Chapitre 247: 244 {2}
Bang! Bang! Bang!
In the boxing ring, both Link and Andre threw their fists hard, hitting each other while constantly dodging to avoid being hit.
In the first round, Link threw 112 punches, hitting Andre Ward 22 times. Andre Ward threw 98 punches, hitting Link 19 times.
The two sides were tied in the first round.
The audience saw the two fighting fiercely in the ring, with every punch hitting the flesh, and they were very excited, with cheers one after another.
But this kind of match made the industry insiders at the scene confused.
Since Link turned professional last September, he had gone through fourteen professional matches, and except for the Tyson match, all other matches ended in the first round.
Today, against Andre Ward, he fought a full round with his opponent.
What was Link doing?
Was this really his tactic?
"Link, how are you doing?"
In the right corner of the ring, Coach Brooks squatted in front of Link and asked.
Two assistants were fanning Link, spraying water, and applying Vaseline to his forehead.
They had been working on Link's logistics team for nearly a year, and this was the first time they had done this kind of work during a match. They finally felt a sense of existence and were quite moved, working very hard.
Link took a sip of water and spat it out, shaking the water off his face and smiling, "It's okay, I feel better and better."
"Are you sure you're okay?"
Coach Brooks was a little unsure.
"Yes, I'm really okay now."
Link shrugged.
Last time after drinking, he had a vigorous exercise session with Amy Adams, and the alcohol was excreted from his body with body fluids, so it didn't affect him much.
This time, he went straight to sleep after drinking, and the residual alcohol was still in his body, affecting his performance a little.
But just now in the first round, he fought very hard, with a lot of exercise, and sweated a lot. His mind gradually cleared up, and his state got better and better.
"Okay, this is the first time you've finished a round. It's really a surprise. I, as a coach, finally come in handy. Let me tell you about your opponent. Andre played very steadily in the first round, his rhythm didn't get messed up, and his physical consumption wasn't big. If you're not sure you can knock him out within 12 rounds, you need to be more stable than him, fight slowly, don't rush, and win by points in the end."
Coach Brooks said.
Link nodded and raised his arm to move his shoulder.
"Go Link!"
Many fans in the audience shouted, holding up posters.
Link stood up and waved his fist at them.
"Link, we're here, come on!"
Miley Cyrus and Ke$ha shouted at him from a position close to the ring.
"Boss, come on!"
Emma Stone also shouted from the audience.
Link smiled gently and waved his fist at them.
In the corner opposite the ring, Andre Ward's coach glanced at Link and said to Andre, "Link is a very powerful guy. He knows you have good stamina and a steady style, so he doesn't want to defeat you in the first round. Instead, he wants to fight you on attrition and stamina. I'm not sure if he will explode in this round, but you must be careful. When dealing with a difficult guy like Link, you can't be too careful."
Andre Ward nodded silently.
Link was the most powerful opponent he had encountered in his professional career, and it was also a good opportunity.
If he could defeat him, he could unify the super middleweight division and become the overlord of this weight class.
At the same time, he could also step on Link's many halos and become a top boxer, getting more appearance fees and prize money, and becoming a billionaire.
Thinking of this, Andre couldn't help but feel his heart beat faster and his blood boil. Looking at Link opposite him, his eyes were filled with high fighting spirit.
This time, victory was a must!
Come on!
Ding!
The second round began, and Link and Andre came to the middle of the ring.
Link nodded at Andre. He was indeed a very strong opponent.
Stamina, strength, speed, combination punches, and the use of tactics were all at the top level. Moreover, his mind was smarter than ordinary black boxers, not easily angered, and his rhythm would not be easily disrupted.
When a black athlete had a smart brain, the strength they displayed would double.
The best way to deal with this kind of boxer was to fight steadily, find the opponent's weakness in mobile warfare, and then take the opportunity to give the opponent a fatal blow.
Link had done a pre-match deduction.
Because his opponent was once a light heavyweight boxer and had won the Olympic championship in this category, his punch was not weaker than his own, and his ability to withstand blows was not weaker than his own either.
His opponent had fought over a hundred matches in the amateur stage and over twenty professional matches with all wins. In terms of technique and experience, he was also richer than himself.
In comparison, the areas where he was stronger than his opponent were speed, reaction ability, and abundant physical strength.
Understanding this, Link's plan was to attack his opponent with high-frequency jabs in the second round, first breaking through his defense, and then finding an opportunity to knock him out and win the match.
"Boxing!"
The second round began.
Andre Ward threw a punch and then took a step back, raising his fists and taking a defensive stance, continuing his steady and steady style.
Just like last year in the pre-match of Holyfield vs. Valuev, he first attracted his opponent to attack, and when his opponent consumed a lot of energy, he launched a strong counterattack, and finally won the match in one fell swoop.
This was Andre Ward's usual tactic, and it was also a very practical tactic that had been verified many times. With this tactic, he had been winning all the way.
