Chapter 015: State Championship III

"What were you doing today, practiced the guitar?"

At night, in the Aloft hotel in downtown Orlando, Link came out of the bathroom after a shower and received two messages from Taylor on his phone, asking him what he had done today. She said she was recording music in a studio in East Village, Manhattan and had written a song for him.

Seeing Taylor's messages, Link somewhat didn't want to reply. After the last music festival ended, Taylor had only met him briefly, left him a guitar, and asked him to keep practicing before she flew away.

Last time they walked the streets hand in hand, Link thought they were dating and was slightly thrilled; after all, she was Taylor Swift. A minor miner dating a big star was like a salted fish turning over and a toad riding on a silver dragon's back.

But after the festival arrived, they saw each other less often, and their relationship became cooler. After Taylor left Miami, they still chatted occasionally, but it wasn't as casual as before.

This hot-and-cold relationship made Link feel awkward. He was a boxer and preferred straightforwardness in his relationships, getting straight to the point.

Dating and romancing seemed too highbrow for him; he couldn't manage, nor could he enjoy the passion it brought. It even distracted him from training and competitions.

Love was also one of a boxer's great taboo.

This was one of the precautions Coach Liu had told him.

Coach Liu said that when a boxer starts dating or gets married, their time and attention start to wander, and their strength inevitably slides.

Link remembered this well.

Seeing Taylor's message, Link thought for a moment and still decided to simply tell her about his day—just one thing, a match.

Today he had three matches at Amway Center, winning the first bout by knocking out his opponent in the third round.

The second match went smoother than the first. His opponent was a burly Caucasian boxer, a power puncher, who started by throwing heavy punches at Link, just what he had hoped for.

In the first round, Link took 15 punches, hit his opponent 4 times, and knocked him down twice; his opponent threw more than 40 punches, hitting him effectively 7 times, one of which almost knocked him down.

In the second round, Link threw 10 punches, knocking down his opponent twice; his opponent threw 8 punches, hitting him effectively 3 times.

In the third round, his opponent took a defensive stance, trying to use stalling tactics to slow the match's progress.

Link didn't want to give his opponent time to rest, and twenty seconds after the round started, he used a set of combination punches to break through his opponent's defense and followed with an upper hook punch, knocking his opponent to the ground.

His opponent couldn't get up after ten seconds, and the referee declared him the winner.

The third match was a bit more complicated. His opponent was of Mexican descent, very sturdy, and had a strong resistance to getting hit. It took Link five rounds and knocking down his opponent six times, making his nose bleed, before he finally won the match.

After three matches, he also smoothly made it to the state championship finals.

"Can you make it to the final of the championship?"

Taylor texted back.

"Of course! 100% certain."

"Good, I'll be there to cheer for you during the finale."

"It's a deal then."

Link smiled and decided that he wouldn't let her leave when Taylor came.

"Link, want to go shopping?"

Mario and Reggie burst into the room, asking side by side.

"No!"

"Then why are you changing clothes and shoes?"

"Running! Didn't have time this morning due to driving, going to make up for it now."

After saying this, Link put on his running shoes, a hoodie, grabbed his headphones, and left the room running.

Mario and Reggie stared blankly at his running figure.

"He has been competing all day, and now he wants to run in the evening?"

"Is he even human? He's definitely not!"

"So envious, Link has such good stamina."

"Reggie, forget him, let's go shopping. I heard there are a lot of hot girls at Universal Studios Orlando, haha, tonight we definitely need to pick up one."

"Mario, I've thought about it and I'm not going to go. I'll go for a run too. You go by yourself."

Reggie scratched his blonde hair, went back inside to change into sportswear and running shoes, and also went downstairs to run.

Mario stood dumbly at the door, staring at the empty hallway; suddenly, he felt the air around him turning a bit chilly.

—

Orlando is in central Florida, over fifty miles from the Atlantic Ocean. It has more types and density of trees than Miami Beach, the morning air is fresher and cooler than in Miami, devoid of the fishy smell of the sea breeze. Running here in the morning feels wonderful.

There was a competition in the morning. Link only ran five kilometers before heading back to the hotel to eat. When Mario saw him come back from his run, his face looked dark and foul as if he had found a weevil in his bread. Link didn't bother with him and quickly finished his breakfast to rush off to the Amway Center for the match.

After two rounds of elimination, only four boxers of each rank were left. The next two rounds would eliminate one more, leaving three to fight for the championship and the titles of first, second, and third place, and qualify for the Southeast regional competition.

The audience today was even larger than yesterday, consistently above four thousand, and the front row seats were basically full.

"Hey, look over there, why is there a poster of Link?"

Mario pointed to a spot in the front row of the spectator seats where a few young girls were holding up a poster of Link.

On the poster, Link wore red boxing gloves, showing off his muscular build, with iron-like muscles, and paired with that handsome face and blue eyes, he looked even cooler than Tom Cruise in "Mission: Impossible III."

"So cool, Link should go to Hollywood."

"They are Link's boxing fans; Link has fans now," Reggie said enviously.

"Impossible, it's only the second day, how could there be fans here to support him?" Mario turned his face towards Link, "Did you pay them to come here with your photo for the poster?"

"I'm not that bored." Link laughed.

West shook his head, "Yesterday's match was covered on local Orlando TV and Fox News; there's also news and photos of the match on Orlando's official news website, including photos of Link."

Mario checked on his phone and indeed it was true.

"Hey, Link, you're famous now, how does that feel?" Mario asked, his face a mix of envy, jealousy, and hate.

"Being liked feels very good."

Link smiled and put on his headphones to listen to music.

At just after nine in the morning, the third round of matches officially began. The first match was in the heavyweight category; the white man who had defeated Mario yesterday reached the third round and defeated his opponent to successfully make it into the top three, which pleased Mario considerably.

Link's match was at just after eleven o'clock. When he stepped onto the stage, several fans raised their posters, shouting 'Link must win,' attracting the attention of many spectators.

Link laughed heartily and waved his fists at the few fans, whose shouts became even louder.

The camera at the venue promptly focused on him and his fans. Link believed that as long as he continued to win, he would garner more media attention and more fan support.

His opponent in the semifinals was a hairy-chested Irish boxer, a technical fighter known for his defense.

Dealing with technical boxers, to win quickly one must either have better skills, sufficient power, or be fast enough. If you lack these elements, the fight can be tough.

Link had sufficient power, was fast enough, and his skills were equally exquisite, making it relatively easy to handle this type of boxer, simply by using heavy punches to break through the opponent's defense.

He only needed 1 minute and 48 seconds to knock out his opponent three times, smoothly advancing to the finals.

His opponent in the finals was a black boxer named John Stevens.

John Stevens, 20 years old, was last year's national U-19 boxing champion for the Florida division in the super middleweight category and ranked 18th among amateur super middleweight boxers in the country, with a record of 23 fights, 20 wins, 2 losses, and 1 draw, as well as being one of this year's Florida division champion seeds for the Golden Gloves championship.

The data indicated he was a tough opponent, and it would be rather challenging to knock him out.

"Link, John Stevens is strong, has heavy fists, and plenty of match experience; his overall skill level is no less than yours. When you fight him, don't focus solely on maintaining your KO rate. Secure enough points first, winning the match is the most important," Coach West advised as he put down his notebook.

"I understand! I'll be careful."

Link pounded his protective gear with his gloves and quickly walked up to the boxing ring.