Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion

After seeing Morales and his party off, Link went to the locker room to visit Mario, who had been knocked unconscious.

However, the guy was sulking as if he had been greatly wronged.

Link didn't bother with him anymore and then found West, asking him to recruit one or two more sparring partners who were physically fit, resilient, and had better technique.

Generally speaking, just like coaches, sparring partners play a significant role in the development process of a boxer.

Having a formidable sparring partner to spar with every day accelerates the growth speed, like John Ruiz, Oliver McCall, Larry Holmes, Lennox Lewis, all of whom had been sparring partners before entering the professional boxing ring and later became world champions.

This is a mutually beneficial process.

Mario was physically fit and strong, but the guy was a bit dumb and slow in learning, unable to keep up with Link's pace of growth or meet his needs.

Switching to a more capable sparring partner would yield better training results.

West nodded in agreement, knowing Link was a star boxer with a promising future. To find a sparring partner, a simple notice in their circle would likely bring many volunteers.

——

"Hey~ Link!"

After finishing training and returning to a small store, Link saw a middle-aged man standing up from a chair under the sunshade, wearing a blue beach shirt and coffee-colored shorts, who took off his sunglasses and waved at him with a smile.

Link stopped his car and sized up the man with a bit of surprise, as it turned out to be Franco Duvall, whom he hadn't seen for a long while.

Unlike his previous prim and proper appearance, Duvall now dressed casually with his shirt unbuttoned at the chest, revealing some chest hair, wearing leather sandals, his hair no longer painstakingly neat but messy from the sea breeze.

Now, Franco Duvall couldn't be described as down and out, but rather leisurely and carefree would be more fitting, especially since his sandals were a limited edition from the Italian luxury brand Adele Fendi, costing over three thousand US dollars.

"Mr. Duvall, what brings you here?"

"Link, please, call me Franco,"

smiled Franco Duvall.

"OK, Franco, what brings you to Miami?"

Link fetched two bottles of sparkling water from the fridge, handed one to Franco who thanked him, then smiled and said, "Link, I'm here to sign a contract with you. What do you think, want to consider it?"

"So, did you bring one hundred million dollars?"

"Oh, no, of course not, I don't have a hundred million dollars, but I brought sincerity."

"Sincerity?"

Link chuckled slightly and said, "Franco, you should know that the sincerity of top-tier promotions is worth twenty million US dollars. How much is your sincerity?"

"Rest assured, I absolutely have more sincerity than Greg Cohen."

Franco pulled out a folder and pushed it across the table.

Link opened it and saw the contract terms: eight million US dollars in signing bonus, paid upfront;

achieve first place in the American Olympic qualifiers, a reward of ten thousand;

obtain an Olympic gold medal for one million, silver for five hundred thousand, bronze for two hundred thousand;

place in the top three in any amateur boxing event internationally or domestically, rewards ranging from ten thousand to one million;

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once turned professional, obtaining an intercontinental champion golden belt from any of the four major organizations would get a reward of two hundred thousand, and each world champion golden belt would get a reward of one million.

Regarding revenue sharing, before becoming a world champion, he and the company would split 5:5; after obtaining a world champion title, the split would be 6:4; if he maintained the world champion title for over five years, it would be 7:3, and over ten years, 8:2.

And so on.

The contract covered details from competitions to promotions, logistics, medical care, from competition prize money, PPV revenue to merchandise revenue splits, and more.

It covered a boxer's entire professional career, including what level of pension benefits he would enjoy after retirement.

"Link, what do you think?"

While he was reading, Franco Duvall leaned forward with his hands on the table, watching him intently, and promptly inquired once Link had finished.

Link did not reply immediately. Although the contract was decent, it still did not meet his expectations.

He flipped back to the first page, pointing at "Dynasty Promotion Company" on it, and asked, "Why is it Dynasty Promotion Company?"

"You didn't know? I had a fallout with my father recently, and he dismissed me from my position as President of the main promotions company. I sold my shares and, with tens of millions of US dollars, founded Dynasty Promotion Company in New York.

This has been the biggest news in boxing recently. I thought you knew. Haven't you heard?"

Franco asked in surprise.

Link shook his head, looking at the name "Dynasty Boxing Company," finding it somewhat unbelievable.

It wasn't the act of Franco breaking away from the Duva Family to start his own operation that was unbelievable, but rather the appearance of this company itself.

Because the "Dynasty Boxing Company" was supposed to appear four or five years later.

Four or five years later, Franco Duvall and his brother Dino Duva, dissatisfied with Lou Duva's management strategies, would lead a group of people to establish Dynasty Boxing Company.

After the elder Duva passed away in 2017, the major event company was managed by Lou Duva's daughter-in-law, Franco Duvall's wife, Nora Duwa.

Franco and his brother Dino continued to manage Dynasty Promotion.

