Bab 97: Chapter 97: The Era of Seconds
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“Katherine, do you know? Link is so excessiveâ€"he slept through 65 minutes of a 93-minute movie and even snored in the middle. It’s driving me crazy,†Selena complained to Katherine as she stormed into the nanny car.
“Sorry, the cinema is just too comfortable for sleeping.â€
Link chuckled.
He had trained too long at the gym last night, didn’t take a nap at noon, and had fallen asleep again after Selena asked him to sit at the front for a while.
“Hmph!â€
Selena gave him a disdainful look. Even though she knew he was tired from training every day and understood him, she still had to express her frustration.
Katherine laughed, “The target audience for this movie is teenagers, not big guys like Link. It’s normal for him to fall asleep. Link, how about having a meal together? I’ve reserved a table at the Italian restaurant on 17th Street.â€
Link glanced at his watch; it was almost mealtime, so he agreed. Since he hadn’t driven, he just hopped into Selena’s nanny car.
“Link, how did it go with the girls I introduced to you? Did you find anyone you want to get to know?â€
Selena pulled out a can of coffee from the fridge for him. Link took a bottle of purified water and smiled, “They’re all nice. Just give me their contact information.â€
“Ah, you want them all?â€
Selena’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Is that not okay?â€
“Of course not. How can you be like this? You’re so bad.â€
Selena puffed out her cheeks and pretended to kick him.
Katherine, looking through the rearview mirror, saw the two chatting and couldn’t help but laugh.
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After the small incident, Link focused back on the upcoming fight.
The next day was the fourth match.
Amidst great attention, Link once again arrived at Madison Square Garden. Due to the previous lower-profile preliminaries, the WBA American Association hadn’t done much promotion, so there were very few spectators.
After Link stirred up global controversy, the WBA Americas super middleweight preliminaries suddenly became a hot topic. Matches featuring Link were receiving unprecedented attention.
Before the fourth match, Madison Square Garden announced that 6,227 tickets had been sold, far exceeding expectations.
Link’s opponent for the fourth match was Paul Samuels, a boxer from Oregon.
At the start of the match, his opponent adopted a defensive strategy, trying to last through 10 seconds.
Yes, when fighting against others, winning the match counts as victory. Against Link, surviving 10 seconds is considered a win.
Unfortunately, his speed was still too slow. The 6x6.1 meter ring couldn’t provide enough space to escape. Link, seeing his opponent retreat, stepped forward and cornered him. With one punch breaking his defense and another KOing him.
Time: 9.2 seconds!
Perhaps seeing the benefits of fleeing.
The fifth opponent, New Mexico’s Martins Kukulis, also tried to last 10 seconds against Link.
Unfortunately, his actions were not flexible enough. Under Link’s stormy attacks, he only lasted 7.5 seconds.
In the sixth match, Link faced Raul Marquez, a professional boxer who had just moved up from middleweight. With a record of 15 fights and 13 wins, he had previously fought a full 12 rounds with middleweight world champion Jermaine Taylor, showing considerable strength.
Everyone expected him to push Link through more rounds and curb his arrogance. Instead, he only lasted 5.8 seconds.
At the start of the match, Raul Marquez took the initiative to attack Link, trying to strike first. Unfortunately, his speed was too slow. The outcome was similar to the second match with Romanik: Link took advantage of the opening and KO'd him with one punch.
After the sixth match, renowned commentator Doug Fischer published a review in the *New York Times*, stating that super middleweight boxing had entered the ‘Era of Seconds’. The once 12-round system had completely failed under Link’s dominance.
In the past six matches, the times 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 about to tie the record for the shortest time and most KO’s by a ‘cannon’ like Shannon Briggs.
“After more than a decade since the Tyson era, the boxing world, lacking heavy hitters, has been as dull as a stagnant pond. Although there were minor waves created by Roy Jones Jr., Mayweather, De La Hoya, etc., they merely followed in the footsteps of their predecessors and did not contribute innovatively to the development and popularization of boxing.
Given this situation, many people are pessimistic about the current state of the sport and even accept the reality of boxing becoming a niche sport again. The waves stirred up by Link recently in the boxing world are quite refreshing. He has brought boxing into the Era of Seconds with his powerful presence, making matches more exciting. We look forward to Link’s upcoming performances and hope he continues to win and bring more surprises to boxing fans.â€
The media found the concept of the ‘Era of Seconds’ interesting and took the opportunity to hype it up.
American media claimed Link’s strength would dominate super middleweight boxing, saying Joe Calzaghe, Mikkel Kessler, and others were no match for him, and the four major organizations' super middleweight belts would return to America.
European media said Link had been very dominant since turning professional, with a record of 6 wins and 6 KO’s. His fighting style was described as cold-blooded and brutal, like a ruthless ‘butcher,’ ‘devil,’ or ‘quick-draw Link.’
However, European media still had confidence in Kessler, Carl Froch, and Joe Calzaghe, believing they could defeat Link and keep the super middleweight belts in Europe.
Link didn’t know how he became ‘blackened’ and turned into a butcher or devil-like character, but he didn’t care.
No matter how loud the outside world’s voices were, or how many negative news stories there were, his focus and energy remained on training and preparing for the next match.
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### Chapter 97: The Era of Seconds
Bang bang bang!
