Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion

"Link, Andrea lost!"

"Lost? Aragon is that good?"

In Havana City, at the Civic Sports Center arena, the venue for this Olympic qualifying event, Link had just stepped down from the boxing ring when his teammate Dreadlocks Morales came to report the news.

In the first-round knockout match that had just taken place, Andrea Berto VS Cuba's Lorenzo Aragon.

The match ended with a score of 14:31.

Andrea Berto suffered defeat.

Lorenzo Aragon is ranked first in Cuba's amateur boxing Super Middleweight competition.

This year, at 25, he stands 190cm tall, with a reach of 194cm, is Black, and exhibits exquisite boxing skills.

He represented Cuba in the 69kg men's boxing category at the 2004 Athens Olympics, defeating opponents one by one until he reached the final match. There, he faced Kazakhstan's boxer Atayev but unfortunately lost, securing a silver medal.

Four years have passed, and Aragon had increased his weight to 75kg to compete in the Super Middleweight category, setting his sights directly on the Olympic gold medal.

Drawing such a formidable opponent in the first round, Andrea Berto's luck was indeed poor.

"That bastard Aragon, just like you, was darting around during the match, slippery as an eel. Andrea couldn't land a hit on him," Morales cursed angrily.

"Sounds really tough," Link nodded.

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"Link, how about your side?"

Jones Fullos squeezed through the crowd to join them, his expression somewhat grave.

Having only competed domestically before, he was under the impression that the best boxers were all in the United States since the level of boxing was extremely high there. He thought that being in the top five at the US Golden Gloves Championship meant he would not fare worse internationally.

But upon arriving at the Americas Zone matches and witnessing several fights from Cuba, Mexico, Brazil, and other nations, he felt his scalp tingle and his horizons broadened tremendously.

Cuban Boxing: Emulates Russian boxing, characterized by rapid fist speed, aggression, and a great sense of rhythm in the offense.

Moreover, Cuban boxers, mostly Black, have excellent flexibility and quick movement, utilizing guerrilla tactics much like the Cuban revolutionary forces—strike and then move to another spot, employing flexible tactics.

Mexican Boxing: Integrates modern Western European and American boxing techniques while combining local characteristics. Their method is extremely ferocious; they fight fearlessly and do not retreat or fear injury. In matches, they fight as if they are battling to the death, striving to tear a piece out of their opponent even at the risk of dying.

Brazilian and Argentinian boxing incorporate the strengths of the local ethnicities, such as rapid movement and flexible, variable actions. Fighters often throw continuous punches, maintaining relentless offensive pressure, making them incredibly challenging to fight.

Then there are Haiti, Jamaica, Guatemala, and other smaller Central and South American countries, for whom boxing is a means of survival and a way to achieve a better life. Their determination is evident in matches, exhibiting very tenacious styles.

Compared with these nations' boxers, American boxers are slightly better in terms of skills, experience, and physical fitness but do not have an advantage in other aspects.

Seeing the matches from various nations had a profound impact on Jones Fullos; even his initially arrogant demeanor had involuntarily softened since arriving in Havana.

Seeing Link come down from the ring, he hurried over to inquire as the United States' second-highest-ranked Super Middleweight contender had been defeated; their hopes were all placed on Link now.

Link's first-round opponent was Mexico's second-ranked Matias Ezekiel Vargas Martin, also a very strong contender.

If Link were to lose, the US Super Middleweight team might as well pack up and go home.

"KO! I won," Link said with a light smile.

"KO?!"

"Another KO?"

Morales and Jones cried out in surprise.

It's no wonder they were surprised; the result was truly astonishing.

The settings for the Olympic qualifiers differ from those of the Golden Gloves Championships.

A match only has four rounds, each lasting two minutes with a one-minute break in between, which considerably increases the difficulty of achieving a KO.

To secure a KO in the Olympic series, there are three scenarios:

The first is to knock down the opponent directly so the opponent cannot get up.

