Across America, Starting with the Boxing Champion

Chapter 23: Carry out the KO to the end

“Link, you’ve been fooled. You shouldn’t have told them in front of those reporters that you would continue to win the championship by KO. It’s too difficult.”

In the lounge, West frowned with gray eyebrows. The age spots on his cheekbones were slightly deformed due to the frown and the corners of his eyes, like dead leaves floating on the coffee. The dry bags under his eyes were also due to the There are a few more wrinkles due to worry.

“West, don’t worry, I have a plan.”

Link took off his T-shirt and put it in the cabinet.

“Link, don’t you understand? Those reporters are trying to trick you. They want to get big news about you, so they will keep provoking you with sensitive questions and forcing you to answer.

You are too young and energetic and lack experience in dealing with the media, so you were fooled.

If you encounter this kind of situation in the future, just change the topic and ignore it, and the reporters can't do anything to you. "

West continued, "You can ignore the fact that you told reporters that you will continue to use KO to win the championship. As long as you can win and win the championship, those reporters can't use this matter to Accusing you."

"No, West, before I said that sentence, I thought carefully and was not forced to make a decision by reporters. Therefore, I will continue to maintain my previous game style and KO my opponents until I win the championship. champion."

Link was sitting on the bench, leaning against the wardrobe with his shoulders back. The golden sunlight shone in from the window and fell on his angular profile, illuminating a confident smile at the corner of his mouth.

"Ah!"

Mario curled his lips and was about to say something sarcastic, but when Link's sharp eyes glanced at him, he immediately closed his mouth, clenched his fist and hit Reggie's shoulder next to him.

Link saw West's disbelief and smiled: "It's true. Tyson once said that the reason why today's boxers are not as good as before is not only because their fists are not strong enough, but also because they are too well-behaved.

They are all like good kids taught in church schools. They follow the rules, don’t know how to cause trouble, don’t know how to hype, and don’t know how to use various methods to market and promote themselves. Their popularity among the public is too low and their influence is too small.

For example, John Ruiz, a world boxing champion, is not even as well-known as a third-rate Hollywood actor. How can a boxer like him expect the audience to spend money to watch their matches? "

 West stroked his gray stubble with a thoughtful look on his face.

“My purpose in doing this is to continue to create newsworthy topics for the media.”

Link looked at West and said calmly, "Although it is an amateur competition now and there is no competition bonus, we must market ourselves as much as possible anytime and anywhere and treat ourselves as a professional boxer.

I just announced in public that I will continue to win the championship by KOing my opponents, so from now on, the media will be eager to focus on me and pay attention to my every move.

 If I do it, they will continue to praise me and give me a lot of space.

If I didn’t do it, they would use a lot of news reports to laugh at me and ridicule me, but so what, I will always be the most popular boxer in this Golden Gloves Championship. No one can compare to me. "

Link clenched his fists, with a victor's smile on his face, which was more dazzling than the sunshine in Miami outside the window.

ˆ “.”

Golden Reggie opened his mouth and looked at Link with admiration on his face.

 He stopped in the quarterfinals of the state competition in this Golden Gloves Championship.

He originally thought that the gap between him and Link was only in strength. After hearing Link's words, he realized that he was much worse than Link, not only in strength, but also in concepts, consciousness, ways of thinking, courage, tactics, etc. .

When Link was still playing in amateur competitions, he began to prepare for the transition to professional boxing and to prepare to become a world boxing champion. However, he only knew how to play stupidly and had no idea why he was fighting.

 A person like Link should become a world boxing champion.

Reggie quickly took out his cell phone, opened his notepad, and wrote down what Link said.

"I have a question."

Mario suppressed the unbeatable expression on his face and said seriously: "Link, you said it very simply, but what if you fail to KO your opponent, or you lose the game?

  Hey, when the time comes, the media will laugh at you and call you a clown, a person who only knows how to brag. Is this what you want to see? Link smiled nonchalantly, "If you have studied history, you should know that of all the great figures in history, including Washington, Lincoln, Franklin, etc., none of them could be praised by everyone when they were alive. Not even after their death.

