Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion

"Catherine, do you know what, Link was too much. During the 93-minute movie, he slept for a full 65 minutes and even snored halfway through. It made me so mad."

Outside the movie theater, Selina, holding her skirt, huffily got into the nanny car and complained to Catherine.

"Sorry, the movie theater is just too conducive to sleeping."

Link said with a light laugh.

He had trained too long in the gym last night and didn't take a nap at noon. And just now, after Selina called him to sit at the front for a while, he couldn't help but fall asleep again.

Hmph!

Selina rolled her eyes at him—even though she knew training every day was exhausting and she understood him, she still had to complain in person.

Catherine smiled and said, "This movie is targeted at teenagers, not big boys like Link. It's normal for him to fall asleep. Link, how about we grab a quick meal? I've made a reservation at the Italian restaurant on 17th Street up ahead."

Link checked his watch. It was almost time for dinner, so he agreed. He hadn't driven himself and simply got into Selina's nanny car.

"Link, what do you think about the few girls I just introduced you to? Any you want to get to know?"

Selina took out a can of coffee from the fridge for him, but Link took a bottle of water instead and smiled, "They're all nice. Give me all their contact information."

"What, you want all of them?"

Selina asked with wide eyes in surprise.

"Is that not okay?"

"Of course not, how can you be like that, you're too bad."

Selina puffed her cheeks and feigned a kick at him.

Through the rearview mirror, Catherine saw the two joking and couldn't help but smile as well.

——

After the little interlude, Link refocused his attention on the match.

The fourth match the next day.

Under the watchful eyes of the public, Link once again arrived at Madison Square Garden. Due to the low interest in past qualifying matches, the WBA Americas association did not promote the event, resulting in few spectators.

After Link stirred up a global media storm, the WBA Americas Zone super middleweight ranking matches suddenly heated up. The matches involving Link, in particular, received unprecedented attention.

Before the fourth match, Madison Square Garden announced that they had sold 6227 tickets, far exceeding expectations.

Link's fourth opponent was Paul Samuels, a boxer from Oregon.

At the start of the match, the opponent employed evasive tactics, trying to last the 10 seconds this way.

Yes, in a match with someone else, beating the opponent means victory, but against Link, just lasting 10 seconds is a win.

Unfortunately, his speed was still too slow. The 6X6.1 square boxing ring didn't allow enough space to keep distance. Link closed in on him after taking two quick steps when the opponent backed away, pinning him near a corner post. One punch broke the defense, another for the KO.

It took 9.2 seconds!

Perhaps the benefits of fleeing had become apparent.

The fifth match's opponent, a boxer from New Mexico named Martins Kukulis, also tried to use this tactic to outlast Link's 10 seconds.

But his moves lacked the cleverness of thought—in the face of Link's ferocious onslaught, he only lasted 7.5 seconds.

The sixth match saw Link against Raul Marquez, a recently advanced professional boxer from middleweight, with a record of 13 wins in 15 fights. He had gone the full 12 rounds with the middleweight world champion Jermain Taylor last year; he was quite strong.

Everyone hoped he could last a few more rounds against Link, to quell Link's arrogance. Instead, he only lasted 5.8 seconds.

After beginning the match aggressively attempting to strike first against Link, Marquez's slower speed was apparent, and like Romaric from the second match, he left himself open and was KO'd with a single punch from Link.

Following the sixth match, famed commentator Doug Fisher published a commentary in The New York Times, stating that the super middleweight category had entered the 'seconds era.' The once customary 12-round bout had become completely obsolete with Link in the ring.

In the past six matches, the durations were 6.1 seconds, 4.8 seconds, 5.3 seconds, 9.2 seconds, 7.5 seconds, and 5.8 seconds. So far, no opponent had lasted more than 10 seconds against him, and he was on the verge of equaling 'Heavy Hitter' Shannon Briggs' record of the most number of times a fighter has KO'ed an opponent in the shortest time in professional boxing matches.

"... Over a decade since the Tyson era, the boxing scene, lacking heavy hitters, has been stagnant like a pond of still water. Though fighters like Roy Jones, Mayweather, and De La Hoya caused some ripples, they merely followed in the footsteps of their predecessors and lacked a pioneering contribution to the development and popularization of boxing.

Facing this situation, many are pessimistic about the current state, even coming to terms with boxing's return to a niche sport... The waves Link has recently made in boxing have brought a breath of fresh air... With his overpowering presence, he has brought boxing into the seconds era, making fights more exciting...

Looking forward to Link's upcoming performances, hopefully, he will continue to win and bring more surprises for boxing fans."

The media found the concept of the 'seconds era' intriguing and took the opportunity to sensationalize it.

The American media claimed that Link's formidable strength would dominate the super middleweight competition, saying fighters like Joe Calzaghe and Miko were no match for him, and the super middleweight Golden Belt would return to the United States.

The European media claimed that since turning professional, Link's 6 wins and 6 KOs showed particular dominance and ambition, also describing his style as cold-blooded, calling him a 'butcher,' a 'big demon,' and 'Quick-draw Link.'

However, the European media still had ample confidence in Miko, Carl Froch, and Joe Calzaghe, believing they could definitely defeat Link and keep the super middleweight Golden Belt in Europe.

Link, unaware how he became 'villainized' into roles like a butcher or a big demon, didn't care.

No matter how loud the public opinion or how many negative stories, he focused his energy and attention on training, preparing for the next match.

——

Bang, bang, bang!

