Chapter 22 : Finals Arrival
Palm Beach Shores.
The blue sky, the sea, the white sand beach, the large palm groves, and the bikini girls playing volleyball on the beach, there are beautiful scenery everywhere.
It feels good to be back.
Link walked around on the beach, then drove a speedboat to patrol the sea in front of his house. When he found nothing unusual, he turned around and returned to the competition.
Since the Golden Glove Finals were held in Miami, the locals didn't have to travel and had two days of rest before the game, but he couldn't rest yet.
The boxers who entered the finals came from four divisions, five people in each division, and 20 people in each level participated in the competition.
They are all winners in various regions. Most of them have participated in the National Youth Boxing Championships, U19 Championships, Pan American Games, National Amateur Boxing Competitions, Olympic Qualifying Competitions and other competitions, and have won the top three results.
Very strong.
The difficulty of the competition is also greater than that of the divisional competition.
When playing in the divisional games, he already felt that his opponents were difficult to deal with. If he wanted to win the Golden Glove Championship and get the "100 million US dollars" signing fee, he needed to do more preparation before the game.
Be prepared!
——
"Link! Link, come out quickly."
In Baker's diving equipment store, Link sat in front of the TV, watching the game video of a boxer named 'Andre Berto' frame by frame on a VCR.
This person was the champion of last year's U19 National Championship and the U.S. Amateur Championship. He is a boxer with strong all-round strength, great power, agility, comprehensive skills, rich competition experience, and is very difficult to deal with.
West suggested that he watch the game video of this opponent first to familiarize himself with his playing style so that he would have a way to deal with him when they meet him on the court in the future.
Link approved of West's suggestion.
By watching the opponent's game videos, you can understand the opponent's game style, whether he is technically inclined or a heavy gunner, a main force type or an offensive and defensive type; the commonly used combination punches are straight punch + jab + jab or jab + straight punch + jab; the stance is the traditional right or left, whether there are any powerful killer moves, etc.
Once you understand these characteristics, it will be easier to deal with them.
He believed that in the next two days, his opponents would also watch his game videos, thinking about how to crack his killer moves, heavy punches, super defense, and super physical strength.
They are all having a headache for each other.
"Link! Come out now, we have a gift for you."
James and Daniel, along with Michael on the surfboard, called out from the door.
"What gift?"
Link was a little surprised. These three people actually prepared gifts for him before the game?
I'm kind of looking forward to it.
Put down the notebook and walk to the door of the shop.
"Ding ding ding!"
Seeing him come out, James and the other two shouted, took a step to the side, shook their arms, and swung out a golden cloak that shone brightly under the bright sunshine of Miami.
Link blocked it with his hand.
The cloak is more than three meters long, made of chiffon, and the workmanship is average. The key point is that there are many words on the cloak.
The first line reads 'Baker Diving Equipment Store, taking you to explore the underwater world'
The second line is 'Daniel Hot Dog, can satisfy all your fantasies about hot dogs'
Below are Michael's surf shop, Mexican barbecue shop, Miss Lina's ice cream shop, etc., with more than a dozen slogans and store signs.
Link narrowed his eyes and had a bad feeling.
"What do you want to do?"
"Haha, Link, this is the battle robe we prepared for you. When you enter the venue wearing it, you will definitely become the focus of the whole venue. What do you think?"
Daniel shook his golden cloak and smiled as if asking for credit.
"Link, isn't it supercool?"
Michael from the surfboard shop yelled.
"Why are there ads on it?"
Link asked with a dark face.
"There will definitely be a lot of media interviewing you on the day of the game. We can run an advertisement while we're at it. This is called making good use of resources. What do you think?"
"Yes, Link. The cloak is empty anyway. Advertising on it is both economical and practical. It also makes it look special. Don't you think so?"
"."
Link opened his mouth and wanted to refute, but felt that there were too many complaints and it would be endless, so he simply turned around and went back to the store to continue watching the game video.
——
The 2008 Golden Gloves National Championship Finals were held at the American Airlines Center in downtown Miami.
This was originally the home stadium of the NBA Miami Heat team, but this year the Heat players were plagued by injuries, Shaquille O'Neal was traded to the Suns, the team played badly for a season and did not even make the playoffs, and the American Airlines Arena also became the venue for boxing matches.
Compared to the Hard Rock Stadium, which has hosted music festivals, the space here is smaller, but the boxing championship is not a popular sporting event and the number of spectators is very limited, so it is most appropriate to hold it in the American Airlines Center.
According to statistics from the American Airlines Center website, before the start of the game, a total of 3,024 people had booked two-day tickets in advance by phone or online.
7,320 people booked tickets for the next day, which was the day of the finals.
It is expected that on the first day of the competition, the attendance rate of American Airlines Arena will be close to 70%, about 12,000 people. On the day of the finals, the main court of American Airlines Arena may be filled with enthusiastic Miami people, provided that the boxer Link Baker from Miami can successfully enter the finals.