The second, within one round, if one side is knocked down three times and counted out on each occasion, the referee can immediately declare a KO victory for the other side; or, in a match consisting of four rounds, if one side is knocked down four times and counted out each time, the referee, considering the gap between the fighters, can also directly declare a KO victory for the other side.

The third is causing a severe injury to the opponent, prompting the referee to stop the match for safety considerations.

Link had been competing against the second-place team member from Mexico, Martin, and in the first three rounds, knocked Martin down four times with heavy punches, but Martin got up each time with great tenacity and a strong will.

Link had no choice but to increase his strength and keep throwing punches. In the fourth round, he delivered 47 heavy punches, and, finally, with much greater punch weight and speed than his opponent, he knocked Martin down completely in the fourth round and smoothly won the match.

"Let's go check out Andrea's side!"

Following Link's suggestion, four of them headed to the boxing ring number 6.

Due to the short qualifying match period of only five days and numerous events, there were eight boxing rings set up inside the social and cultural center's venue. Sometimes, eight matches would be held simultaneously, and coaches from each team would draw lots before the match to decide the venue.

Link was at ring number 2 while Andrea and the Cuban boxer Lorenzo Aragon were at ring number 6.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

When Link and his group arrived, Andrea was talking to the team coach and a translator.

Since Cuba is part of the Latin language family, over 90% of the population only speaks Spanish and Turkish, and schools do not teach English, allegedly to prevent people from smuggling themselves into the United States.

Therefore, when coming here for competitions, both the United States and Canadian teams need to have translators.

Other countries in the Americas primarily speak Spanish or Portuguese, also belonging to the Latin language family, so they are collectively referred to as Latinos.

Miami, where Link is from, is one of the areas in the United States with the highest proportion of Latinos, with over half of the population using Spanish. Link Baker speaks Spanish, and Link can also use some.

"Link, how was the match?"

Andrea Berto called out.

"Fantastic!"

Before Link could reply, Andzeje eagerly recounted the details of the match to everyone. Hearing that Link continued to defeat his opponent by KO, everyone cheered happily.

"Link, well done!"

Andrea and the coaches clapped their hands.

"Thanks!"

Link shrugged and smiled.

"Link, I lost. The upcoming matches depend on you now," Andrea Berto said, patting his shoulder.

Link nodded. Since there were only two spots remaining in the Super Middleweight category and since Link won first place, the second member of the U.S. team lost the chance to continue in the competition; they could now participate in the experience exchange matches instead.

Link needed to face every qualifying boxer from the first round by himself.

A total of 28 countries and regions sent boxing teams to participate in this round of the Americcas Zone Olympic boxing qualifiers, with 325 boxers competing.

There were 18 countries participating in the Super Middleweight competition, and thus the number of people advancing from the first round of eliminations was also 18, all top competitors in the Super Middleweight category from their respective countries.

"Link, look over there, that guy is Lorenzo Aragon," Andrea Berto said, pulling him toward the opposite corner.

There stood a dark-skinned, lean young black man with blue tattoos on his shoulders, 190cm tall, 4cm taller than Link, and with 2cm longer arm reach. Having participated in two World Championships and one Olympic Games, his extensive experience in major competitions made him a challenging opponent.

"The man next to him is his coach, Felix Savon," Andrea Berto pointed at the middle-aged black man next to Lorenzo Aragon.

"Felix Savon?"

Link's expression turned serious.

Felix Savon was the third boxer in Olympic history to win gold medals consecutively in boxing at the 1992, 1996, and 2000 games.

The first was Teofilo Stevenson, a legendary Cuban boxer.

The second was Laszlo Papp, a legendary Hungarian boxer.

For various reasons, none of them entered the professional boxing scene, but in the world of amateur boxing, no one could match their achievements and honors.

Felix Savon was also the new leading figure of the first generation in Cuban boxing.

As Lorenzo Aragon's protégé, his skills were undoubtedly formidable.

Link felt a bit of pressure.

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