Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion

Rafael reminded everyone that Link had to diet to control his weight, which meant he was competing on an empty stomach, making the competition even tougher.

Hearing Rafael say this, everyone suddenly realized and applauded Link in admiration.

Link did not refute. If he had fought against Degale at 78 kilograms, he indeed would have been more confident of knocking him out. However, for a world champion, having an amateur record of all KOs wasn't important. Initially, he focused on KOs mainly to attract media attention to negotiate a better signing bonus with the companies.

Now that he had signed and gained greater fame, and was already a household name as a world champion, moving to professional bouts, missing one KO wouldn't matter much. This imperfection could even generate more news topics.

"Go Link! Go Link!"

As he thought, cheers in Chinese reached his ears. Link turned his head towards the big screen, which was showing footage from before the finals.

The matches took place in the afternoon. The main venue in the Capital City sports complex was packed with over ten thousand locals, mostly youths, many of whom were holding Link's boxing posters and loudly cheering him on.

According to on-site reporters, the number of spectators who came to see the match was not fewer than those who came to see Zou Shiming and Zhang Xiaoping, two Huaxia boxers, in the finals.

The main reason was that the day before the match, Link had saved a child in Houhai and beat the holder of eight swimming Olympic gold medals, Phelps, in the process. This incident was reported by the Huaxia state media as a 'positive energy' news story.

'Chinese brother' Link's fame in Huaxia soared, making him the most famous athlete of this Olympic Games, even more famous than Phelps, who had won eight gold medals.

"Link, I heard that you had a match with Phelps yesterday at the CBS TV station's swimming pool. How did it go?" Steve asked.

"This one is his 200-meter freestyle gold medal."

Link, holding the gold medal on the table, said.

"Wow, he lost to you?"

Steve examined the medal, which indeed bore the swimming event marker, and presented it to the camera, which captured the gold medal.

"Link, you swim faster than the world champion?"

Tyson and others looked at him incredulously. Although boxers are strong, fast, and have great endurance, boxing and swimming involve different activation points. For a boxer to swim faster than a swimming champion, it definitely indicated extraordinary talent.

Link explained, "As you all know, I live on Miami Beach; my ancestors were fishermen, and I'm a diver, often swimming in the ocean. My technique is not bad; I'm just a bit faster than him. Afterwards, we exchanged gold medals."

Yesterday, while he was at the CBS TV studio for a show, the producers suddenly invited Phelps, who was wearing his eight gold medals.

As soon as he saw Link, Phelps called for a challenge.

Encouraged by the CBS host, the two headed to the swimming pool and had a match.

In a 200-meter lane, he completed the course in just 98 seconds, over five seconds faster than Phelps. In seawater, he could have exceeded him by even more.

After the match, Phelps was particularly affected and said he would train harder to try to beat him next time.

"Link, you were a few seconds faster than Phelps; have you considered becoming a swimmer and participating in the Olympics in four years?"

"Not right now; my current goal is to become the world boxing champion."

Link, clenching his fist, said.

"Link, I support you; boxing is way cooler than swimming."

Tyson said, patting his shoulder.

Link agreed, as swimming could only win championships and attract a few advertisements afterward; other income wasn't much.

Top-level boxers, meanwhile, were like walking money printing machines, earning several hundred million US dollars in half an hour per match, faster and more than any other sports star; he naturally wouldn't sacrifice the big for the small.

However, according to regulations, boxers moving into the professional boxing scene could no longer participate in amateur boxing competitions like the Olympics.

If he wanted to win more Olympic gold medals, he would have to go swimming, and the US swimming association had already called, inviting him to join the US team, but he had not yet accepted.

"Link, going back to the competition, with so many people cheering for you on-site, do you feel pressure?"

Steve asked, pointing to the big screen.

"No, I love competing at home, and I enjoy hearing the audience cheering for me. The louder their cheers, the harder I fight; that's also one of the reasons I was able to beat Aragon again."