In the boxing training room, Link, drenched in sweat, kept hitting Morales' mitts with all his strength and speed. He wanted to test his limits, from the first punch to the thousandth. His body was sweating heavily, and his muscles were trembling.
With each punch, his arm muscles and other parts of his body ached. He wasn’t sure if he had the strength for another punch, but he gritted his teeth and kept going, trying to throw as many punches as possible. He aimed to surpass his past self, become stronger, and not give his opponents a chance to mock him.
“Link, take a break. You have a match tomorrow. Don’t tire yourself out,†Coach Brooks said helplessly.
In the past, when training boxers, he would often yell, “Damn it, don’t slack off, keep training!†But with Link, he found himself saying, “Stop training, take a break,†and “That’s enough, you don’t need to train more.â€
He felt like his role as a coach was just to hold him back.
“It’s okay, I can still keep going!â€
Link continued punching the mitts. After 1,500 punches, his arm muscles felt like they were burning. He knew he had reached his limit; continuing could risk pulling a muscle and affecting his performance the next day.
“Link, good news!â€
While he was resting, Simon burst into the training room, holding a document.
“WBA North American Association just informed us that your opponents for the seventh and eighth fights have withdrawn due to old injuries. You won’t need to participate in the upcoming matches and will advance directly to the Americas regional finals. Isn’t that good news?â€
Simon said with a smile.
“Is it? I don’t think so,â€
Link shook his head. He had hoped to refine his skills and gain more professional experience from the matches, but now that both opponents had withdrawn, his plans were disrupted. He could only continue training to make up for the lost experience.
As Link focused on his training, the WBA regional qualifiers were nearing their end.
In the North American region, four boxers advanced to the WBA regional finals: Canadian boxer Jean Pascal, American boxers Rubin Williams, Jeff Lacey, and Link Beck.
Among them, Jean Pascal had performed impressively in his last three qualifiers, defeating his opponents in 32 seconds, 95 seconds, and 63 seconds.
American media believed that Jean Pascal would be the first obstacle for Link to achieve his goal of a 100-second KO.
On September 21, at Madison Square Garden in New York, the North American region held its first-round finals: Link vs. Rubin Williams, and Jean Pascal vs. Jeff Lacey.
In this match, Link leveraged his powerful punches and managed to win with a knockout in 21 seconds by throwing 54 punches. This was his seventh professional victory.
Jean Pascal also performed nearly as well as Link in the first round, using 82 seconds to KO the strong opponent Jeff Lacey, marking his 21st professional win.
The next day, the North American region held its second finals: Link Beck vs. Canadian champion Jean Pascal. The winner would earn the right to challenge WBA North American Super Middleweight Champion Jermaine Taylor.
The day before the match, the WBA North American Association posted the fighters' profiles on their website.
Jean Pascal, a Haitian-Canadian, 26 years old, stands 179 cm tall with an arm reach of 183 cm. He has an amateur record of 103 wins and 18 losses, gold medalist at the 2001 Francophone Games, and bronze medalist at the 2003 Pan American Games.
He turned professional in 2005 and currently holds a record of 21 fights, 21 wins, and 18 KOs. Ranked 8th in the WBA Super Middleweight World Rankings, he is considered one of the most likely boxers to win a title belt in this four-major-organizations title fight.
Link Beck, from Miami, is 20 years old, stands 186 cm tall with an arm reach of 193 cm. He is the 2008 Golden Gloves champion and the 2008 Olympic Super Middleweight champion, with an amateur record of 27 fights, 27 wins, and 26 KOs.
His professional record is 6 fights, 6 wins, 6 KOs. He has not yet been ranked within the WBA organization, but in his first seven matches, no one could last more than 30 seconds against him. He is also considered a contender for the four major organizations’ Super Middleweight World Championship.
In addition, on the eve of the match, major North American sportsbooks and casinos posted new betting odds:
- Betting on Link to win: 1:1.2
- Betting on Jean Pascal to win: 1:2.5
- Betting on Link to KO Pascal within 100 seconds: 1:3.7
- Betting on Pascal to KO Link within 100 seconds: 1:10.2
From the odds, bookmakers believed Link could defeat Pascal, but they were skeptical about his ability to KO Pascal within 100 seconds.
The match was still held at Madison Square Garden. On the day of the match, the arena announced that 13,072 tickets had been sold, the highest attendance for a WBA North American regional event.
“Link, are you nervous?â€
In the locker room, Dino Duvall paced back and forth, rubbing his hands together.
“You look more nervous than I do.â€
Link sat on the sofa, raising his fists while Coach Brooks and Morales helped wrap his hand wraps.
“Yes, I am nervous. I bet $100,000 on you. If you lose, I’ll be out of pocket this month. Link, you have to win, you must beat Pascal within 100 seconds. If you win, I’ll take you out for a night on the town. Okay, you don’t like that? How about I get you a sports car?â€
Dino leaned in and asked.
“Dino, stop with the nonsense! Gambling is your business, not Link’s. Don’t interfere with him here. Link, relax and focus on the match. Don’t let him distract you.â€
Coach Brooks pushed Dino aside and said.
Link glanced at Dino and said, “Don’t worry, I will definitely win.â€
“Then good luck!â€
(The end of this chapter)
Status Power Mingguan
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stone