Time flies.
On the day of the competition, Link came to the competition venue wearing a golden cloak. When he walked out of the passage, the stadium speakers were playing the theme song of "Rocky 3", "Eye Of The Tiger".
Risin' up
Straight to the top
Have the guts,
got the glory
went the distance
now i'm not gonna stop
ding ding ding!
At this moment, Link made a brilliant appearance.
The eyes of the audience and media reporters at the scene suddenly lit up. They turned their heads to look at him, looking at the shining him. He immediately became the most dazzling guy in the audience.
"Whoa, it's Link!"
"His cape is so cool!"
There was an exclamation from the audience.
Link smiled and waved to the fans and boxing fans in the audience.
"Link!"
Fat James shouted from the audience.
"Champion!!"
Sitting next to him were more than 200 men and women wearing yellow T-shirts and holding Link posters. They also stood up and raised their arms in a wave-like motion. The performance was a bit exaggerated.
"Link!"
"Champion!!"
Under the command of James and Daniel, the group stood up and shook again.
These people are all merchants near Seaside Boulevard. They came to the competition site today specifically to cheer for Link. Because everyone was so enthusiastic, Link couldn't refuse, so he had to bite the bullet and put on the good luck jersey given by everyone.
Link waved to everyone.
"Link, can I interview you?"
A large group of reporters with microphones in their hands rushed over and blocked his way.
"Certainly!"
Link made a gesture of asking a question.
"Link, I'm a reporter from Miami Business TV. Why are you wearing a golden cape? What does it mean?"
A reporter in a blue polo shirt handed over the microphone and asked.
"Yes, this is a gift from my friends. It is said to be the golden robe that the god of war Achilles once wore when he fought in the underworld. It symbolizes courage and strength. What do you think?"
Link asked, shaking out his cape.
Hearing his joke, the reporters also laughed in agreement.
"Mr. Link Baker, after the Southeast Division competition, you said your goal was to win the finals championship. Do you still stick to this goal now?"
A tall, beautiful Latina reporter asked with a smile.
"Of course, my goal has always been to win the championship, and this will not change. I also ask all boxing fans to believe in me, and I will lead everyone to victory together."
Link said in a firm voice, clenching his fists.
"Link, I have another question. In previous matches, you often used heavy punches to knock out your opponents. In the next match, will you continue with your previous style?" the female reporter asked.
Link hesitated for a moment. This question was not easy to answer.
His original goal was to reach the finals by complete knockout. Now that this goal has been achieved, it will be more difficult to continue playing in this way.
"I will focus on the competition. If there is a chance, I will still knock out my opponent with a heavy punch, but the Golden Gloves Championship is the highest level boxing event in the world, and the boxers participating in the finals are also of extremely high level, without any mediocre boxers. To be safe, I will aim to win the championship trophy and will no longer deliberately pursue knockouts."
Link said politely.
"Mr. Link Baker."
A dark and thin reporter came over and said sharply, "Can I understand that you have no confidence in the next game and you don't have enough confidence in defeating your opponent, so you temporarily changed your tactics, right?"
Link glanced at him and said calmly, "Of course I am confident, but the beauty of all sports competitions lies in the uncertainty. Let me emphasize again that my goal is to win all the games and keep the championship trophy in Miami, not to knock out my opponents. It is meaningless to pursue the knockout rate too much."
"Mr. Link Baker, you still don't have confidence, right? In the Southeast Division finals, you defeated your opponent Jones in nine rounds and won the game by luck. After entering the finals, your opponent was stronger, and you were afraid of losing. You didn't have the confidence to knock out your opponent, so you were forced to change your tactics, right? Please don't avoid my question."
The dark and thin reporter asked excitedly.
"Link, don't you have confidence in the upcoming game?"
The other reporters also stared at Link, wanting to hear his answer.
Link was stared at by dozens of eyes, surrounded by dozens of microphones, cameras, and video cameras. He glanced around with a cold gaze, and smiled softly, "I am full of confidence in the game, and even confident that I can continue to win the game by KO and win the championship. Please wait and see."
Boom!
Hearing his words, the reporters at the scene suddenly became agitated.
"Mr. Link Baker, do you mean to say that you are going to continue with your original style and rush into the finals by knocking out your opponent and win the championship?"
"Mr. Link Baker, are you talking about knocking out all opponents, including amateur championship champion Andre Berto?"
"Mr. Link Baker."
When reporters heard a big news, they rushed to ask questions with their mobile phones and topics.
"Yes, as you expected, I will continue to kill the game by knockout until I win the championship."
Link waved his arms, pushed away several microphones that were about to hit his nostrils, and strode into the competition venue.
Behind him came the excited cheers of the reporters. They had obtained very valuable news material from Link. Once this news was reported, it would surely attract the attention of many viewers and readers.
"Want to KO Andre Berto and the others to win? Hey, Mr. Link Baker, you are still too young."
The dark and thin reporter shrugged and grinned.
(End of this chapter)