Chapter 19: Southeast Regional Champion

Bam!

Jones leaped forward, a swift straight punch aimed at Link's face. Link reacted even faster, dodging with a head tilt while throwing a backhand punch towards Jones' head.

"Whoa, that move again!"

"The Anesthetist is finally online, oh my God!"

"Can he hit him?"

The audience exclaimed. Having seen it many times, everyone knew Link's signature move - the swift backhand punch, often arriving before the opponent's attack, knocking them out with one blow, extremely fierce.

Jones also knew Link's signature move. To counter it, he and his coaches had practiced for two days before the match and finally found a way to break it -

At the moment of throwing a punch, quickly tilt your head back or squat down, focusing on Link's backhand punch instead of trying to knock him down with one punch, using this move to dampen Link's morale.

Therefore, before Link's backhand punch arrived, Jones was already prepared for defense, leaning back strategically.

Link's backhand punch swept past Jones' chin.

"Woooo~"

The audience exclaimed in disappointment.

The signature move was dodged, but Link was not discouraged and continued to maintain a defensive posture.

Jones noticed that Link's strength and speed had decreased compared to the previous match.

He guessed that Link had expended a lot of energy in the previous match and was trying to use this method to get some rest time.

However, Jones didn't want to let him succeed. He threw his second punch at Link's crossed arms, trying to break through Link's defense. But Link's technique was superb, making it extremely difficult to break through. Jones could only continue to attack with punches.

Facing Jones's strong attack, Link still adopted a tight defense strategy. In this round, Jones threw a total of 65 punches, with 8 hitting Link's effective areas. In the referee's eyes, Jones scored 10 points in this round, while Link only got 8.

In the fourth round, Jones continued to attack, throwing a total of 72 punches, with 9 hitting Link's effective areas. Jones won another round.

During the mid-round break of the fourth round, his coach advised him to slow down the attack rhythm, conserve energy, and be wary of Link's counterattacks.

Jones disagreed. The match had reached the fourth round, the first two rounds were 10-10 for both of them, and in the third and fourth rounds, he clearly had the advantage. As long as he won two more rounds, he could win the match. Why should he give up the current advantageous situation?

Moreover, in the fight with Link, he could see that Link was exhausted, his strength and speed had declined, and he had a great chance of defeating Link.

His coach saw Link sweating profusely and replenishing water on the sidelines, so he agreed with Jones's suggestion to continue scoring points and secure the victory early.

"Link, aren't you going to attack? If you don't, you won't be able to win by points either." Mario said while fanning him.

"Wait a little longer! I'll rest for another round."

Link spat out the water in his mouth and staggered to the center of the ring.

Bam!

The match continued. In this round, Jones threw 84 punches, 10 of which hit Link's effective areas, winning another round.

In the sixth round, only four rounds were left in the match.

"Isn't Link going to attack yet?"

The audience and the people from the promotion companies looked at Link on the ring in confusion, not understanding why he suddenly became passive. Could it be that he was dumped by his girlfriend before the match?

In the sixth round, Jones threw 88 punches, hitting Link's effective areas 12 times. Jones won another round.

"Is Link going to lose?!"

The people from the promotion companies sighed in disappointment. Link had been performing poorly in this match, and although they didn't know what he was going through, for a boxer to be affected by external factors and lose a match meant that his mental fortitude was somewhat lacking.

The people from the promotion companies were disappointed.

"Link, did you bet a lot of money on yourself to lose, so you're deliberately trying to lose the match?"

Mario asked, turning his head full of junk thoughts.

Link glanced at him and spat the water on the ground.

"Watch closely, I'm about to go wild."

"Bullshit, you can barely get on the bed in your state, what else can you do?"

Mario sneered.

Bam!

24 seconds into the seventh round, Jones threw a straight punch towards Link's face. Link quickly dodged with a head tilt.

"Jones!!"

At this moment, Jones's coach yelled.

Jones had no idea what was happening until Link's backhand punch suddenly hit his head, and his body fell uncontrollably to the right. As he fell, he remembered, Link's backhand punch!!!

Having had a few smooth rounds and scored many points on Link's face, he had forgotten about Link's signature move due to the smooth offense and didn't even think about dodging when throwing punches.

He also didn't expect that, at this point, with Link's stamina, he could still deliver such a fierce punch.

Miscalculation!

Bam!

With unwillingness on his face, Jones fell heavily to the ground.

"Wow~, the backhand punch, Link's backhand punch again."

"Is the Anesthetist finally here? God, I'm dying."

"Link, come on, finish him!"

Seeing the KO again, the audience immediately perked up. Just now, Jones was attacking, and Link was defending, both doing well.

But everyone bought tickets to see Link KO his opponents, not to see his opponents suppressing him. So they had been patiently waiting, and finally, they got to see a KO.

Link didn't disappoint the audience either. After Jones got up, he took advantage of Jones not having recovered and used continuous heavy punches to break through Jones's defense, a swift jab followed by a left hook, hitting Jones hard in the face.

Jones was knocked down for the second time by KO.

"Link, come on!"

"Link, I want to sleep with you!"

"Link, let your fists come harder!"

Seeing Link unleash his power, the audience shouted excitedly.

