The final judges’ scores were 77-75 and 77-75 for Figueroa, whereas Augustus received the nod by the third judge 77-75. I personally had Augustus winning by six rounds to two, as Figueroa did very little in the fight and was out-worked, out-punched in virtually every round save for two.
Ranked an incredible #4 in the IBF and WBC, Figueroa, 30, looked poor in the early going against Augustus, more like a good C-class fighter than anything close to a top tier fighter from what I could see of him. Augustus pressed the action, fighting very relaxed and taking the fight to Figueroa constantly.
The pressure seemed to really bother Figueroa, who looked very uncomfortable with Augustus’ constant forward motion. Part of the problem was that Figueroa, a counter puncher by nature, had huge problems landing his shots against the crafty Augustus, who would often move his head at the last second to avoid Figueroa’s punches.
Another thing, Augustus appeared to be a huge step up in competition for Figueroa. Indeed, many of Figueroa’s opponents have poor records, which makes it seem odd that Figueroa should be ranked so highly off of wins like these. Whatever the case, Augustus fought well in the first six rounds, pressuring Figueroa hard and fighting relaxed most of the time.
In the 5th round, Augustus reverted to his drunken boxing style of fighting, in which he fights in a kind of an unorthodox dancing style of fighting. The style seemed to throw Figueroa off even more than he already was, as he continued to get hit often by Augustus in the round.
Up until now, the only round I could conceivably give Figueroa would be the first, but even then, it would be a stretch for me to give him that round. He just didn’t have the work rate, aggression or the defense to contend with Augustus. He did, however, throw harder punches, but given the fact that he was missing so often, I couldn’t give Figueroa any rounds other than the first.
Finally, in the 7th round, Figueroa finally started pressuring Augustus for a change, and succeeded in hitting him with a number of hard shots to the head. The round ended up being very close, though, as Augustus fought well in the second half of the round, retaking control over the round and hitting Figueroa often with hard punches.
In the 8th round, it was Augustus who came out looking for the knockout, throwing big shots in the first minute of the round and landing well to the head of Figueroa.
Overall, then scoring for the fight was terrible, and for me, it tainted the Calzaghe-Jones fight that would follow. Augustus dominated the fight and deserved to get the nod in the end, considering that the fight wasn’t remotely close. However, the fight did give me a chance to see Figueroa for the first time, and I must say, I don’t see him ever winning a title. He doesn’t have the ability from what I can see of him, although I think he’ll be a good gatekeeper for awhile in the division, but beyond that, I don’t see him as a title holder ever.
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