him and put it on your corner. No! You done your job, just keep doing your job between rounds, that's it, but if I think the guy is too much for me, then I will kneel down and I will quit.

That happened in Kostya Tszyu's corner. His trainer was the one that said Kostya should not continue and Kostya obliged because Kostya is a classy guy that was not going to make a scene….(interrupting me)

You can call it what you want, that's not what I call it. I mean, unless he felt, unless he was on the same wavelength of his corner. I want to finish my fight, you know, I am one of those kind of guys that, if, they, you know….

Would you rather be carried out on a stretcher rather than quitting?

Thank you! (for finishing his sentence) I know what I am getting into.

I have interviewed many fighters and the one fighter you reminded me of right now when you said that, and in a recent interview I did was with Fernando "El Feroz" Vargas. He told me he wanted his sons to know that his father was a warrior and if he died he would rather die in the ring than quitting.

Thank you! (for the compliment in comparing him with El Feroz) Let me die doing something I like. I mean I don't want to f*!#ng… can you imagine me with a 9 to 5? That will be a slow death bro. I can't, I wont, I refuse to do that bro. I wont do it, you know. I think that I really,….

Born to fight.

Thank you! (for finishing his sentence) I look at myself and I am around the house and let's say just for the sake of argument, I haven't done anything that day, you know what I end up doing something because it's in me to do something that relates to boxing or deal with combat. It's just in me. Every day we live we fight anyway, every day we live we are fighting to live. This is just an extension of it, it's like now I get paid for fighting now, you know, don't take that away from me too, but it seems every time you turn around things are being redefined.

Speaking of redefining, your boxing style as of late has got some redefining on it too. I call it the Drunken Master boxing style. Did you see that Jackie Chan movie?

Yeah! I can see that. Actually it's a mixture between two. My favorite play station game is Tekken and in it Eddie Gordo uses his martial arts style, which is called the Capoeira so it's a mixture between Drunken Master and the Capoeira. Cause it's rhythmatic.

Ha, ha. Oh, it's unorthodox if anything it's problematic for an opponent to figure you out.

Well, what's the name of the game? Protect yourself at all times. Since I am not a holder and I am not a puncher and I am not a knock out artist I have to be more sneaky with what I do and in the mean time I have keep myself alive so I can at least try to throw some punches.

You know Pernell Whitaker used to fight some unorthodox fighting too, against one of the best prizefighters to come out of Mexico, Julio Cesar Chavez who could not figure his style out. He could just not…..(finishing my sentence)

Un-hittable, you can't hit him.

Right. Sugar Ray Leonard would do that too. Against one of the toughest men in boxing, Roberto "Manos De Piedra" Duran who just could not hit Ray for the life of him, so bad, that he just rather quit the fight than being embarrassed in the "No Mas" fight.

And you know what? I respect Duran more for doing that than to have his corner say no, no. Leave the fighter, you know, the fighter is in the ring for what, for your amusement, yeah that too, but he is in there to win the fight. If the fighter feels that he can't win, let the fighter make that decision and say f*!#k this fight. Going back to the referee, boxing is supposed to be man against man not against the referee or depending on who paid the referee, which promoter that works for which fighter or the corner that has been affiliated with the promoter in the past. You know what I mean? The referee is supposed to be like a talking conscience that let's you know when you foul, let's you know you threw a low blow, you know. If a fighter turns their back, you know, on another fighter, that shouldn't be the referee's job, to take a point or penalize you. It be the guy whose fighting, to punch the shit out of him, and make him turn his ass back around again! That's why they say "protect yourself at all times"! It doesn't say "protect yourself at all times and then when you don't the referee will protect you for you", at least it don't say it yet. Right now it's an unspoken rule,

When you go up in the ring, are you worried about who the referee is going to be working the fight?

You know what, I am starting to be. As long as I…, no disrespect, but as long as I don't fight in Texas, you know, in a main event in Texas to where I have a certain, a son of a commissioner.

I know who you are talking about.( Laurence Cole disqualified Emmanuel Augustus in his IBA Light-welterweight title defense against Tomas Barreintes, Cole is the son of the Texas boxing commission president Dickie Cole)

Other than that I don't worry about it.

Let me tell you what. A lot of people criticize Bernard Hopkins, they say he is paranoid, for not agreeing with boxing commissions sometimes or like you said maybe the promoter for a certain referee to get awarded to work his fight. He was demanding the referee be changed or he would not fight, even though this happened the week of the fight and tickets had been sold and pay per view sales were on going. Do you agree with him and his antics or do you think he is being paranoid too?

I think he was being paranoid and I agree with him. You know what I mean? Cause you got to be logical about some of this things man and being that we are living in a not very logical time right now, that was one of the best moves he could have made. He went through with the fight and had the ref on his P's and Q's and the referee was going to be watched closely man. So he knew how to do it.

Now that we have Bernard Hopkins in the discussion. Jermain Taylor is his next opponent, what kind of chance of pulling the upset does he have against Bernard?

I know Taylor is bigger and thicker than Hopkins and he has a pretty good jab but again you are dealing with a wiley coyote, uhm, I still say, to be honest with you, I don't think that…, Taylor is too green. I mean all it takes in boxing is one punch.., but again, Bernard has been hit by some strong guys and he is still here. Oh by the way, I need to get a shout out to Diego Corrales. I saw him in Manchester at the Tszyu fight and I got his name wrong when I said hello. So, I like to apologize to him.

Well you might see him in the ring.

What? He is moving up to 140?

That is one of the main reasons that you saw him in England at the fight. He said he wanted the winner of that fight. He didn't tell you that?