In the boxing training gym, Link, drenched in sweat, swung his fists nonstop, striking the mitts held by Morales with maximum force and speed, pushing himself to see his limits, From punch one to punch one thousand, his body began to sweat profusely, and his muscles trembled incessantly.

With every punch thrown, a sour and swollen pain transmitted from his arm muscles and other body parts. He didn't know if he still had the strength to throw the next punch, but he could only grit his teeth and persevere, attempting to throw more punches, surpass his past self, become stronger, and not give his opponents the chance to laugh at him.

"Link, take a rest. You have a match tomorrow; don't tire yourself out too much,"

Coach Brooks said helplessly.

In the past, when coaching boxers, he often yelled, "Dammit, don't slack off, start training." But with Link, he needed to shout, "Stop training, take a break," "That's enough, you don't need to train anymore."

He felt that his role as a coach was to hold him back.

"It's okay, I can keep going!"

Link continued to pound the mitts. After striking them fifteen hundred times, his arm muscles screamed with a burning pain that felt like being seared by fire. He knew his limit had come, and continuing to train risked muscle injury, affecting his performance tomorrow.

"Link, good news!"

As he was resting, Simon rushed into the training gym, excitedly holding a document in his hand.

"We just got a message from the WBA North America Association: your seventh and eighth fight opponents have withdrawn, citing an aggravation of an old injury. They've forfeited the match. You won't have to participate in the upcoming fights and will directly advance to the finals of the Americas Zone. Isn't that good news?"

Simon laughed.

"Is it? I don't think so,"

Link shook his head. He had originally wanted to use the matches to hone his skills and gain professional fighting experience, but with both opponents forfeiting, his plans fell through, and he could only continue training to regain the lost experience.

While Link was buried in training, the WBA regional tournaments were also drawing to a close.

In the North American region, four boxers had advanced to the WBA divisional finals: Canadian boxer Jean Pascal, American boxers Rubin Williams and Jeff Lacy, and Link Baker.

Among them, Jean Pascal had knocked out his opponents in the last three seeding matches in 32, 95, and 63 seconds respectively, putting on a very eye-catching performance.

The American media believed Jean Pascal would be the first obstacle to Link's goal of achieving a 100-second KO of all opponents.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

On September 21, at Madison Square Garden in New York, the North America Division welcomed its first round of finals: Link vs. Rubin Williams, Jean Pascal vs. Jeff Lacy.

In this match, Link still utilized his heavy punching advantage, throwing 54 punches in 21 seconds during the exchange, successfully KOing his opponent for his seventh professional victory.

And Jean Pascal's performance in the first round wasn't much worse than Link's, taking 82 seconds to KO the tough Jeff Lacy for his twenty-first professional victory.

Just one day later, the North American Division hosted the second finals match: Link Baker vs. Canadian champion Jean Pascal, with the winner earning the chance to challenge WBA North America Super Middleweight champion Jermain Taylor.

On the day before the match, the WBA North America Association posted the fighters' profiles on their website's homepage.

Jean Pascal, Haitian-Canadian, 26 years old, with dark complexion, 179 cm tall, 183 cm reach, amateur record of 103 wins and 18 losses, 2001 Francophonie Games boxing gold medalist, 2003 Pan American Games boxing bronze medalist.

Turned professional in 2005, and currently boasts a record of 21 wins, 21 fights, 18 KOs, ranked 8th in the WBA Super Middleweight world ranking, considered one of the most likely to win a Golden Belt in the four major organizations' title fight.

Link Baker from Miami, 20 years old, 186 cm tall, 193 cm reach, 2008 Golden Gloves Champion, 2008 Olympic Super Middleweight Champion, amateur record of 27 fights, 27 wins, 26 KOs.

Professional record of 6 fights, 6 wins, 6 KOs, not yet ranked by the WBA organization, but in his first seven fights, no one withstood him for more than 30 seconds, also considered one of the 'candidates' for the four major organizations' Super Middleweight world champion.

Furthermore, on the eve of the match, various North American bookmakers and casinos launched new betting options:

Odd for Link to win were at 1:1.2

Odd for Jean Pascal to win at 1:2.5

Odds for Link to KO Pascal within 100 seconds at 1:3.7;

Odds for Jean Pascal to KO Link within 100 seconds at 1:10.2;

and so on.

From the odds on various items, the betting companies believed that Link could beat Pascal, but they had some doubts about his ability to KO Pascal within 100 seconds.

The match between the two was still held at Madison Square Garden. On the day of the event, the venue announced that they had sold a total of 13,072 tickets, making it the most attended WBA North America event ever.

"Link, are you nervous?"

In the locker room, Dino Duva continually rubbed his palms, pacing back and forth in the corridor.

"You look more nervous than I am."

Link sat on the couch, lifting his fists for Coach Brooks and Morales to help him with the hand wraps.

"Yes, I'm very nervous. I've bet a hundred thousand US dollars on you. If you lose, there goes my spending money for the month. Link, you must win, you have to defeat Pascal within 100 seconds. If you win, I'll treat you to a night out with the ladies, all right, you don't like that, how about I get you a sports car instead?"

Dino leaned over and asked.

"Cut the crap, Dino! Gambling is your thing, it has nothing to do with Link. Don't disturb him here. Link, just relax and fight without being affected by him,"

Coach Brooks pushed Dino away and said.

Link glanced at Dino. "Don't worry, I can win for sure."

"Then go for it!"