Chapter 019: Southeast Regional Champion
Bang!
Jones leaped forward, launching a rapid straight punch towards Link's face. Link reacted even faster. While dodging with a turn of his head, he delivered a rear hook punch to Jones's head.
"Wow, it's that move again!"
"The Anesthetist has finally come online, God!"
"Can he land it?"
The audience exclaimed in awe because, having seen it many times, everyone knew what Link's signature move was—his rear hook punch thrown swiftly from behind, often striking first despite being thrown later, knocking out his opponents with ferocious power.
Jones was also aware of Link's signature move. In preparation for the match, he and his coaches drilled for two days and finally found a way to counter it—
At the moment the punch was thrown, Jones would quickly duck or tilt his head to the side, focusing on Link's rear hook punch rather than trying to knock Link out with a single punch, using this tactic to strike at Link's morale.
Therefore, before Link's rear hook punch could land, Jones had already readied his defense, leaning back strategically.
Link's rear hook punch swept past Jones's chin.
"Woooo~"
The audience gave a disappointed cry.
With his signature move avoided, Link did not get discouraged but continued to maintain a defensive posture.
Jones noticed that Link's strength and speed had decreased compared to the previous match.
He guessed Link had overexerted himself in the last match and was using this tactic to buy time for rest.
Jones however, didn't want to let him get away with it and followed up with a second punch that landed on Link's crossed arms, attempting to break through Link's defense, but Link's technique was exquisite and difficult to crack, leaving Jones no choice but to keep throwing punches continuously.
Facing Jones's aggressive attack, Link still adopted a highly defensive strategy. In this round, Jones threw a total of 65 punches, with 8 hitting Link's valid scoring areas. In the eyes of the referee, Jones scored 10 points this round and Link only 8.
In the fourth round, Jones continued his offensive, throwing 72 punches, 9 of which hit Link's valid scoring areas, securing another round for himself.
During the mid-round break of the fourth round, his coach suggested slowing down the pace of attack to conserve energy, in case Link had any moves left.
Jones disagreed, since the match had progressed to the fourth round, with both fighters equal at 10-10 in the first two rounds and him clearly at an advantage in the third and fourth. If he won just two more rounds, he could win the fight, so why give up the advantageous position now?
Moreover, in his clash with Link, he could tell that Link was greatly fatigued, both his strength and speed had declined, and he was confident he could defeat Link.
Seeing Link sweating profusely and hydrating at the side of the ring, his coach agreed with Jones's plan to continue scoring points to secure the victory sooner.
"Link, aren't you going to make a move? If you don't do it now, you can't win by points," Mario said while fanning him.
"Wait a bit longer! I'm resting for another round," Link replied, spitting out the water in his mouth and staggering to the center of the ring.
Bang!
The match continued, and in this round, Jones threw a total of 84 punches, 10 of which hit Link's valid scoring areas, winning him another round.
The sixth round, with only four more to go until the end of the match.
"Isn't Link going to fight back?"
The audience and the promoters watched Link in the ring, puzzled by his sudden passivity. Could it be that he got dumped by his girlfriend before the match?
In the sixth round, Jones threw 88 punches, hitting Link's valid scoring areas 12 times, and won another round.
"Is Link going to lose?!"
The promoters sighed in some disappointment. Link was performing poorly this match. Although they didn't know what had happened to him, when a boxer is affected by external factors, leading to a lost fight, it shows a lack of mental toughness.
The promoters felt some disappointment.
"Link, did you bet a large sum of money on yourself losing, so you're trying to throw the fight on purpose?" Mario asked, turning his head filled with junk.
Link glanced at him and spat water on the ground.
"Watch closely, I'm about to go berserk."
"Bullshit, you're struggling to even get up, what can you possibly do?" Mario retorted with a scoff.
Bang!
At 24 seconds into the seventh round, Jones threw a straight punch at Link's face. Link quickly dodged to the side.
"Jones!"
Right then, Jones's coach bellowed out.
Jones had no clue what had happened until Link's rear hook punch suddenly smashed into his head, making his body uncontrollably fall to the right. As he fell, he remembered Link's rear hook punch!!!
He'd had several rounds in his favor, scoring many points on Link's face. Because the offense went so smoothly, he completely forgot about Link's signature move and didn't think to dodge while throwing punches.
He also didn't expect that at this point, with Link's stamina, he could deliver such a fierce punch.
He miscalculated!
Bang!
Jones's face reflected unwillingness as it crashed heavily to the ground.
"Wow~ that rear hook punch, there's Link's rear hook punch again."
"Has the Anesthetist finally arrived? God, I was almost in agony."
"Go, Link, finish him off!"
With another KO witnessed, the crowd below suddenly livened up. Jones's advance and Link's defense earlier were both commendable.
But they bought tickets to see Link KO his opponents, not to watch an opponent dominate Link. They had been patiently waiting and finally saw another KO.
Next, Link didn't disappoint the audience. After Jones got up, taking advantage of Jones not having recovered, Link broke through Jones's defenses with a barrage of heavy punches. A swift jab followed by a left swing punch landed hard on Jones's face.
Jones was KO'd for the second time.
"Go, Link!"
"Link, I want to sleep with you!"
"Let your fists come harder, Link!"
Seeing Link unleash his fury, the audience shouted excitedly.