Today, when dealing with a strong enemy like Link, he planned to continue to stick to it, no matter what tricks Link was playing, he would keep his rhythm unchanged.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Last year, Andre Ward and Esteban Camou had a match at Madison Square Garden, which Link had watched in Eva Carr's box, and he had also studied the opponent's match video.
Seeing that the opponent continued to use this steady tactic.
Link no longer hesitated and took the initiative to attack his opponent, left jab + right jab + left hook + right jab. His fists were like javelins, continuously attacking the opponent's arm defense.
One punch after another, the offensive was continuous.
Andre Ward defended tightly, constantly changing his footwork, trying to distance himself from him to prevent his defense from being broken.
However, Link was slightly faster. Seeing the opponent retreat, he took agile steps and followed closely, trying not to let the opponent escape his attack range, nor give the opponent a chance to react.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Link's fists continuously hit Andre's body, right jab + left jab + right straight + left jab, bang!
Link attacked more than fifty punches in a row, and a right straight punch made Andre's body crooked. Then, Link's unexpected left jab hit Andre's left rib heavily.
Andre groaned and his body instinctively bent down.
Because Link was taller than him and his arm was seven centimeters longer, seeing the opponent's defense deformed, he followed up with a tricky right uppercut, which pierced the opponent's defense from bottom to top at a very fast speed and hit the opponent's forehead.
Bang!
Andre's left brow bone was hit, and his body suddenly leaned back, his feet also retreating a few steps.
"Wow! It hit!"
Seeing Link's successful blow, there was an exclamation from the audience. Link's fans suddenly became agitated and shouted loudly:
"Go Link!"
"Link will win!"
"Link, finish the match quickly, we want to draw a prize."
Amidst the cheers of the crowd, Link pursued the victory, quickly approached his opponent, forced him to the ropes with two heavy punches, and used the rope tactics to bombard the opponent with seven or eight punches in one breath.
"Link will win!"
"Link is awesome!"
Seeing Link's punches continuously hit his opponent, leaving him unable to fight back, the audience became even more excited, with cheers rising wave after wave.
"See, I told you, this was Link's tactic. How about it?"
Tyson hugged his arms and smiled proudly at De La Hoya.
"This guy Link is too cunning. He's so strong, yet he still uses tactics in matches. How can others fight against him like this?"
Hopkins lamented.
"Don't worry, after he moves up to light heavyweight, his advantage won't be so obvious."
Roy Jones Jr. said calmly.
James Toney nodded, "Link relies on punching power and speed in his fights. The higher the weight class, the smaller his advantage. You can see it from his fight with Tyson. He's invincible in super middleweight, but not necessarily in other weight classes. By the way, has Link said he wants to move up to light heavyweight?"
"Haven't you heard? Link said his goal is to win the titles of four major organizations in five weight classes. Not just light heavyweight, he also wants to move up to heavyweight in the future and fight you guys."
Hopkins chuckled.
"What an ambitious guy."
John Ruiz looked at Link in the ring and praised.
De La Hoya also frowned at Link on the stage. Was the first round really his tactic?
He had to say, this guy's acting skills were really good. Even he, a veteran who had been in the boxing world for many years, couldn't see any flaws.
"Go Link!"
In the ring, Link forced his opponent to the ropes and attacked continuously with seven or eight punches.
Andre couldn't resist and used the hugging tactic, wrapping his arms around Link to prevent him from attacking.
In boxing matches, you can only hit the front, not the back of the head, back, etc.
So once you're hugged, besides using small movements to hit the opponent's ribs, other offensive methods are easy to cause fouls.
Because the hugging tactic is practical, it can be seen in every professional match.
But because the hugging tactic is a bit of a rogue, it interrupts the rhythm of the match and reduces the watchability of the match.
This has also become one of the most hated tactics by the audience. Every time they see someone using the hugging tactic in a match, they can't help but boo.
"Break!"
The referee saw Andre using the hugging tactic and quickly intervened to separate the two. At the same time, the hugging tactic was also a foul tactic, a technical foul.
According to the scoring rules, Link got one more point in this round.
Link glanced at the opponent, waved his fist, and smiled gently.
Andre Ward glared back at him.
"Boxing!"
The match continued, and Link wiped his sweat, raised his fist, and attacked Andre Ward. Andre Ward continued to defend tightly.
At 93 seconds into the second round, Link repeated his old trick, using the head-body, head-body tactic. A jab hit the opponent's abdomen, causing Andre's defense to deform, followed by a straight punch hitting the opponent's forehead.
Andre staggered and retreated a few steps, hitting the corner post to stabilize his body, almost forming a knockdown.
"Link, use your heavy punches!"
"Link, finish him!"
The fans stood up and cheered loudly.
Link took a few steps forward and continued to hit the opponent's body and head with high-frequency jabs. Seeing the opponent preparing to use the hugging tactic again.
