Chapter 05 : The Return of the Boxing Champion

During the intervals between matches, the bar's gambling stalls would set aside ten minutes for drinkers to place bets and also for the boxers to rest.

But in Link's match, ten minutes seemed too much. After he came on stage, the bookmaker only received 13 dollars in bets on his victory. Obviously everyone knew that Link could not win, and no one was willing to give money to the bookmaker.

In the boxing ring, Mario, who had just finished his break, walked up to Link. They stood face to face. They were of the same height, around 186 cm. Link was tall and slender, with muscles, but not big. Mario, on the other side, was fat, with a barrel waist and round arms, like the hind legs of a cow.

The two men standing together looked like a body builder and a sumo wrestler.

"Hey, kid, you're dead."

Mario poked his gloves and grinned coldly.

"If you are ugly, don't smile like that. It will make you uglier."

Link said calmly.

"Holy sh*t, what did you say?"

Mario was furious and raised his fist to hit him.

When the referee saw this, he hurried over to stop him.

"Boy, you're dead, I swear to God."

Mario cursed under his breath.

Link shrugged his shoulders and looked at him with contempt. Mario was so angry that he clenched his teeth and wished he could rush over and beat him up right now.

The referee began to announce the rules of the game.

During the game, you are not allowed to push, pull, bite, strangle, kick the crotch, or hit your opponent with the head, shoulders, or elbows. Valid hitting parts include the front and sides of the head, above the waist, and the front and sides of the upper body, but hitting the arms will not score. If the referee shouts BREAK, you must stop and step back, otherwise you will be declared the loser.

The coach mainly spoke to Link, worrying that he was too amateur and that he got too impatient during the game and used forbidden moves.

Link nodded, indicating that he completely understood.

"Boxing!"

After the announcement, the referee waved his right hand downwards and the game began.

"Mario, hit him in the face and I'll buy you a drink."

"Mario, beat him in one round, or you're a wimp."

"Come on Link, protect your nose."

After the game started, the drinkers began to party and shout nonsense.

There were also more professional audiences in the crowd, such as West Corian, who is Mario's coach.

After the fight started, he could tell at a glance that Link was not a rookie. He saw that Link's body was relaxed, his hands were naturally vertical, his feet moved forward and backward in an orderly manner, and his steps were flexible, like a well-trained boxer.

"Mario, be careful, don't underestimate the enemy!"

West Corian stood up and yelled.

It's too late.

After the start of the match, Mario gave up his usual conservative style and chose to take the initiative to attack. He took two steps in the middle of the ring and rushed directly in front of Link.

Seeing that Link didn't dodge in time, he was delighted, roared, and swung his fist towards Link's handsome and hateful face.

It was a jab, fast and hard, at an angle that would have likely broken his nose if it had hit him.

At the moment when Mario was about to punch, West Corian opened his eyes wide in shock. He saw that Link did not move his shoulders, but just turned his head slightly, and narrowly and skillfully avoided Mario's fist, as if he had completely predicted Mario's attack route.

However, what happened next shocked West Corian even more. Just as Mario's fist brushed past Link's hair and passed through, Link's left fist strangely appeared at the side of Mario's face, and Mario was completely unprepared.

"F*ck."

Bang!

Before West could yell "Watch out", Link's swinging fist hit Mario's face hard. Mario's face was hit so hard that ripples appeared on the fat on his face.

Poof! The pink braces flew out of her mouth with saliva, and under the incandescent light, they appeared translucent.

Mario tilted his body, staggered a few steps, and fell to the ground on the ring with a bang, splashing a cloud of dust.

"."

The scene was silent.

Thousands of spectators stood there in a daze, with their necks tilted up at a 45-degree angle, their mouths opened into an 'O' shape, staring blankly at the boxing ring.

".Seven, six, five, four, three, two, one!"

As the referee counted down for Mario who was lying on the ground, the audience also came out of their frozen state.

Boom!

"That pale-faced guy won?!"

"How is that possible? He's so skinny, how could he knock Mario down with one punch?"

"Who's that white-faced guy?"

"His name is Link! Link Baker! He's my partner."

James' chubby cheeks flushed with excitement, and he raised his hands and kept shouting Link's name.

"Link won? That's incredible."

Daniel also shouted excitedly, "Link, you are the best!"

Looking at the crowded crowd below the stage and listening to their shouts, Link's heart beat faster involuntarily. He seemed to be back in the boxing ring before. The audience, the ring, his opponent, and himself, everything seemed to be unchanged.

He likes this feeling, likes the feeling of defeating his opponents and receiving cheers.

Link pumped his fist vigorously.

"I declare Link Baker the winner of the first contest."

The referee raised Link's arm.

"In the second match, does anyone want to challenge Link?"

"I'll come, he must have knocked Mario down by chance."

"He won by sneak attack, he's not that strong, I can kill him if I go up to him."

"He's not as strong as me, so he can't be that powerful. If I had $100, I could beat him up. Is there any guy willing to sponsor me $100?"

There was a lot of noise in the audience, and many people wanted to go up and beat him up, but only five people came to line up under the ring holding hundred-dollar bills. The first one to come up was a burly Latino man with an anaconda tattoo on his shoulder.

The sturdy man was over 190 cm tall, with thick muscles and shoulders as broad as door panels. When he walked towards me, he gave people a sense of oppression.