Link knew this company because Dynasty Boxing Company had a good partnership with the Huaxia boxing team, having signed boxers like Zhang Zhilei, Meng Fanlong, and Wang Zhimin, and had done several years of boxing promotion in mainland Huaxia, gaining significant fame.

They focused their business in the mainland, hoping to tap into a market in this vast country with a population of fourteen billion.

The result, of course, was a disastrous failure.

Huaxia people, accustomed to high-flying kung fu and martial arts films, showed little interest in boxing. Moreover, Huaxia boxers, either slim in build or overly plump, wore oddly styled shorts wrestling each other on the stage, lacking aesthetic appeal.

No viewership, no advertising revenue sharing, no ticket revenue.

Dynasty Promotion lost a large sum of money in the mainland market and ultimately had to give up, close its domestic branches, and pull all investments back to the United States.

By then, the top event promotions in the United States were blossoming alone, and other sports promotions like Queensbury, Golden Boy, Top Rank Championship, TGB Boxing Promotion, GTD Boxing Company, and others were flourishing everywhere.

Dynasty Promotion Company had little room to survive and its closure was inevitable.

What Link didn't expect was that Franco Duvall would break away from the main events several years earlier to create Dynasty Promotion.

The Butterfly Effect?

"Link, rest assured, although Dynasty Promotion is a newly established company, many of the core members come from the main event company, over forty people, with all types of talent. As long as you are willing to join Dynasty Promotion, we will definitely train you as a core boxer."

Franco Duvall said sincerely.

After pondering a moment, Link thought that joining Dynasty Promotion was not a bad idea—it was an undeveloped blue ocean with plenty of room for maneuvering.

However, he didn't have much confidence in Franco as a partner. Passionate, sincere, emotional—that was fine for friendship, but as an entrepreneur, he clearly wasn't cut out for it.

"Franco, signing contracts can be complicated. The day after tomorrow, I have to go to Havana for the Olympic qualification match and won't have time to deal with this. How about we discuss this cooperation after the Olympics are over?"

"Twenty percent of the shares!"

Franco Duvall suddenly grabbed his arm, excitedly saying, "Link, I can give you twenty percent of the shares in Dynasty Promotion, the status of a company partner. How about we manage Dynasty Promotion together?"

Link was somewhat surprised. Although twenty percent of Dynasty Promotion's shares weren't very valuable—worth a few million dollars—

the fact that the other party was willing to offer shares was astonishingly sincere. This wasn't just optimism; it was extreme confidence.

This "confidence" forced Link to reconsider whether to agree.

In fact, he had no plans to sign with any promotion company before entering the professional boxing arena.

His plan was to participate in amateur competitions first, trying to get as many championship titles as possible, and then turn professional six months later, showcasing his strength, potential, and market value in professional competitions, attracting promotion companies to negotiate.

With professional records, he could negotiate from a position of strength during contract talks to secure a larger signing bonus and better revenue sharing terms.

Because he hadn't planned to sign, when he talked with Franco and Greg Cohen, he blurted out demands of 100 million USD and 70% revenue sharing to discourage them.

Now, with Franco offering an eight million dollar signing bonus, tens of millions in incentive mechanisms, and satisfactory competition revenue sharing terms, along with twenty percent of the shares in Dynasty Promotion and the status of a partner, his sincerity was indeed hard to reject.

Link pondered, "Franco, I'm just an amateur boxer. I've never fought a professional match. You're an old hand in the boxing world, so you should know many boxers are great in amateur matches but perform dismally when they turn professional, like Henry Tillman. Aren't you worried I might be one of those boxers?"

Henry Tillman was the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics 91 kg gold medallist. In the selection for the Olympic qualifiers, he had beaten Tyson twice, making Tyson his substitute. However, upon turning professional, Tyson knocked him out in one round in 1990, becoming a curious tale in the boxing world.

"Haha, Link, I believe in you. You won't be a character like Henry Tillman.

Even if you were, it wouldn't matter. The words you spoke to me on the train are not something an ordinary person could or would say.

You are an impressive person, someone worth collaborating with. I'm not just investing in your boxing, I'm investing in you as a person. I think you will become a remarkable individual in the future. How about it, want to take a gamble?"

Franco Duvall extended his palm, looking at him eagerly.

Link thought for a moment, then reached out and shook his hand.

Although Dynasty Promotion was a new company and could not compare to Top Rank, main events, or Don King Promotion in terms of capital, connections, and business—n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

the potential of a new company was vast, with less internal competition and consumption. Joining Dynasty Promotion would spare him some trouble.

Besides, Franco Duvall was the eldest son of the Duva family, the former president of the main event company, and the current president's husband, not lacking in resources or connections. Collaborating with such a company was indeed a good choice.

However, regarding the terms of the contract, there were still some details worth negotiating.

Link and Franco Duvall only signed a draft contract, deciding to discuss the official contract in detail after the Olympic qualifiers were over.