Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion

"Aragon must win!"

The Cuban audience at the venue continued to shout loudly.

Someone in the stands displayed the blue, white, and red Cuban flag, waving it vigorously.

Someone on the second floor placed several crocodile skin drums, beating them forcefully, and a group of Cuban dancers performed a distinctively characteristic song and dance show in the open space for the audience.

Especially when a group of scantily clad Cuban girls climbed onto the boxing ring and vigorously twisted their waists, performing a Cuban tropical dance, the cheers from the crowd almost lifted the roof off.

"Aragon, don't be nervous, relax in the match. We've already secured the Olympic qualifications, even losing is not a big deal, understand?"

In the ring's resting area, Felix Savon was giving Aragon some pre-match psychological guidance.

For an elite boxer, having strong physical qualities and superb boxing skills is not enough.

There is another, even more important boxing quality—mentality, also known as psychological quality, which often becomes the key to winning a match.

A boxer with a good psychological quality can perform at 100%, 120% of their ability during a match, while a boxer with poor psychological quality will be very anxious before the match, suffering from 'competition anxiety,' and often underperform once they step onto the stage.

For example, Tyson, despite having a strong body and ferocious fists, industry insiders generally believe that his psychological quality limited his boxing career development.

In Tyson's professional career, he was defeated consecutively by James Douglas, Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, Danny Williams, and Kevin McBride, and never successfully avenged any of these defeats.

Moreover, in boxing matches, whenever a match exceeds five rounds, Tyson would start to become impatient, and his performance would decline—all of which are closely related to psychological quality.

Compared to Tyson, Muhammad Ali's display of psychological quality was admirable. Ali had been defeated by Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Leon Spinks, and others, but soon after, he defeated these opponents in rematches.

Ali's never-say-die spirit is also one of the reasons he is so highly regarded.

According to a study by "Ring" magazine, boxers like Ali, who have strong psychological qualities, not only have connections with their personal growth environments but are also related to their competition experience. Those who have participated in major competitions tend to have good psychological qualities, which is known in the boxing world as big match experience.

For instance, Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, and other boxing champions all participated in the Olympics, and Tyson, although he participated in Olympic trials, won the U.S. Junior Olympics boxing championship twice and was the 1984 Golden Gloves heavyweight champion.

All these are experiences from big competitions.

If someone with no big competition experience suddenly participates in a boxing match observed by thousands, their performance will definitely not be very good.

Lorenzo Aragon has participated in the Olympics, World Championships, Pan American Games, and other major boxing competitions, so his psychological quality will naturally not be poor.

But the problem is, participating in a major boxing competition locally in Cuba, it is still Aragon's first time.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Considering this, Felix Savon decided to give his apprentice extra psychological guidance before the match to prevent him from experiencing 'competition anxiety.'

"Felix, don't worry, I will definitely beat that guy and win the Americas Zone championship,"

Lorenzo Aragon said, wiping the sweat from his head with a towel.

"Stop! Please stop thinking like that, Lorenzo!"

Savon placed his hands on Aragon's shoulders and stared into his shining eyes, "Remember my requirement, I'm not demanding that you must win the Americas Zone championship; my requirement is that you don't get hurt. Protect yourself, understand?"

"I understand, but I will definitely win,"

Aragon said firmly.

Savon patted his shoulder, silently encouraging him.

"Go Aragon!"

"Aragon must win!"

The surrounding Cuban boxers shouted, waving their fists.

——

"Link, don't be too nervous, really, you don't need to be. We've already secured our spot in the Olympics, this match is not crucial. What you need to do is just get through this match. Win or lose, it's all right."

In the red resting area, Coach Ed was once again doing some mental coaching with Link. His words weren't anything new, all part of the old routine.

Link glanced at the sweat-drenched Ed and smiled, "Ed, I get it, the person who doesn't need to be nervous is you. The match is only eight minutes long. Maybe you could take a trip to the bathroom, and by the time you come back, you'll know the result. Of course, you don't even need to go to know, because there's only one outcome—I'm the champion."

Coach Ed chuckled.

Having been a boxing coach for several decades and with over ten years of experience as a national team boxing coach, Link was the strangest boxer he had ever seen. This guy had made his debut less than two months ago and had only been through a dozen amateur matches before the qualifiers.

But in the ring, the mental strength he exhibited was astonishing. No matter the scale of the competition, no matter how strong his opponent was, he was always so confident, so relaxed and comfortable, so arrogantly at ease.

Ed had studied him for several days but still couldn't figure out how a rookie boxer could have such excellent, almost freakish, mental strength.

After discussions with colleagues, everyone felt he must belong to that kind of performative personality, the more significant the stage, the more open he could be—an ideal material for a star.

"Well, since you're not nervous, I won't say much more. Go for it!"

Coach Ed patted him on the shoulder.

"Go Link!"

"Link will win!"

Morales, Andzeje, and a few others clenched their fists and yelled at him.

Ding ding ding! Experience new tales on empire

The starting bell rang, Link put on his mouthguard, removed the warming blanket from his body, and loosened his arms with a few pushing cart movements, then playfuly jumped onto the boxing ring.

"Aragon will win!"

"Aragon for the champion!"

As he stepped onto the ring, the shouts of the crowd became clearer and more resonant, deafening, but Link was not intimidated in the slightest. Truly strong people are strong from within; facing an enemy's massive army alone, when one's spirit is sufficiently strong, that army seems no more troublesome than mere chaff.

"Link!!!"

Suddenly, a sharp, high-pitched, slightly cracking shout came from the stands.

"Champion!!"

A group of people shouted loudly in unison.

Link turned around and saw, in the middle of the second tier of the audience seats, the chubby James waving a red flag vigorously in the air. Beside him sat hundreds of people dressed in red t-shirts—Daniel, Michael, Resas, and Franco Duvall, along with many familiar faces.

They stood amid the Cubans, waving their arms exaggeratedly like a wave, making very flamboyant movements.

"Link!"

Chubby James waved the flag and shouted loudly.

"Champion!!!"

The group of people again raised their arms in an exaggerated shake.

Link laughed heartily, raised his fist, and waved at them.

"Aragon! Champion!!!"

The Cuban audience, displeased that their voices were being drowned out by a handful of Americans, also started shouting loudly together.

Link smiled lightly and turned to look at his opponent walking towards him, Lorenzo Aragon.