After Jones got up, Link continued to take the initiative, throwing one combination of punches after another.

"Hold him! Hold him!"

Jones's coach shouted from the sidelines.

Jones immediately went forward and hugged Link, preventing him from continuing his attack. Link continuously punched Jones in the ribs until the referee separated them.

The eighth round began. Jones raised his fists high, crossed them to protect his head, and adopted a tight defensive strategy.

If it were the first three rounds, Jones, with his light heavyweight physique and super high resistance to punches, Link might not be able to break through his defense, and even if he did, it would take a lot of effort, which Link didn't have much of.

But in the eighth round, after continuously attacking for four rounds, Jones's stamina was greatly depleted. He had also been knocked down twice by Link, so raising his arms to defend would also be a great burden.

This was the moment when his defense was the weakest. Link didn't hesitate and went forward, using heavy punches to break through Jones's double-handed defense again, hitting his face with a straight punch.

Bam!

Jones was knocked down for the third time by KO.

"Good job! Just like that!"

In the audience, Franco Duva waved his fists excitedly.

"Boss, should we sign him?" Assistant Simon asked.

Franco Duva frowned his thick eyebrows and looked at several figures not far away.

There were Greg Cohen, the promoter of Top Rank, Dmitry Salita, the promoter of Matchroom Boxing, Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions, Al Haymon, the vice president of Premier Boxing Champions, and even the newly established Golden Boy Promotions had sent someone.

People from several major boxing promotion companies in the United States were interested in signing Link Baker. It wouldn't be easy for his Hall of Fame Promotions to sign Link.

Moreover, after the Florida regional competition, he had contacted Link in Orlando and offered generous terms to sign him, but Link refused, saying he would consider signing after the Golden Gloves tournament.

Link was strong and not in a hurry to sign. His peers were also closely watching this newcomer with huge commercial value. To sign him, they needed enough patience and terms that were attractive enough to Link.

Bam!

On the ring, Link hit the opponent's head with another hook, and Jones was knocked down, squatting on the ground for four seconds before getting up. This was the eighth time he hadbeen knocked down.

"This Jones is not bad either."

"Well-rounded skills."

"Extremely high resistance to punches."

Several promoters nodded in approval after seeing Jones get up again after being knocked down eight times.

Link was a heavy hitter, and his previous opponents couldn't get up after being knocked down seven times at most. Jones could still get up after being knocked down eight times, obviously showing great potential.

"There's only one round left in the match. Can Link achieve a KO?"

Everyone looked at Link's performance with anticipation.

On the ring, after nine rounds, Link was sweating profusely and kept taking deep breaths. This wasn't a feint to lure the enemy, he was truly tired. After the last match, he had less than three hours of rest before the next match.

And his opponent in this match, Jones Fallis, was very strong and resistant to punches, at least twice as much as Mario. His defense was also very good, and it took a lot of effort to break through each time.

After continuously attacking for three rounds, Link's stamina had reached a critical point. However, after being knocked down eight times, Jones's physical and mental state was also very poor.

Now they were competing in endurance and willpower.

Link didn't lack endurance or willpower. When pushing carts in the mine, in the final moments of the cage fight, even when spitting blood from his mouth, he could still burst out with tremendous power, let alone now when he was in a completely advantageous position.

How could he possibly lose this kind of match?!

Roar!

Link went wild, his fists raining down on Jones.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Link forced Jones to the corner, his fists firing on all cylinders. One punch, two punches, three punches broke through Jones's double-arm defense. The fourth punch penetrated the defense and hit Jones hard on the forehead, knocking him unconscious.

"Break!"

The referee came over and grabbed Link.

Link stepped back and gentlemanly retracted his fists.

Jones's arms hung on the ropes, his body lunged forward, and he fell to the ground.

The referee counted.

"...8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!"

Link raised his hands high.

Boom!

The atmosphere at the scene reached its peak, and the audience cheered loudly, shouting Link's name.

"Yeah! Link won!"

Mario and Reggie jumped up and shouted.

"Link! Champion! Link, champion!"

"What a wonderful match, Link Baker will definitely become a champion in the future!"

"From the regional competition to the division, Link has made it to the Golden Gloves finals with a record of all KOs. His performance is unmatched!"

"14 amateur matches, 14 KOs. This record has never been seen before in any amateur competition. Link has created a new historical record."

The audience stood up and applauded Link, and the people from the promotion companies looked at Link with fiery eyes, as if they were looking at a moving money-printing machine.

The media on site also focused their cameras on Link on the ring, witnessing the birth of a new sports star.

"I announce! The gold medal winner of this year's Golden Gloves Southeast region is... Link Baker from Florida!"

The vice president of the American Amateur Boxing Association and the head of the Southeast regional competition, Yunus Musa, raised Link's arm high on the boxing ring.

"Link! Champion!"

The audience applauded and cheered.

In the audience, hundreds of fans holding Link's posters jumped up and down excitedly, shouting "Link, Boxing Prince," and some even shouted "Mr. Anesthetist."

Link smiled brightly and waved his fists at the fans.

"See you in Miami, folks!"

Two chapters released together, please keep reading!

(End of chapter)