章節 113: Chapter 113: Reverse Recruitment
"Link, let's continue our previous conversation," Ivanka turned to him and said.
"Joining Trump Entertainment?"
"Yes, joining Trump Entertainment. We will join forces to break into the music industry. With the strength of Trump Entertainment, we will definitely make you a superstar in the music industry. Do you agree?" Ivanka took a step closer to him, her eyes fixed on him.
Link glanced at her and found that she was actually as tall as him.
Ivanka was wearing a pair of pointed silver-gray high heels, which made her height increase by more than five centimeters. This also made her figure even more stunning, with long, straight legs, a flat abdomen, and another thrilling curve above.
Because they were close, Link's nostrils were always filled with an alluring scent.
Link shook his head, "Sorry, I refuse."
"Why?" Ivanka looked at him puzzled.
Link picked up the wine glass and shook it, saying, "I am a serious person. If I want to be a singer, I will not just dabble in it. My goal is to become a regular at the Grammy Awards, a music superstar with global influence. However, the goal of Trump Entertainment is just to make money. Your company does not have excellent music producers who can promote my growth. Joining you is not a good choice."
Ivanka frowned slightly and pursed her lips, saying, "We can hire a few music producers. You should know that this is not difficult for Trump Entertainment."
"That's also a good idea, but I have a better idea. Do you want to hear it?" Link held up his wine glass and looked at Ivanka with a smile.
Ivanka looked into his deep eyes, as if seeing a deep greed, which disappeared in a blink of an eye. His eyes became clear and bright again, like a washed blue sky.
Ivanka felt that this kind of man was dangerous and instinctively wanted to reject him, but her strong curiosity still suppressed her thoughts of rejection, and she quietly listened to Link's idea.
â€"â€"
A moment later, Link left the private room. Ivanka looked at his back with a thoughtful look in her eyes. At this time, her phone rang.
"Ivanka, how was your conversation with Link?" Mr. Trump's loud voice came from the receiver.
"He refused!"
"He refused even after you personally invited him?"
"Yes, I couldn't convince him."
"How is that possible? That kid likes you. How could he refuse your invitation?" Mr. Trump shouted in surprise.
Ivanka shrugged and leaned on the sofa, crossing her long legs.
"Dad, don't forget the media's evaluation of him. He never fights only with his fists, but also with his head. You asked me to invite him to join Trump Entertainment, just wanting to use the popularity of that song to make Trump Entertainment's books look better and sell it for a good price. He must have read the relevant reports and won't easily board our sinking ship."
"This kid is so disappointing. I even praised him in public, but this is how he repays me. Next time, I will definitely not praise him again," Mr. Trump said angrily.
Ivanka smiled slightly and said indifferently, "He didn't agree to cooperate with us, which just proves that he is a smart person. Dad, you praised him correctly."
"Ivanka, don't joke with me. The hole in Trump Entertainment is too big. I'm about to be driven crazy by the bank, and there's that damn Carl Icahn. He only offered $80 million to acquire my Trump Entertainment company, and you know I've invested more than $500 million in that company," Mr. Trump yelled again on the phone.
Ivanka was a little helpless.
In recent years, Trump Real Estate had expanded too fast, and many investments needed to be borrowed from banks. Now that the financial crisis had arrived, there were problems with loan mortgages, causing problems in many companies under the Trump Group, and Trump Entertainment, which had the biggest problem, was the first to face bankruptcy.
The reason why Trump Entertainment was willing to host the match between Link and Tyson was also to recover some losses and earn more money in the transaction. Signing a record contract with Link was also out of the same consideration.
Link was very popular, both in the sports world and in the entertainment industry. The sudden popularity of "Despacito" undoubtedly pushed his fame to a higher level.
If they could sign him and get the distribution rights to this song, Trump Entertainment's books would look better, and there would be a good asset in the transaction.
It was just that Link didn't want to get on board, and she had no choice.
"Dad, although Link refused Trump Entertainment, he didn't refuse me. He wants to cooperate with me," Ivanka thought about the suggestion Link made before leaving and decided to tell her father about it and ask him to put up some money to sponsor it.
"Oh, he wants to cooperate with you? How?"
"Link doesn't want to cooperate with big record companies, and small record companies have small volumes, which will limit his development. So he wants to start a record company, an independent label, but he is busy training and has no time to manage the company. He invited me to be the president of the record company and also participate in the investment."
"This bastard is dreaming. I know what he's up to," Mr. Trump said angrily.
