Chapter 12: The Tournament Begins

After deciding to participate in the Golden Gloves tournament, Link dedicated more time to training. The Golden Gloves tournament is a great platform for promotion, where major boxing promotion companies focus their attention, selecting and cultivating potential newcomers, similar to talent shows and beauty pageants.

Link not only wants to achieve good results in the competition but also to show his strong potential, attracting major promotion companies to offer him contracts. The better his performance, the more signing bonuses he could get, so he wants to go all out.

During the training period, the Miami International Beach Music Festival took place at the Hard Rock Stadium. Over five days, country music singers from the United States, Canada, and various European countries performed at the festival. According to the Miami Herald, a total of 214 singers participated in this year's Beach Music Festival, attracting 1.241 million visitors.

After training each day, Link would go to several venues to listen to the singers' live performances and watch them play guitar. Occasionally, he would invite Taylor along, but her busy performance schedule and Andrea's subtle attempts to keep them apart limited their time together during the festival.

A few days ago, while walking together, Link thought they were in a relationship, but after a few days without seeing each other, they seemed to have returned to being just friends. James laughed when he heard about it, saying that he had predicted it all along and that they were not meant for each other.

Link couldn't dwell on his disappointment, as the Golden Gloves tournament was about to start. To establish himself in the talent-filled American boxing world, he had to show exceptional strength.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Link, wearing only hand wraps, punched the rubber target with all his might. After two hours of training, his T-shirt was soaked in sweat, clinging to his well-defined, muscular back.

Training at the boxing gym for over ten days, his muscles became firmer and stronger. His chest, shoulders, biceps, and abs were all bulging and well-defined, as if cast from iron.

Mario often advised him to eat more meat and keep some fat, as a boxer's opponent is a man, not a woman. However, Link wouldn't listen. This is the internet age, and a handsome, fit, and sexy boxer can attract more attention, traffic, and earn more from tickets, ratings, and prize money. For a boxer, good looks and a fit body are also a kind of soft power.

"Link, take a break. We'll be exhausted if we keep going." Mario sat on the ground, panting heavily, sweat dripping all over.

"Yeah, Link, the competition is coming soon. Don't push yourself too hard and risk getting injured." Reggie wiped his sweat, his arms trembling as he leaned on the ground.

"You guys rest, I'll practice for a while longer." Link continued punching.

"Link, you can't do this! You're so good, yet you still train so hard. How can we rest? If West sees us, he'll yell at us for being lazy again." Mario complained.

Reggie nodded frantically.

Before Link joined the gym, everyone trained for three or four hours a day, which they felt was enough. They would go to bars to pick up girls, play at the beach, and were very content with their lives. The atmosphere in the gym was also very harmonious.

After Link joined, the atmosphere completely changed. Link trained for over six hours a day, more than double everyone else's training time. Seeing Link, who weighed 1400 pounds, still training so hard, who could relax? Now everyone followed Link's training schedule, training for six hours a day. Missing even an hour made them feel guilty and lazy.

But training for six hours a day was too intense. Every day, after training, they went home with sore backs and legs, wanting nothing but sleep. They didn't even have the energy to pick up girls.

This life was too hard.

Mario gritted his teeth and persisted for a week, feeling miserable. But he couldn't stop. With Link, who had the potential of a champion, training so hard, if Mario, who was far less talented, lay down and rested, wouldn't that be self-degradation?

Mario faced a dilemma: persist, and his body couldn't take it; give up, and he was unwilling, his soul uneasy. With his body on one side and his soul on the other, he didn't know what to do, so he could only try to solve the person who brought the problem, that is, Link.

"Hey, Link, do you want to pick up girls? I can introduce you to some hot chicks, guaranteed to be hot." Mario grinned, showing his white teeth.

Golden-haired Reggie nodded in agreement, "Link, it's true. Don't be fooled by Mario's scary looks, he knows how to play. He has a lot of contacts of hot chicks on his phone. What kind of girl do you like? White, black, red skin, he can find them all as long as you say it."

"What do you mean I look scary? All Mexicans look like this." Mario shrugged his big nose and said with a stern face.

"Cough!" West walked over and glared at them, "You two can go outside if you don't want to train. Go shopping or bar hopping, just don't disturb Link's training here."

Mario and Reggie looked at each other, curled their lips, and continued punching through the pain. They did want to go shopping, but knowing that Link was still training, shopping wouldn't be fun either.

"Link, the competition is tomorrow. Train two hours less today and get more rest." West said gently. He was very satisfied with Link. Not only was Link talented, smart, and reliable, but he was also very diligent. After Link arrived, the boxers and apprentices in the gym trained consciously without supervision. These days were the most relaxing time in his career.

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind." Link nodded.

After West left, Link continued training.

"Hey, Link, you just said you were going to rest, why are you still training?" Mario asked angrily.

"I'm not tired, why should I rest?" Link looked at him strangely. Compared to pushing carts in the mines and fighting in the underground casino, the current training was simply too easy.

He felt the strength and speed growing in his body every day during training, and the feeling was so fulfilling that he couldn't stop at all. Bam! Bam! Link continued training.

Mario was going crazy. Was this guy even human?

"Mario, forget it. As long as we don't die, we'll train till we drop." Reggie yelled and started punching the sandbag like a madman.

Mario sighed softly and could only endure the soreness as he continued to hit the stiff target with his fists. When would this life end?

On June 3rd, the Golden Gloves regional tournament opened. This year, 112 boxers from Miami signed up for the competition. Link, weighing 77.5 kg, registered for the super middleweight category, which had 15 participants and was not considered too difficult.

The competition took place in a small arena within the Miami Heat's American Airlines Arena. There were no spectators besides the referees, and the competition process was straightforward: two boxers fought each other, with number 15 automatically advancing to the next round.

Link was lucky to draw number 15 in the first round, automatically advancing.

In the second round, he drew number 1 and faced his opponent for one round, knocking him down three times in a row. Although in amateur matches, both sides wear protective gear and the damage from being knocked down is not significant, according to amateur rules, being knocked down three times in a row indicates a large difference in strength between the two sides, and the referee will stop the match, declaring the downed side the loser.

Link easily entered the third round.

In the third round, four people remained, fighting in pairs. Link knocked down his opponent three times in one round and advanced to the next round.

In the fourth round, he continued his strong performance, knocking down his opponent three times in one round and easily securing his qualification for the state championship.

However, his performance in the competition was too terrifying, winning all matches within one round. Someone took his picture and posted it in a boxing fan chat group, warning everyone to be careful of him, saying he was a cold-blooded and terrifying puncher with very heavy fists, and no one could last a round against him.

This message was supported by several victims, who discussed in the group what to do if they encountered him next time. The conclusion of the discussion was that there was nothing they could do. Not only did he have heavy fists, but he was also very fast and had excellent defense, making him almost unbeatable.

The super middleweight boxers were filled with despair, lamenting their misfortune in encountering such a formidable competitor.

Link's amateur record: 3 fights, 3 wins, 3 KOs.

(End of chapter)