"Hey, kid, it's nothing that you beat Mario by luck. Do you believe that I can defeat you in one round?"

The anaconda man waved his fist and said provocatively.

"I don't believe you. Except for your mouth, there is no part of your body that can get hard. You are more of a wimp than Mario."

Link looked the other person up and down with contempt.

"Fuck! Boy, you pissed me off. I say one round is one round. If it exceeds one round, I lose."

The anaconda man roared, waving his fists.

Link curled the corners of his lips into a smile.

The referee came over, announced the rules of the game, and the game began.

"Fuck you!"

The anaconda man didn't even touch gloves with him. At the beginning of the match, he swung his fist as big as a sandbag and hit Link's forehead hard.

"Watch carefully!"

Offstage, West Corian yelled at Mario who had just woken up.

Mario leaned back in the chair with an ice pack on his forehead. His head felt dizzy and his face wasn't as fierce anymore. He squinted his eyes and watched the match on the ring.

The anaconda punched Link's head, but Link nimbly turned his head and dodged his opponent's straight punch.

"Look at his right hand."

West yelled.

Mario's eyes suddenly widened, and just as he was paying attention to Link dodging his opponent's killing move, he unexpectedly discovered that Link's right fist had reached the opponent's face at some point.

Bang!

Link's uppercut made intimate contact with the anaconda's mandible.

The anaconda man was hit on the chin, his head suddenly swung back, spraying a mouthful of water mist, and then he took three steps back and fell on his back on the boxing ring. The visual effect of a 1.9-meter-tall man falling to the ground was extremely shocking.

"."

There was silence under the boxing ring for two seconds, and then there was an explosion.

"KO, KO again."

"Why is it this move again? Does he only know one move?"

"Link, the boxing champion! Link, the boxing champion!"

James and Daniel were so happy that they linked their arms and danced Cuban salsa in the crowd.

"Another punch?"

Mario was stunned, and the ice pack on his head slipped to the ground at some point.

"Another knockout with one punch! But this is not a simple punch. His speed, strength, reaction ability, boxing skills, and boxing awareness are all reflected in this punch. He is definitely not an ordinary boxer."

West Corian looked at Link in the ring with burning eyes. Link had the qualifications to become a top boxer, even a champion.

He wanted to be Link's coach and train him to be a boxing champion, but the eagerness in his eyes cooled down in an instant. A boxer of Link's level could not possibly be without a coach.

"West, is it possible that he only knows this one move? If I am prepared in advance and adopt a defensive strategy, he will never be able to knock me down with one punch."

Mario felt that his coach seemed to be in love with someone else, so he quickly reminded him.

West shook his head. "With his speed and strength, it won't be difficult for him to break through your defense. With his strength, he is at least in the top ten among the amateur boxers I know."

"West, you are exaggerating. If he is that good, would he participate in this kind of competition?"

Mario curled his lips.

West also frowned, not understanding why a boxer of Link's level was here.

The third game is about to begin.

The third challenger was a lean, muscular black man wearing white shorts. He jumped around on the stage and looked very agile.

"Haha, Link has met his match. There's no way he'll win this round so easily."

Mario clapped his hands and laughed.

On the boxing ring, the third match began.

Link and the boxer in white shorts touched gloves. Before he could throw a punch, the boxer in white shorts quickly stepped back and circled around him at the edge of the ring, not fighting with him at all.

"Johnson, run faster, don't let him catch up with you!"

"Johnson, you are a champion sprinter."

"Link, kill him!"

Link looked at the man in white shorts and smiled. Apart from his speed and agility, the opponent was weaker than Mario and the Anaconda in other aspects. As long as he could surpass him in speed, it would not be difficult to deal with him.

While the man in white shorts retreated to the corner, Link took a step forward and rushed to the opposite side of the man in white shorts. The man in white shorts was startled and raised his fists to block in front of him.

Link used a jab to break through his opponent's defense, and when his opponent was unable to defend, he followed up with a swinging punch to hit his opponent in the face.

Bang!

The boxing glove hit the side of White Shorts' forehead. White Shorts stumbled a few steps, hit the ropes, struggled a few times, and fell to the stage through the gap in the ropes.

"Wow!"

"Another knockout punch!"

There was a cry of surprise at the scene.

The audience also knew that he was very powerful and had strength, and that he didn't need a sneak attack to win, so they began to applaud and cheer for him, shouting his name.

"Link wins!"

"The white-faced boy won. He is really awesome."

"He beat three opponents with just one punch. I bet he must be a professional boxer."

"I declare Link Baker the champion of this month's Red Gloves Bar Boxing Tournament!"

the referee shouted, holding Link's arm.

"Boxing Champion Link!"

"Boxing Champion Link!"

The audience cheered loudly.

Link closed his eyes and listened to the cheers from the audience. He felt his soul more relaxed and active than ever before.

I am Link the boxer, not Link the diver, and I should walk my own path.

Link suddenly opened his eyes, and a trace of determination appeared on his handsome brow. He decided to continue boxing, to continue the unfinished journey in his previous life, to achieve the goals that he had not been able to achieve in his previous life, to become a boxing champion, and to become a boxing legend.

"Boxing Champion Link!!!"

(End of this chapter)