"Dad, isn't this a good idea? Link's songs are very popular. Cooperating with him will definitely make money," Ivanka asked in confusion.
"Damn Link, I wanted him to join Trump Entertainment, but he didn't agree. Instead, he invited you to join his company. I know he's after you. That beach boy wants to use this method to pursue you, marry into our Trump family, and then inherit our Trump family's property. He's dreaming!" Mr. Trump scolded.
Ivanka recalled her several contacts with Link. He was strong, confident, shrewd, and steady, much better than those flashy heirs of wealthy families in high society.
"Dad, he is an Olympic champion and a multimillionaire. If he is willing to marry into our family, wouldn't he be a good candidate? Dad, don't get excited. I'm not saying that I want to marry him. I'm talking about Tiffany. She is sixteen years old this year. Link is a very good candidate."
"That's impossible. He's a beach boy, the descendant of a fisherman. Our Trump family can never have such a son-in-law, otherwise, we will become a joke in high society," Mr. Trump said in a fierce voice.
"But I think cooperating with him is a very good idea. Link said that he started writing songs very early, and 'Despacito' is just one of them. He has many good songs in his notes.
Dad, you can imagine how much money his record company can make in the future if he can continuously create such songs? The Trump family needs money. If we go bankrupt, it will become a bigger joke," Ivanka said.
Mr. Trump was silent for a few seconds on the other end of the phone, "He can write so many good songs? I don't believe it."
"Dad, Link said he never lies, even though he has publicly boasted countless times, but he has never failed."
"It took him 101 seconds to defeat Mikkel Kessler."
"It was 100.65 seconds! Dad, let's not argue about these boring things. Since Link is so confident, why don't we try to trust him once? If it's true, this is not a bad investment."
Mr. Trump hesitated for a moment on the other end of the phone and agreed.
However, he told Ivanka to be careful of Link. That kid had ulterior motives and was scheming. A toad wanted to eat swan meat. A fisherman's descendant actually wanted to marry into a wealthy New York family. It was wishful thinking.
He asked Ivanka to be careful when contacting him and take safety measures to prevent being controlled by him mentally or physically and forced to marry him. Mr. Trump said he had seen this kind of thing too many times.
After listening to Mr. Trump's nagging, Ivanka shook her head helplessly. Her father was good at everything, but he talked too much.
Putting away her phone, she stretched her lazy waist and looked at her reflection in the full-length mirror, with delicate and beautiful makeup, a tall and plump figure, and a temperament far exceeding ordinary people.
If she cooperated with Link, she was confident that she could conquer Link with her wisdom and appearance, rather than being controlled by him.
â€"â€"
Link returned to the audience and happened to encounter the people from Main Events leaving. Old Duva, Nora Duva, and a few others were also there, but their faces were not very good.
"Link, where did you just go?" Dino shouted.
"I met an acquaintance and chatted for a while."
Link greeted Old Duva and Nora.
"Did you see the match between Evander and Valuev? In terms of points, Evander had an absolute advantage, but they gave a score of two losses and one draw. It must be that old guy Bob Arum who is playing tricks," Dino said angrily.
Link just listened but didn't express any opinions.
Firstly, it didn't matter to him who won the WBA heavyweight gold belt.
Secondly, in the previous match, although Old Huo fought very actively and hit Valuev more times, overall, he was obviously tired in the second half and didn't show too much advantage.
Therefore, the result of this match could be Old Huo winning, Valuev winning, or a draw.
In this situation where the outcome was not very clear, the key to deciding who won and who lost was not on them, but on the promotion companies behind them. Whoever had stronger connections and resources, and whoever gave more, had a higher probability of winning.
Although the WBA Association and other boxing organizations said they would remain neutral and ensure fair competition, they were also a profit-making organization and would also use some unspoken rules to make money without violating the rules.
This was a normal phenomenon in the boxing world. Old Duva and Main Events were both beneficiaries of the unspoken rules. However, as Old Duva retired and Main Events declined, the benefits they provided to several major organizations decreased, and their influence was also declining.
On the contrary, Top Rank was the largest promotion company in the boxing world. Bob Arum still controlled the company's power and could provide more benefits to several major organizations. The boxers under them would naturally receive extra care.
This match was not so much Old Huo losing to Valuev, but rather Main Events losing to Top Rank.
"Shut up! Let's go!" Old Duva glared at Dino, nodded to Link, and led the way.
