บท 91: Chapter 91: To Wear the Crown
Link's speech at Madison Square Garden, released by the media, hit the boxing world like a bomb. After the Olympics, Link's fame had already transcended regional boundaries and spread throughout the global boxing community, with many people knowing about him.
Upon hearing that he was entering the professional boxing world, everyone was highly attentive to his matches, eager to see how this Olympic champion would perform.
Originally, people woke up, opened their newspapers, and expected to read about Link’s debut match. Instead, they were greeted with shocking headlines.
The front page of the **New York Post** read: "Olympic Champion Link Baker Boasts He'll Sweep All Opponents in 100 Seconds."
The subtitle was: "He doesn’t think former world champions Mikkel Kessler, Lucian Bute, Andre Ward, or even Joe Calzaghe can last 100 seconds against him."
The front page of **USA Today** declared: "Link Issues KO Warning to the World"; the subtitle was: "Link warns all super middleweight boxers to give up competing for the belts or face being KO’d."
The sports section of **American Express** headlined: "Why Did Joe Calzaghe Suddenly Give Up All His Belts? Link Baker Says It's Because of Him."
The subtitle was: "Link believes the best way to honor Joe Calzaghe is to beat him in a match, expressing regret over Joe giving up the belts."
Everyone who saw these headlines was bewildered.
What’s this about defeating everyone in 100 seconds?
Scaring Calzaghe into giving up his belts?
KO’ing the whole world?
Has Link gone mad?
People just wanted to see how Link's match wentâ€"whether he won or lost and in which round he won.
Why are the newspapers filled with this news?
Is it just hype or is it real?
They eagerly read the articles, initially thinking the newspapers were using sensational headlines to attract readers.
But after reading, they found that the headlines only partially captured Link’s shocking statements. His actual words were even more eye-popping.
The news was too sensational.
Within a day, the news was reprinted by major newspapers in Europe and Asia, including **Bild** in Germany, **The Guardian** and **The Times** in the UK, **Le Monde** in France, and **Yomiuri Shimbun** in Japan.
Several media outlets interviewed the people Link mentioned.
Joe Calzaghe said Link's claims were interesting but not true. He gave up the belts to focus on the light heavyweight division, not because of Link.
When **The Times** asked Calzaghe if he would fight Link if challenged, Calzaghe said he wouldn’t refuse.
The reporter then asked what Calzaghe thought about Link saying he could defeat all opponents in 100 seconds.
Calzaghe laughed and said it was amusing, but he didn't think Link could do it, and neither could anyone else.
**Le Monde** also interviewed former champion Mikkel Kessler, who was ranked top three in the WBA super middleweight division and a top contender to reclaim the WBA belt. They asked how he felt about Link's claim to defeat all opponents in 100 seconds and dominate the super middleweight division.
Mikkel said, “Link Baker? I know that guy. He did well in the Olympics, but this is professional boxing. He’s oversimplifying everything.â€
When asked if he would have the confidence to beat Link if they fought, Mikkel shrugged, saying, “He wants to fight me? He needs to beat Andre Ward, Jermain Taylor, and Jean Pascal to win the Americas belt first. If he somehow qualifies, I’ll teach him how to talk with my fists.â€
Other media interviewed Armenian champion Arthur Abraham, British fighter Carl Froch, and American Andre Ward.
These fighters, known for their fiery temperaments, were infuriated when they heard Link's claim to beat them in 100 seconds. They called Link a trash talker who only talked big. If they met him in the ring, they vowed to teach him a lesson and show him how to be humble.
“Look, Link, look at this newspaper, and this one, and this one. Mikkel, Andre, Calzaghe, Pascalâ€"they’re all angry with you,†Dino Duva said, shaking the newspapers in his hand.
“So what?†Link asked.
“So what?!â€
Dino was taken aback. “Link, you’ve angered everyone. Now, all of them will be your enemies. You’re taking on the whole world, don’t you realize?â€
Link shook his head. “What’s our goal in boxing?â€
“To win the belts!†Dino said.
“Exactly. Since I want to be the king in boxing, these people are my opponents sooner or later. Does it matter if it’s sooner or later? If I don’t offend them and treat them politely, will they bow down to me?†Link asked.
Dino Duva opened his mouth, speechless. Sure, that made sense in theory, but not in practice.
A normal person would think if you’re going to make enemies, do it one by one, defeating them individually. But Link had antagonized everyone at once with his trash talk. He was making enemies of the whole world.
This guy must be crazy.
“Don’t you feel a lot of pressure?†Dino wanted to interview him with a microphone.
Hearing this question, Link suddenly remembered a famous quote that seemed fitting for his current situation. He sighed deeply and said, “To wear the crown, you must bear its weight!â€
Everyone in the car looked at him in unison, thinking he was more of a philosopher than a boxer.
“Link, that’s a great saying. Teach me how to talk as cool as you someday,†Morales said, flashing his white teeth.
“Do you want to get beaten up?†Dino asked, giving him a sidelong glance.
Morales opened his mouth. Okay, talking like Link carried too much risk. Not everyone could pull it off.
Link shook his head. The reason he spoke like this and made such bold claims to the reporters wasn’t to act cool or stir up news. He just wanted to push himself.
After coming to New York recently or becoming a millionaire and Olympic champion, he found himself slacking off. Thoughts of women started creeping into his mind during training, wanting to abandon training to mingle with women, and sometimes he couldn’t sleep at night.
This rarely happened before the Olympics.
After thinking about it, he guessed it was because, after achieving some success and earning some money, the pressure lessened, and so did his motivation. His once-tense mind and body had relaxed.
This wasn’t a good sign.
To solve this problem, he decided to add pressure on himself.
Since the opponents in the qualifiers were too weak to pressure him, he came up with the idea of provoking everyone, burning his bridges. Either he knocked out everyone in 100 seconds, or he made a fool of himself.
Not wanting to be humiliated, he could only train hard, fight hard, and cherish every second in the ring as his dignity and honor. Surpassing 100 seconds would mean losing face.
So, to succeed, you must first learn to dig a pit for yourself.
(End of Chapter)
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