Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion

"Hello, is this the news department of the Miami Herald? I have a news tip, a very important one."

Outside the American Airlines Arena, in a phone booth, a man called the Miami Herald with a coarse and strange voice, telling them that he had an important news tip about the southeast champion, Link Baker.

"I have reliable information that he and his upcoming opponent, Andzeje Methodra's manager, are making a private deal to fix the match."

"Sir, are you serious? Do you have any witnesses or evidence?"

"The match itself is the evidence!"

Click! The phone was hung up, and the man stepped out of the booth, looking up at Miami's sky with a flash in his blue eyes, and scoffed, "Link, get ready to become famous."

——

Sniff! Sniff! Sniff~ Achoo!

"What are you smelling?"

Link looked at Mario, who was sniffing around with his large nose in the locker room.

"Link, Mario says you're doing drugs in the locker room," Reggie shrugged and chuckled.

"Are you crazy? Why would I do such a thing?"

Link shook his head, went to the medical room for his check-up, and under the supervision of the amateur boxing association staff, put on his hand wraps and boxing gloves.

While wearing the gloves and hand wraps, the staff supervised on-site and once verified, they sealed the gloves with a security sticker.

Before the match started, the ring referee would meticulously check if the seal was damaged; if any damage was found, the referee would require the boxers to replace their gloves or stop the match.

This practice was simply to prevent anyone from stuffing objects into the gloves.

Like placing three screw caps on the knuckles, wearing steel rings, and wrapping them up with bandages, which would double the punching power during the match.

This kind of trick had occurred a few times in official matches, leading to bleeding incidents and was severely prohibited by all boxing organizations; hence the necessity of glove seal stickers.

In underground boxing, however, such tactics still occurred frequently, and referees turned a blind eye. Link had been secretly targeted many times with this method, experiencing quite the sour thrill.

The drug test procedure was quick, only checking for the presence of stimulants, recreational drugs, and painkillers in the urine; nothing else was tested.

Since Link had never taken drugs, he naturally passed the urine test and, under Mario's doubtful gaze, he revealed his muscular back, well-developed pectorals, and solid chocolate abs. Holding his fists wrapped in red gloves, he strode out through the quiet corridor.

Boom!

Suddenly, the sound at the venue was turned up, and huge waves of noise hit the eardrums, one after another.

"Link!"

"Link!"

"Link!"

Tens of thousands of Miami spectators and Link's fans shouted his name loudly.

Link waved his fists three times toward the sky and sprint-jumped onto the boxing ring, while his opponent, Andzeje Methodra, was already standing there wearing white gloves, his eyes full of fighting spirit.

Andzeje Methodra, 25 years old, a Polish-American, with fair skin and a slim figure.

He stood 189 cm tall with a 198 cm arm span, 6 cm longer than Link. He had practiced boxing since childhood, was highly skilled, and was very fast.

In amateur boxing, he currently had a record of 54 fights, 52 wins, 1 loss, and 1 draw.

Before Link came along, he was ranked second among super middleweight amateur boxers, just behind Andrea Berto.

This was someone both formidable and not so formidable.

What was formidable was his technique and the advantage of his long arms, which made scoring points in matches relatively easy.

What was not formidable was his physical conditioning, but this lack of formidability wasn't due to physical weakness; rather, compared to his technique, his physical conditioning was a weak point.

He had once fought a match against the dreadlocked Morales, during which he had resisted Morales' fierce attacks with his exquisite technique and won by points.

This type of boxer often performs well in amateur matches, but if they were to remove the sponge protectors and fight professionally, they probably wouldn't show any remarkable performance.

This is also one of the reasons why many boxers can win gold medals in the Olympic Games but then fade into obscurity after turning professional.

For these boxers, their most feared opponents are the likes of Link and Andrea Berto, who not only have skills but also strength, speed, stamina, and excellent resistance to strikes.

Having just one Andrea Berto was headache enough, but now there was an even more daunting Link Baker.

If Andzeje Methodra wanted to maintain his status in the amateur boxing circle, his manager had to rack his brains for other strategies, such as fighting more rounds.

Fighting more rounds looked better not only in press reports but also had another more important reason: it dealt a smaller blow to a boxer's confidence.

In the boxing world, many people maintained impressive winning streaks of over ten, twenty, thirty, or even forty consecutive victories when they first entered the ring, only to suffer enormous trauma to their confidence when defeated and knocked out for the first time, leading them to never recover.

This was all too common, Tyson being a textbook example.

He had maintained a record of 37 consecutive wins until he was defeated by James Douglas in 1990. After that defeat, he never fully recovered and retired in 2005 with a record of 50 fights, 44 wins, and 6 losses.

Then there was his opponent, the legendary boxer Michael Spinks, who had dominated the WBA, WBC, and IBF heavyweight championships for over five years before encountering Tyson.

But after being defeated by Tyson in one round in June 1988 in Las Vegas, he immediately announced his retirement from professional boxing with a record of 32 fights, 31 wins, and 1 loss.

There was also Michael Spinks' old rival Larry Holmes, who had been Ali's sparring partner and had defeated many strong champions, including the champion Ali himself.

His winning streak had reached up to 48 matches, but after being defeated by Michael Spinks, he lost repeatedly. In 1988, when he faced Tyson, the match lasted only four rounds before he was knocked out by Tyson.

So in the boxing world, fighters like Ali, George Foreman, and Holyfield, who were knocked down but managed to come back and reclaim the golden belt, were the truly formidable characters.

Their formidability lay not only in their strength but more so in their fierce mental tenacity and indomitable will.

The saying "battle again and again after defeat" was also about them.

At this moment, the white boxer Andzeje Methodra facing Link didn't appear to be a person of resolute will. His manager painstakingly spending money to help him navigate the waters showed immense dedication.

Link held his gloves and thumped his chest, greeting his opponent.

Andzeje pounded his own chest in response.

The referee checked the seals, announced the rules, and forcefully cut with his hand.

"Boxing!"

The match began, and bang! Right at the start, Andzeje Methodra's right punch, swift like a mantis arm, soared to Link's face with a whistling sound.

Link was caught off guard; this speed was truly astonishing, far surpassing that of any opponent he had faced before, and the power was substantial, not much less than Mario's. An average boxer couldn't block it.

But Link wasn't an average person; his response was even faster. Seeing Andzeje's fist approaching, he quickly turned his head and swung his fist, aiming at Andzeje's head, exchanging punch for punch.

"Wow! It's a rear hook punch!"

"Can Andzeje dodge it?"

The audience shouted in surprise, and Andzeje's manager looked particularly worried. If this punch landed, Andzeje might be knocked out instantly.