No, but he ain't going to get that, he got to get past me to get that. I still got to get up to Ricky Hatton, you know.

Do you see it as vengeance (fighting Hatton and beating him) over your friend Kostya Tszyu?

That's exactly how I see it. That's exactly how I want it. There is nobody else. If anybody else beats Ricky, they are just going to take away, they are going to really take away the win from Kostya Tszyu and that's wrong that's f #!ked up, I mean that's like adding insult to injury. That guy didn't beat Kostya, he just, man! I am still, I am so mad about that, nobody knows. I am more mad about the way that fight went down, than I am about my corner stopping my fight against Mayweather. That's how personal I take this fight, that I am looking at Ricky Hatton. I don't mean to come off as an angry scary guy or nothing, you know, because when people read this on Fightnews, you know, they are going to be thinking, "This guy is an angry guy" well, yeah, someone should be angry, f_ ___k! After all this hard work, that we did put in (Kostya's training camp) to get ready for a fight that wasn't even a fight. So, it's things like that, to me that give boxing a bad name but yet you know, people that look at it just say, well that's boxing, they just brush it off but how can you just accept that? If I just brought a gun into the ring would that be boxing too? Maybe I am being a little too melodramatic but sometimes you have got to go some different routes to be understood.

What did you think of Winky Wright's mastery of Tito Trinidad?

I thought that was so marvelous. That was the most excellent display of boxing I have ever seen before in my life.

He just shut him out didn't he?

With one punch. One punch. A jab thrown right. He was popping it! He wasn't pushing it, you know what I mean, every once in a while his hand did drop and I was saying to myself, you know, that he needs to start (Felix Trinidad) working and coming back with that overhand right or that left hook or something like that you know, every time he throws (Winky Wright) that jab, but evidently Trinidad don't know about that. Trinidad who is a veteran fighter, one of the best at the craft of all time and a shoe in hall of famer got shut out and demoralized like you said, by that one punch. It was something where Trinidad just couldn't solve it and Winky like you said performed excellently and stuck to his game plan. His guard was always up, he always had that left hand high against his face to block that left hook that Trinidad has been so successful with in the past.

Well, don't get me wrong, there is ways to doing everything, there is ways around everything. My mind was set where if Trinidad would have thrown the usual right hand lead (when fighting south paws) and counter with the left to the body, overhand right and then left upper cut, I thought that he would have gotten through. He had to throw one of those right hands that, whenever he threw one of those body shots, the ones that go around or underneath the elbow.

Trinidad has now retired, Winky Wright now takes that place where he should be next in line to face Bernard Hopkins. Winky wants the winner of the Jermain Taylor versus Bernard Hopkins fight.

Now, that's going to be a fight right there. That's too much of a chess match. I can easily see Bernard Hopkins going back to…., you haven't seen Bernard Hopkins fight dirty in a while. He did some dirty shit against De La Hoya. Winky definitely have to throw more punches against Bernard because I don't he can get by Bernard with just a jab, not against him.

You think so? (Not agreeing that Hopkins fought dirty versus Oscar De La Hoya)

You didn't see him hit that leg? (now I remember, Hopkins hit ODLH on the side of his trunks on the hip)

Oh yeah, once.

Once? ( making-laughing noise at me)

Well, De La Hoya did return the favor. (Oscar hit hard at his thigh, too)

Yeah, but it ain't no thing. You know what I mean, as long as he got that point across to him, (Bernard applying mind games during the fight) that's it.

Is it a mind game up there? (in the ring)

That's what it always is. It's my condition versus your condition and how I am going to put my conditions on to you and how I am going to take your condition away. That's what it always is.

You think De La Hoya threw the fight?

(long pause and release of breath) You know, I kind of didn't think that body shot... I didn't even think really and truly think that body shot landed at first until they showed the replay, but I have been hit by some body shots, earlier in my career, and for a person that doesn't take body shots, you know De La Hoya doesn't really get hit like we're talking about, so maybe just maybe.

Going back to Bernard and how he hasn't fought dirty as of late. Do you think the Jermain Taylor fight is going to bring it out on Bernard?

Maybe, I doubt it. I don't think he needs to. Not so much because he doesn't need to but because he is going to want to educate him. He might apply some dirty tricks of the trade on Jermain but the only reason he might do it is because Jermain might hit a little harder than he expected.

Mike Tyson has now retired from the sport, what do you think about him?

Mike Tyson once played me a compliment and I appreciate that. He said he liked the way I fight and to consider that I started to get into boxing after I seen him fight. He fought Frank Bruno the first time I saw him. In that fight I watched the smaller man, which was me at the time, beating up some big ass dude, which was the thing I was doing at that time, but I was doing it at the streets. I was always involved in these street fights and everyone I fought in the streets was bigger than me. I ain't saying I knocked them out but let's just say I didn't quit, they quit, you know what I mean. Looking at Tyson fight, I seen this short guy, which at that time, bigger is better, you know but you have a shorter guy beating up on the bigger guy so he can't be that much better.

The thing about Tyson and his mystique is that he never did beat anyone who was at the highest level. He fought Holyfield and lost, he fought Lennox Lewis and lost and those two were among the best in his era and he could not beat them.

You can say that too, but I think it was the fact that he lost his trainer Cus D'Amato and that's when the real Mike Tyson was at his best, when he had his trainer by his side. He kept his head moving with his hands up, he kept perfect balance and he kept his punches short and sweet. At the same time I wish he would do more combinations instead of trying to land a big bomb but again at least he wasn't getting hit. Once he lost all that his fight game went to shit.