Since my goal is to become a great boxer, what does a little criticism mean? Would a giant elephant stop moving because he was worried about being bitten by ants? "

Mario rolled his eyes. This guy is a great historical figure when he opens his mouth and a great boxer when he shuts up. This kind of person should not stay in the boxing ring. He should engage in politics and use his scary remarks to fool the people. Maybe one day make it to the White House.

West didn't quite understand what Link said, but he felt that Link was a smart man and wouldn't joke about his career, so he didn't say much. As long as Link was well prepared and relaxed, Get ready for the upcoming competition.

Link nodded and entered the lounge to do warm-up training.

When Mario saw his back disappearing from the door, his expression immediately fell, and he curled his lips and said: "Reggie, do you think Link has a mental problem? Ever since he won first place in the division competition, he has gone crazy. Likewise, what he said was crazy. What caused a huge change in the boxing world, unified the five levels, won the gold belts of the four major organizations, and became a great boxer? Is this what a normal person can say? "

Reggie said with a serious expression: "I don't think so. Back then, Copernicus madly told the red leader that the sun was the center of the universe. The church people thought he was crazy and burned him to death; Magellan returned from traveling around the world and told Everyone, the earth is actually round, and many people say he is crazy. Now that Link says he wants to become a great boxer, do you think he is crazy? Is there a possibility that he is not crazy, but it is our knowledge? And the pattern is not enough?”

 Mario opened his mouth and looked at Reggie in shock, "Are you crazy too? You would actually rank Link with Copernicus and Magellan?"

 “Why not?” Reggie blinked and asked doubtfully.

Mario looked at him, silently stood up and walked away. These guys were all sick, so you had to stay away from them to be safe.

  —

After Link publicly told reporters that he would continue to use KO to kill the next game, the news was quickly posted on news websites by reporters and became a hot news on the sports channels of Yahoo and other websites.

 The boxers participating in the competition also quickly received the news.

 Since the Golden Gloves Championship progressed to the divisional competition, Miami boxer Link Baker has suddenly emerged and made a lot of news in the media, becoming one of the most popular athletes in the amateur boxing circle.

I heard that he must KO his opponent in every match. In 14 amateur matches, he KOed his opponent 14 times. Even as an opponent, everyone has to admit that Link Baker is a very capable guy.

Now I heard that he will continue his previous game style and carry out the KO to the end. Some people suddenly became nervous and began to think of countermeasures, thinking about how to defeat Link's killing moves and heavy punches. Many people did not take it seriously and felt that Link Bragging.

 “Haha, Link Baker is so arrogant.”

In the lounge, a burly black boxer with dreadlocks laughed and said, "The last time he played against Jones Fullers, he almost lost. His strength is not much better than Jones. How dare he continue to use KO to bulldoze us all?"

“You can’t say that. Link’s fists are still very powerful. He knocked out his opponents 14 times in 14 fights. No one has ever done this in amateur competitions before. Link is very strong and you must not underestimate him.”

 Someone retorted.

"No, no, he is very powerful, but he is not better than us. His opponent Jones Fullers is ranked seventh in the super middleweight class. I, Andrzej Fonfara, Andre Bay Todu has defeated him, but I don’t think Link can beat Andrzej and Andre Berto, let alone KO them, it’s simply impossible.”

 When everyone heard it, it seemed to make sense.

 In the past, Link fought very reluctantly in the divisional competition and almost failed. Now it is the national finals, and the boxers are as strong as Jones, or even better.

Link has a hard time defeating one Jones, but he still wants to defeat several?

　　It is indeed a bit arrogant.

 In addition, they also heard that Link was originally planning to change his tactics and give up KOing his opponents in the finals. Media reporters who liked to cause trouble were poking holes in him. He responded improperly, so he was forced to change his words and announced that he would continue his previous style.

 This shows that he didn’t have much confidence in the finals and made hasty tactics.

From this point of view, although Link is troublesome, he doesn’t need to worry too much.

 The match was about to begin, and everyone returned to the lounge to prepare. Link also put on his gloves and strode onto the ring.

 (End of this chapter)