After Jones got up, Link continued to aggressively attack, unleashing one set of combination punches after another.
"Hold him! Hold him!"
Jones's coach yelled from below the ring.
Jones immediately stepped forward to embrace Link, preventing him from continuing his onslaught. Link continuously struck Jones's ribs with his fists until the referee separated the two.
The eighth round began, and Jones held his fists high, crossing them to protect his head, adopting a strictly defensive strategy.
If it had been within the first three rounds, with Jones's light heavyweight build and extremely high resistance to punches, Link might not have been able to break through his defenses, and even if he did, it would have taken a lot of effort, as he didn't have that much energy to squander.
But in the eighth round, after Jones had expended a great deal of energy in four consecutive rounds of attack, and having been knocked out twice by Link, lifting his arms to defend himself became an enormous burden.
At this time, when his defense was at its weakest, Link did not hesitate. He moved forward and continued to hammer through Jones's guard with heavy punches, landing a straight punch to his face once again.
Bang!
Jones was knocked out for the third time.
"Good hit! Just like that!"
From the stands, Franco Duvall shouted excitedly, waving his fists.
"Boss, should we sign him?" his assistant Simon asked.
Franco Duvall's dark eyebrows furrowed as he looked towards a few figures not far away.
There were promoters from top companies: Greg Cohen, Dmitry Salita from Competitive Chamber Promotions, Frank Warren from Queensbury Boxing Promotion, the vice president from a top championship boxing promotion company, Al Haymon, and even representatives from the newly established Golden Boy Promotions.
People from several large boxing promotion companies in the United States were interested in securing Link Baker. For his Hall of Fame promotion company to sign Link, the difficulty was not small.
Furthermore, after the match in Florida, he had approached Link in Orlando with a generous offer, but Link declined, stating he would consider contract offers after the Golden Gloves Championship concluded.
Link was strong and not in a hurry to sign contracts. His peers were also closely watching this commercially valuable newcomer, eager to sign him. To do so, they must have enough patience and terms sufficiently attractive to sway Link.
Bang!
On the ring, Link landed another swing punch on his opponent's head, knocking Jones down. Jones took four seconds crouching on the ground before getting up, his eighth knockdown.
"Jones isn't bad either."
"Well-rounded technique."
"Extremely high punch resistance."
Several promoters nodded in approval upon seeing Jones get knocked down eight times and still getting up, indicating his potential.
Link was a heavy hitter; those who had fought him before would usually not be able to get up after being knocked down seven times, but Jones had gone down eight times and was still able to stand, clearly showing promise.
"With only one round left, can Link achieve a KO?"
Everyone watched in anticipation of Link's performance.
On the ring, after nine rounds, Link was drenched in sweat, taking deep breaths continuously. This was not a feint to lure the opponent; he was genuinely exhausted. He had rested less than three hours after the previous match before continuing the fight.
This match's opponent, Jones Fullos, was incredibly sturdy and resilient, with at least twice the punch resistance of Mario. His defense was also quite good; each breach required significant effort.
After three rounds of continuous attack, Link's stamina had reached a critical point, but Jones, having been knocked down eight times, was in equally terrible physical and psychological condition.
Now it was a battle of endurance and willpower.
Link was not lacking in endurance, nor was he short on will. When pushing carts in the mines, during the final moments in the cage fight, even when spitting out clots of blood, he was still able to erupt with tremendous power, especially now, when he was completely dominant.
How could he possibly lose such a match?!
Roar!
Link went berserk, his fists raining down nonstop on Jones.
Thump thump thump!
Link cornered Jones against the post, letting loose with both fists, one punch, two punches, three punches breaking through Jones's guard, the fourth penetrating the defense and striking hard on Jones's forehead, rendering Jones unresponsive.
"Break!"
The referee came over and pulled Link away.
Link stepped back, gentlemanly retracting his fists.
Jones hung on the ropes, body pitched forward and fell to the ground.
The referee counted.
"...8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!"
Link raised his hands high.
Boom!
The atmosphere peaked as the crowd cheered loudly, shouting Link's name.
"Yeah! Link won!"
Mario and Reggie jumped up and shouted.
"Link! The Boxing King! Link, the Boxing King!"
"What an exciting match, Link Baker will definitely become a boxing king in the future!"
"From regional to divisional, Link has dominated his way into the Golden Gloves Championship finale with an all-KO record, his performance is unmatched!"
"14 amateur matches, 14 KO victories, such a record has never been seen before in any amateur competition, Link has created a new historic milestone."
The audience stood up to cheer and applaud for Link while the promotion companies watched him with fervent eyes, as if looking at a walking money printing machine.
The media turned their cameras on Link in the ring, witnessing the birth of a new sports star.
"I declare! The winner of the gold medal for this Golden Gloves Championship's Southeast Division is... from Florida, Link Baker!"
The Vice President of the United States Amateur Boxing Association and the main official for the Southeast Division, Yunus Musa, raised Link's arm high on the boxing stage.
"Link! The Champion!"
The audience clapped and cheered.
In the stands, hundreds of fans holding Link's posters jumped and shouted excitedly, calling out Link's name, the Boxing Prince, and some even referred to him as Mr. Anesthetist.
Link smiled brilliantly, waving his fists at the fans.
"Family, see you in Miami!"