章 154: Chapter 154: The Match
The 2009 USA Boxing National Championships was held in Louisville, Kentucky, in the Midwest.
Kentucky may seem unremarkable among the states, but it is the hometown of Colonel Sanders, the founder of KFC.
Louisville may also sound ordinary, but it's the birthplace of boxing legend Muhammad Ali.
The championship was held at the Cardinal Stadium, a large multi-purpose stadium that can accommodate nearly 80,000 spectators.
At noon, when Link, wearing a baseball cap, walked into the stadium with Dino, Simon, and Morales, there weren't many spectators, about 20,000. The two boxing rings in the middle were hosting the 48kg minimumweight and 92kg+ super heavyweight semifinals, respectively.
The boxers, wearing red and blue protective gear and competition T-shirts, were attacking each other. Due to the larger size of the super heavyweight boxers, more people were watching that match.
"Amateur matches are boring. They fight for a long time without a single KO!"
Dino complained while looking at the ring.
"If you want to become a professional boxing agent, you have to watch even boring matches carefully. Maybe among these boring boxers, there's a future world champion hidden."
Link said as he walked.
Last year, before Christmas, Mario and Morales were stimulated by Link and set a small goal on the spot: one wanted to participate in the National Championships, and the other wanted to participate in the Golden Gloves.
Dino also wanted to find something to do and asked Link for his opinion.
Link advised him to inherit the family business and start as an agent.
He could travel around the world to search for talented boxers, sign them, and train them.
Born into a boxing family, Dino often watched top boxers train and compete. Having seen so much, he had a better eye than other agents.
If he was lucky enough to sign a future champion, he could make a fortune.
Dino thought it made sense. At the beginning of the year, he traveled around Colombia, Mexico, Canada, and other places, bringing back three hot Latina women, claiming he wanted to train them as boxers. Old Duva almost had a heart attack when he heard this.
Later, Dino explained to Link that after looking around, he felt that those amateur boxers weren't good enough, none of them could compare to Link.
Link was also helpless and directly told him that Deontay Wilder, Andy Ruiz Jr., Joe Smith Jr., and the Haitian Azea Augustama, who participated in the Olympic qualifiers last year, were all good.
They had experienced major competitions and were worth cultivating.
Dino went to sign those people, but unfortunately, he was too late. After the Olympic series, those people had become famous and were signed by others.
Only light heavyweight Joe Smith Jr. was still available, and Dino signed him with a $1 million promotional contract.
Link didn't know much about Joe Smith Jr.'s future, only remembering that he was the only person to KO Bernard Hopkins in a match, so he must be quite skilled.
After arriving at the competition venue, Link entered the coaching area and saw Coach West, Mario, Reggie, and others. He had just seen them when he returned to Miami for a concert, so there was no need for much small talk.
"Link, I'm going to win the championship today too."
Reggie, with his blond hair, said excitedly when he saw Link.
"Go for it! I hope you're the second champion to come out of our boxing gym."
"Alright! I promise!"
Reggie bumped fists with him.
Mario, on the other hand, said coolly to Link, "Link, watch carefully. This time I'll win by KO."
"Stop bragging. Protect your head first, or you might get KO'd by your opponent."
Coach West glared and criticized.
"Humph! Of course not. I'll definitely win this one."
Mario pounded his slightly muscled chest.
Since he started preparing for the cruiserweight competition last year, he had been on a weight loss plan. In more than three months, he lost over ten pounds, his belly shrunk a bit, and his body had some muscle definition. However, his face, full of flesh, still had that annoying look.
"Mario, I have a feeling you'll be KO'd in this match."
"Me, KO'd? You're talking nonsense! I definitely won't be."
Mario said angrily.
"Really? We'll see."
Link smiled slightly and sat down in the front row of the coaching area.
The super heavyweight and minimumweight matches ended one after another, and the boxers participating in the heavyweight and flyweight semifinals entered the ring.
Mario waved his fist at Link, telling him to watch carefully, and then strode into the boxing ring.
"Will Mario really lose?"
Dino asked from the side.
"I don't know, we'll have to see after the match."
Mario's opponent was a 188cm tall, 195-pound black man, 25 years old, with an amateur record of 68 fights and 55 wins. His strength was B+, his technique B-, and his overall strength was on par with Mario's.
After the match started, Mario chose to take the initiative to attack. His opponent was not to be outdone, and the two exchanged dozens of punches, ending the first round in a draw.
In the second round, Mario continued to attack, and his opponent adopted the same tactic. The second round also ended in a draw.
In the third round, both sides were somewhat exhausted and sweating profusely. Mario continued to attack, while his opponent chose to defend and counterattack.
However, the opponent's defense skills were average. Mario often trained with Link and Morales, and he had good performance in both technique and punch power. In the third round, a jab hit the opponent's face, making him stagger.
"Mario is going to win."
Morales said.
Link nodded. Mario was once a heavyweight boxer, his strength was no less than his opponent's, and his technique was slightly better. Mario also had another obvious advantage: better mental fortitude.
This was related to Mario's training in the main competition training ground. Training in a large training ground allowed him to encounter many different types of boxers and have the opportunity to compete with multiple world champions.
When a boxer had fought against a world champion, their mentality would be more stable and their technique would be more proficient when competing against ordinary boxers.
After five rounds, Mario won the match with a score of 37:24.
"Link! Link! I won! Open your eyes and see, I won!"
Mario shouted at Link while holding onto the ropes.
Link deliberately showed a surprised expression and nodded slightly.
"Stop shouting! It's just the semifinals, not the finals. Don't get too happy too early."
Coach West shouted.
Mario shrugged his big nose and walked off the ring, unhappy.
After the heavyweight match, after a few more rounds, it was Reggie's turn to compete in the 69kg super welterweight division.
Reggie was participating in the finals. His technique was very good. After Link and Mario left, Coach West treated him as his core disciple, passing on all his experience and training resources to him.
Reggie's performance in the ring was also good, with good rhythm and skilled technique.
After five rounds, Reggie won the match with a slight advantage of 21:18, winning the super welterweight gold medal.
Coach West was very excited when he saw Reggie win.
Strictly speaking, Reggie was the disciple he had personally trained.
Link was a prodigy who would shine wherever he was. Mario was a stubborn stone, more influenced by Link. Although Reggie was also influenced by Link, he still listened to Coach West's guidance in training.
Reggie winning the championship was a great achievement for Coach West.
"Coach West, Link, Mario, I have a gold medal too."
Reggie shouted excitedly as he came down with the gold medal.
"Reggie, well done!"
Everyone congratulated Reggie.
"Reggie, don't get too excited. I'll have that medal too in a while."
Mario crossed his arms, glancing at the gold medal on Reggie's body with unconcealed envy on his face.
"Mario, you don't have to feel too pressured. I won the gold medal last year, Reggie this year, and you'll get it next year. One champion a year from our boxing gym isn't bad."
Link laughed.
"Why wait? I want to win it this year too. You'll see."
Mario turned his head and snorted coldly.
(End of Chapter)
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