"Yes, Link's mindset is very good; he is a person with a strong inner self."

Doug Fisher commented.

Link thanked Fisher for his praise.

He then continued to explain the finals situation for the audience.

Although this final wasn't as thrilling as the one in Havana, it was still a highly challenging match.

At the start of the first round, Aragon took the initiative and engaged in guerrilla warfare on the spot.

Guerrilla tactics on the ring are a strategy of the weak overcoming the strong, originating from the Cuban Independence Movement where Cuban troops defeated the Spanish colonial army. This tactic is very flexible, often switching from one direction to another unexpectedly, making it difficult to counter once the attack is withdrawn.

Link's strategy was to hold his ground. As soon as Aragon attacked, he would throw a heavy punch, chasing down his opponent with a speed no less than his.

After practicing for over a month, both his punch strength and speed had improved, while Aragon had been nursing injuries for the past month, making no progress.

He knocked Aragon down once at 110 seconds into the first round.

This punch severely undermined Aragon's confidence and fighting spirit.

In the subsequent second round, Aragon fought even more cautiously, and directly chose to surrender in the third round, giving up the match.

Applause!

"Link is amazing!"

After the match video finished playing, a wave of enthusiastic applause and cheers erupted from the audience.

Link stood up to express his gratitude.

"Dad, I think I recognize that guy."

In a top-floor apartment in Thomp International Tower, New York, a tall, shapely blonde woman exclaimed in surprise as she saw Link on TV.

"Oh, Eva, you know Link Baker?"

Her father, Mr. Thomp, shifted his gaze from the TV and looked questioningly at his eldest daughter. He was in his sixties, with flowing blonde hair and a habit of pursing his lips and drawing out his words."

"Link Baker! That's the name."

The blonde woman furrowed her lovely eyebrows and said as she stared at Link, "About two months ago, in front of the Thomp International Building at Miami Beach, I met him. He was riding a scooter and suddenly greeted me, claiming to be a fan of mine and that he was a boxer who would definitely become a champion someday."

"At the time, I didn't believe him. I thought he was bragging to get my attention. I can't believe he would go on to win the championship at the Olympics. It's unbelievable."

"Two months ago? What a confident young man, I like this guy. We should invite him over to our place sometime."

Mr. Thomp said, stroking his double chin.

Eva continued to stare at the young man on the TV. He seemed even more handsome than two months ago. Back then, dressed in casual attire, he looked quite ordinary. But now, just over two months later, he had transformed into this remarkably charming and distinguished man.

It was truly miraculous.

Perhaps, when I go to Miami, I could talk to him."

"Link, congratulations again on winning the Olympic Gold Medal. On behalf of all the boxing fans, I want to ask you a question: when is your next fight, and is there a specific date?"

Steve asked on TV.

"Around the beginning of September, I'll be moving into professional boxing to compete in the WBA Super Middleweight King Golden Belt ranking match."

"That's great, let me wish you a victorious first fight and many more Golden Belts in the future."

Steve said.

"Ask about his love life, the fans are always interested in that."

Miss Tina intervened.

Steve hesitated, wondering if it was appropriate to ask about personal relationships now that the interview was almost over. After pondering briefly and not finding a good segue, he casually asked a couple of questions and ended the recording of the episode.

"Ha, I bet you're going to keep traveling, congratulations, you'll have more opportunities to charm ladies everywhere."

Miss Tina said coldly over the earpiece.

Steve's eye twitched, feeling bitter inside. If he had known she would become his superior, he would have taken their dating period more seriously, avoiding flirting around outside. Now, the revenge had arrived.

He thought for a moment that it might be safer to keep running the field if Tina was still the program director. Staying at the studio could actually be life-threatening.
Enjoy new adventures from empire

Thinking this, Steve Mandanda allowed a small smile to play on his lips, feeling somewhat relieved.