Just as they turned a corner, a group of people came towards them. The leader was Bob Arum, who had a hooked nose, swollen eye bags, and a bald head. He was wearing a black wool suit, holding a cigar in his hand, and looked very stylish. This person was the Bob Arum that Dino had just scolded.
Beside him were Greg Cohen, Dmitriy Salita, and seven or eight other promoters and boxers.
"Haha, Louis, I heard you were hospitalized last week. I was planning to visit you at the hospital after the match. It's great to see you here now," Bob Arum greeted Old Duva warmly.
Old Duva shook hands with him and thanked him expressionlessly.
Bob Arum laughed and said, "Louis, Evander fought well in this match, but unfortunately he is too old. If he was ten years younger, Valuev would have been difficult to win."
"Humph, if it weren't for someone manipulating the match, Evander would definitely have won," Dino said, curling his lips.
Old Duva glanced at Dino and said to Arum, "The young man is ignorant, don't mind him."
Bob Arum laughed and said he didn't mind, his eyes falling on Link next to Dino.
Link also looked at Bob Arum and Duva, these two old men in the boxing world.
In the North American professional boxing world, Duva, Don King, and Arum formed a triumvirate. The three were both partners and competitors.
When they cooperated, they promoted many classic boxing matches, such as the boxing match 'Rumble in the Jungle' Ali VS George Foreman, 'Thrilla in Manila' Ali VS Joe Frazier, the Super Middleweight Four Kings Tournament, the rematch between Tyson and Holyfield, etc., all of which were created and promoted by the three of them.
But the three also often dug holes for each other, trying to destroy their opponents and become the overlord of the American boxing industry. The three fought for more than 30 years, with both sides winning and losing.
In recent years, with Old Duva and Don King retiring due to health reasons, Bob Arum had no opponents in the American boxing world. This was also one of the important reasons why Top Rank was able to rise strongly.
Link saw the other party looking over and nodded politely to show respect.
Even if he didn't agree with the other party's business philosophy, the other party did make a great contribution to promoting boxing.
For ordinary people, the meaning of boxing was not the fairness, justice, racial equality, and cultural fashion that he told Emma Watson, but a way for the bottom class to achieve class transition.
For example, boxers Pacquiao and Klitschko announced their candidacy for president after becoming famous. Especially Pacquiao, from a child laborer sleeping in a bridge hole to a billionaire, a seven-division world champion, and a presidential candidate through boxing, his life experience was even more inspiring than Link's.
Also, because boxing was a path, Link, after becoming a boxer, would continue to promote boxing, so that more people would pay attention to this sport, so that more interests would gather, and this path would become wider and wider, so that countless people like him and Pacquiao could join.
"Link, I've been hearing your name a lot lately. You're a very good boxer," Bob Arum laughed.
"Thank you for your compliment, Mr. Arum," Link responded politely.
"Link, I heard that your goal is to become Mayweather? Haha, that's a lofty goal, but to become Mayweather, you can't just rely on your fists, you also need the operation of a promotion company. I think you should understand this truth."
"Yes, but Mayweather is not my goal."
"Oh?" Arum frowned and laughed, "Link, what is your goal?"
Link thought for a moment, "I'm not sure, but I have a plan to surpass Mayweather within five years. Do you think I can do it, Mr. Arum?"
"Surpass Mayweather within five years?!"
Everyone present was shocked by his words and looked at him in disbelief.
Mayweather had been fighting in professional boxing since 1996 and currently had a record of 39 wins in 39 fights. He had won four world championship titles in different weight classes and was currently the most successful boxer in the boxing world, with an appearance fee of over $20 million. He was a legend in the boxing world.
Link actually wanted to surpass him within five years. This guy was indeed a trash talker.
"Haha, Link, you're not going to pull another 5 years and 1000 months, are you?" Greg Cohen joked.
Everyone laughed. Greg was making fun of Link's previous statement that he would finish all super middleweight opponents within 100 seconds, but in the fight against Mikkel, it took him more than 100 seconds.
"Please wait and see," Link smiled slightly, said goodbye to Old Duva and Ms. Nora, and drove away from the Garden Arena.
"This kid is a talent," Old Duva and Arum said in unison, looking at his back.
After saying that, the two looked at each other, snorted coldly, and walked away with their people.
Nora Duva smiled and said, "Father, why don't we acquire Dynasty Promotions?"
Old Duva thought for a moment, "Forget it. Main Events is my career, and Dynasty Promotions is Franco and Link's career. Let them do it."
(End of Chapter)
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