Link quickly stepped back and landed a long-planned left uppercut, hitting the opponent's jaw from bottom to top.
Andre was hit by the sudden punch and his body rushed upwards. His brain suddenly became dizzy, and his body staggered a step, trying to grab the rope to stabilize himself.
But the powerful punch still made him dizzy, and he stumbled and fell on the ring.
Boom!
Seeing Andre knocked down, the audience was immediately excited and shouted "Link will win," "Link won," and "Link is Superman."
More than 60,000 people shouted together, and the atmosphere in the Staples Center suddenly boiled, like a noisy Sarajevo.
"This guy's fans are too noisy."
Roy Jones Jr. looked back at the audience.
Many young fans were shaking Link's posters in their seats, constantly making noise, as if this was Link's concert scene.
"It's really noisy. It's hard to get home-court advantage when fighting against him."
James Toney scanned the audience. The three-tiered stands were full of Link's fans, with at least tens of thousands of people shouting.
It was difficult for others to get home-court advantage in such a venue.
"Tsk, that's for sure. This guy is not only a boxing champion, but also a big singer, with tens of millions of albums sold worldwide. Tsk, tsk, he's too awesome. With a few boxing matches and album royalties, Link's net worth is probably two hundred million, two hundred million a year. F*ck, this bastard is the real money-printing machine."
Tyson said with envy.
Others, hearing that Link earned 200 million a year, couldn't help but show envious and jealous expressions. He became a billionaire in just over a year. This guy was too hateful.
"Haha, this is great. The more fans Link has, the higher the share of the match ticket revenue, and the more PPV revenue. I bet the PPV revenue share of my next match with him will not be less than 100 million US dollars, and the revenue share in other aspects will also double. Haha, our bonus will definitely break the record."
De La Hoya waved his fist and shouted excitedly.
"F*ck! I knew I should have fought him later."
Tyson said angrily.
But Roy Jones Jr., Hopkins, and James Toney were quite happy.
They hadn't fought Link yet and had the opportunity to ride on Link's popularity and get more bonuses and PPV shares.
If they performed well and defeated Link in the match, the income from one match could be equivalent to the total income of the past four or five years of matches.
Thinking of this, everyone looked at Link with fiery eyes.
"Link! Come on!"
In the ring, after Andre fell, the referee squatted down and counted to four. Andre opened his eyes slowly, propped himself up with his hands, and stood up bit by bit, with wet sweat dripping from his body.
"Andre! Come on!"
"Andre, hold on!"
Many black boxing fans shouted in the audience.
"Andre, get up! Beat that bastard Link!"
In a music club in New York, 50 Cent, Drake, and others were also nervously watching TV.
"5, 4, 3"
The countdown reached three seconds, and Andre slowly stood up with the help of the ropes.
"Yeah!"
Many spectators shouted excitedly.
The referee asked Andre Ward to let go of the ropes and take two steps forward. Andre had just taken one step when he fell to the ground again.
Sigh!
The audience sighed in disappointment.
The referee held up two fingers in front of Andre and asked him how many he saw. Andre answered "three."
The referee determined that Andre was not fit to continue the match. After discussing with Andre's coach, Andre gave up the match, and the judges unanimously ruled that Link won the match.
"Yeah!"
Hearing that Link won, the audience was boiling. Although there were many Andre's fans at the scene, most of them came for Link.
Seeing him defeat his opponent in a powerful way and win the WBA-WBC-WBO-IBF-WBF-IBO gold belts, the fans jumped up excitedly as if they were at a carnival. Some even started singing Link's "Unstoppable," turning the boxing match into a concert scene.
"Yeah! Link won!"
In the villa, the little girl who was crying just now jumped up excitedly, her round face full of joy.
"Haha, Link won, that's great."
Selena shouted, dancing.
"Humph, be careful next time, don't mess around."
Mrs. Mandy said with a suppressed smile.
"Got it!"
Selena rolled her eyes, then suddenly her big eyes darted around, and she said to everyone, "Do you think it's possible that Link couldn't beat Andre Ward originally, and it was all thanks to me giving him a drink that he suddenly exploded and defeated his opponent?"
"What are you thinking? If it weren't for you, Link could have won the match in the first round. Do you still want to take all the credit for Link winning the match?"
Mrs. Mandy rolled her eyes at her.
Catherine, Taylor, and Mrs. Andrea all laughed.
Selena sniffed, put her hands in her pockets, and said, "We can't completely rule out this possibility. We should wait for Link to come back and ask him. Maybe it's true."
"If it's fake, aren't you worried that Link will come back and beat you up?"
Taylor blinked and smiled.
Selena's face froze. Seeing Link covered in gold belts on TV, looking very intimidating, she quickly ran upstairs.
"What are you doing?"
"I miss home, I'm going back to live for a few days."
(End of Chapter)
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone