Chapter 23 : Continue KO to the End

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

In the lounge, West frowned his gray eyebrows. The age spots on his cheekbones were slightly deformed because of the frown between his brows and at the corners of his eyes, like dead leaves floating on the coffee. His dry bags under his eyes also had a few more layers of wrinkles because his eyes were filled with worry.

  "Don't worry, West. I have a plan."

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

  "Link, don't you understand? Those reporters are trying to trick you. They want to dig up big news from you, so they keep provoking you with sensitive questions and forcing you to answer.

  You are too young and hot-headed, 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 subject and ignore it, and those reporters can't do anything to you."

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

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

  Link sat on the bench, his shoulders leaning back against the wardrobe. The golden sunlight shone in through the window, falling on his angular profile and illuminating the confident smile at the corner of his mouth.

  "Oh!"

  Mario curled his lips and was about to make a few sarcastic remarks, but when he was glanced at by Link's sharp eyes, he immediately closed his mouth and punched Reggie's shoulder with his fist.

  Seeing that West was a little unconvinced, Link smiled and said, "This is true. Tyson once said that the reason why boxers today are not as good as they were in the past is not only because their fists are not hard enough, but also because they are too obedient.

  They are all like good kids taught in church schools. They follow the rules, don't stir up trouble, don't hype themselves up, and don't know how to use various methods to market and promote themselves. They are not well-known among the public and their influence is too small.

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

  West stroked his graying stubble, 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 this is an amateur competition and there is no prize money, we must market ourselves as much as possible at any time and treat ourselves as professional boxers.

  I just announced publicly that I will continue to win the championship by knocking out my opponents. From now on, the media will be eager to focus their cameras on me and pay attention to my every move.

  If I did, they would continue to praise me and give me lots of space.

  If I didn't do it, they would have made fun of me and ridiculed me with a lot of news reports, but I was still the most popular fighter in the Golden Gloves Championship. No one could compare to me."

  Link clenched his fists, a victorious smile on his face that was brighter than the Miami sunshine outside the window.

  "."

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

  He was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the state tournament in this year's Golden Gloves Championship.

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

  When Link was still playing amateur competitions, he began to lay the groundwork for switching to the professional boxing arena and preparing to become a world boxing champion. However, he only knew how to play the competition foolishly and had no idea why he was fighting.

  Someone like Link should become the world boxing champion.

  Reggie quickly pulled out his phone, opened his notepad, and wrote down Link's words.

  "I have a question."

  Mario suppressed his provocative expression and said seriously, "Link, it's easy for you to say, but what if you fail to knock out your opponent or lose the game?

  Hehe, then the media will laugh at you and call you a clown and a boaster. Is that what you want to see?"  

  Link smiled nonchalantly, "If you have studied history, you should know that among all the great figures in history, such as Washington, Lincoln, Franklin, etc., none of them could be praised by everyone when they were alive, and they could not do so even after their death.

  Since my goal is to become a great boxer, what does a little criticism matter? Will an elephant stop moving forward because he is afraid of being bitten by an ant?"

  Mario rolled his eyes. This guy opened his mouth and called himself a great historical figure, and closed his mouth and called himself a great boxer. This kind of person should not stay in the boxing world. He should go into politics and fool the people with his scary remarks. Maybe one day he can enter the White House.

  West didn't quite understand what Link said, but he felt that Link was a smart man and would not joke about his career, so he didn't say much. He just asked Link to prepare well, relax and face the upcoming game.

  Link nodded and went into the lounge to do some warm-up exercises.

  Mario saw his back disappearing at the door, his expression immediately fell, and he pouted and said, "Reggie, do you think Link has a mental problem? Ever since he won the first place in the division competition, he has been like a madman, and his words are also crazy.

What did he do to change the boxing world so drastically, unify five weights, win gold belts from four major organizations, and become a great boxer? Is this something a normal person can say?"

  Reggie said with a serious expression, "I don't think so. When Copernicus told the Red Master that the sun was the center of the universe, the church thought he was crazy and burned him to death.

When Magellan came back from his round-the-world trip and told everyone that the earth was round, many people also said he was crazy.

Now Link says he wants to be a great boxer. Do you think he is crazy? Is there a possibility that he is not crazy, but that we are not knowledgeable enough and have not enough vision?"

  Mario opened his mouth and looked at Reggie in shock, "Are you crazy too? You would put Link on the same level as Copernicus and Magellan?"

  "Why not?" Reggie blinked and asked in confusion.

  Mario looked at him, then stood up and walked away silently. These guys were all sick, and it would be safer to stay away from them.

  ——

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

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

  Since the Golden Gloves Championship moved on to the divisional rounds, Miami boxer Link Baker has emerged as a rising star, making a lot of news in the media and becoming one of the most popular athletes in the amateur boxing circle.

  I heard that he wins every match by knockout, and he knocked out his opponents 14 times in 14 amateur fights. Even as an opponent, everyone has to admit that Link Baker is a very powerful guy.

  Now hearing that he was going to continue his previous fighting style and carry on with the KO, some people suddenly became nervous and began to think of countermeasures, thinking about how to crack Link's killer moves and heavy punches.

However, many people did not take it seriously and thought that Link was bragging.

  "Haha, Link Baker is so arrogant."

  In the lounge, a burly black boxer with dreadlocks laughed and said, "He almost lost the last time he fought Jones Fullers. He is not much stronger than Jones. With this, he still dares to say that he can continue to knock us all out by KO? Dream on!"

  "That's not the case. Link's fists are still very powerful. He has knocked out his opponents 14 times in 14 fights. No one has ever done that in amateur competitions before. Link is very strong. Don't underestimate him."

  Someone retorted.

  "No, no, he is very good, but not better than us. His opponent Jones Foles is ranked seventh in the super middleweight division. I, Andzej Fonfara and Andre Berto have all defeated him. I don't think Link can beat Andzej and Andre Berto, let alone KO them. It's impossible."

  When everyone heard it, it seemed to make sense.

  Previously, Link had fought very reluctantly in the sectional competition and had almost failed, but now it was the national finals and the boxers were as strong as Jones or even stronger.

  It was hard for Link to defeat one Jones, so how could he want to defeat several?

  That was indeed a bit arrogant.

  In addition, they also heard that Link was originally planning to change his tactics and give up on KOing his opponent in the finals, but it was the media reporters who liked to stir up trouble who set a trap for him, and he failed to respond properly, so he was forced to change his words and announced that he would continue with his previous style.

  This shows that he didn't have much confidence in the final and decided on the tactics in a hurry.

  It seems that although Link is in trouble, there is no need to worry too much.

  The game was about to begin, and everyone went back to the lounge to prepare. Link also put on his boxing gloves and strode onto the ring.

  (End of this chapter)