Chapter 55: The Interview

"Mr. Link Baker, congratulations on winning the third round. What do you think of your opponent, Rosniel, in this match?"

At the competition venue, a reporter from the Cuban Television Sports Channel asked in a post-match interview.

"Rosniel? He played well and was very strong in all aspects. If he wasn't injured, he would have been even better."

Link wiped his sweat with a towel and said.

"If he wasn't injured, would you have been confident in defeating him?"

"Yes, I never lack confidence in boxing."

Link clenched his fist and said confidently.

"Mr. Link Baker, it is said that Miss Emma Watson has returned to London yesterday after filming "Harry Potter". How is your relationship progressing? Can you reveal a little?"

A reporter from the "American Express" handed over the microphone and asked loudly.

Link smiled slightly, "We are friends. This reporter, this is a sports competition venue, please ask questions related to boxing. Next time, I will refuse to answer such questions."

"Mr. Link Baker, congratulations on entering the next round of the qualifiers. Recently, there has been a lot of discussion in the American media about you continuing to participate in the Olympics using KO. Some people think that you insist on using KO to fight, which will cause unnecessary harm to your opponents. Do you agree with this view?"

A reporter from the "Miami Herald" asked.

Link raised his eyebrows. He had seen this kind of comment on the boxing forum these two days, and said indifferently: "I don't want to comment on this unprofessional remark. In addition, there have been doubts about me since I debuted. When I successfully KOed my opponent, they doubted that I was playing a fake match. When I won the Golden Gloves Championship, they doubted my results were fraudulent.

Now I have successfully reached the third round of the Americas qualifiers, proving that my strength is not only real, but also far beyond their current imagination. They have nothing to attack me, and they think my way of playing is problematic.

This is ridiculous. No matter what I do, there will always be people who will try to slander me, so I will not comment on this. I will only use my fists to prove how ridiculous their remarks are."

"Well said, Link, come on, try to get the Olympic spot!"

Several reporters shouted.

"Thank you! I will."

Link waved his fist and left the competition venue surrounded by American boxers.

â€"â€"

The third round is over, and there are three rounds left in the super middleweight competition: 5 into 4, semi-finals, and finals.

The top five boxers are Link, Lorenzo Aragon, Fernando Vargas from Mexico, Douglas Silva from Jamaica, and Calvin Peters from Haiti.

After the draw, Link will face Haitian boxer Calvin Peters in the fourth round.

Pist is a 23-year-old black man, nicknamed "The Rock", 182 cm tall, 183 cm arm length, amateur competition record of 44 wins and 1 loss. Because the opponent is preparing to play professional games, his strength, physique, and resistance to beatings are all very good. The information shows that the opponent has never been knocked down in the game.

This is a tough opponent.

"Link, my luck is too bad, I got you another tough opponent."

Coach Ed said helplessly after returning from the draw.

"It doesn't matter, I like to play against masters."

Link said indifferently.

He came to participate in amateur competitions, on the one hand to accumulate records and expand his reputation, and on the other hand to accumulate more competition experience and hone his skills.

Playing against these tough opponents will give you more experience.

So he doesn't care how strong his opponent is, he will fight one by one.

After seeing Ed off, he turned on the video recorder, watched the opponent's game video, and listed the opponent's advantages and disadvantages with a pen, trying to find the opponent's weakness.

All boxers have weaknesses, such as Andrzej, whose weaknesses are physical strength and resistance to beatings.

Andre Berto, compared with Link, he is not tall and has slightly shorter arms, which is a disadvantage when playing against Link;

There is also Rosniel who just played, the injury on both ribs is a weak point.

And the next opponent, Calvin Pist, has A+ willpower, A physique, A resistance to beatings, A punch weight, B+ technique, and B+ speed.

This is an opponent with both advantages and disadvantages, a bit similar to Morales, but obviously stronger than Morales in willpower and resistance to beatings, so the next one will be another tough battle.

Ding dong!

While watching the video, Taylor called and asked him about the progress of the game.

Since she doesn't know much about amateur boxing, she doesn't even know how to score amateur games, Link just briefly talked about the process of the game, the knockout round, 18 into 9, 9 into 5, three consecutive victories, still three consecutive KOs.

"Link, can you make it to the finals?"

"Of course, my goal is to be the world champion."

"Come on, I really hope to see you become the world champion, when is the final?"

"July 5th, two days away."

Link remembered what Taylor said last time, saying that he would come to watch the game live next time, otherwise he would grow five centimeters taller.

I don't know if this busy person has time this time.

"Two days later? Let me check the schedule, oops, Link, I happen to have a music awards ceremony that day, I probably won't be able to make it, Link, you won't blame me, will you?"

Taylor said apologetically on the phone. Link shook his head and smiled: "It's okay, this is Cuba, Americans can't get visa-free, it's not easy for you to fly here, we made an appointment in the country, next time I have a competition in the country, you can come and see when you have time."

"Link, you are so kind, what should I do if I like you more and more?"

Link smiled, chatted for a few minutes, hung up the phone, continued to watch the game video, and sorted out the information of the next opponent.

â€"â€"

Los Angeles, the living room of the Swift family villa was brightly lit.

Taylor put down her guitar, hung up the phone with a smile on her face, hummed a song, tapped her fingers on the keyboard, and booked a flight to Havana online.

Suddenly she smelled a fragrance, looked up, and saw Mrs. Andrea standing in front of the coffee table, leaning over to look at the computer screen, with a white mask on her face.

"Mom, what are you doing?"

Taylor was startled, leaned back and patted her slightly plump chest, looking at Mrs. Andrea dissatisfied.

"You just told Link that you will be attending the music awards ceremony on July 5th and don't have time to go to Havana to watch the game. Why are you booking a flight again?"

Mrs. Andrea straightened up and asked, tapping the mask lightly with her fingers.

Taylor pursed her red lips and smiled triumphantly: "I won't tell you!"

Mrs. Andrea snorted disdainfully, "Isn't it just playing a surprise? Tell him you can't participate first, let him down, and then you suddenly appear at the game on the day of the game, giving him a big surprise, right? Boring, it's all left over from our generation."

Taylor lowered the corners of her lips and looked at Mrs. Andrea with faint eyes.

Mrs. Andrea felt uncomfortable being looked at by her, waved her hand, told her to go to bed early, and then returned to the bedroom on the second floor.

Swish!

As soon as she entered the bedroom, Mrs. Andrea immediately tore off the mask on her face, and her face became cold, not as gentle and kind as before.

She took out her mobile phone and called her assistant Emily, ordering her to find several important events and fill up Taylor's schedule on July 5th. Remember, it's important, the kind that Taylor is reluctant to or can't postpone, the more important the better.

"But."

Assistant Emily's voice on the phone was a little hesitant.

"But what?"

"Annie, Taylor has explained before that she will go to Havana, Cuba to watch Link's game in the next few days, and asked us not to arrange too much work. She also told us this morning, we suddenly arranged a lot of work for her, She will definitely be very angry when she finds out."

Assistant Emily said cautiously.

"Taylor is in my charge, you don't have to worry. You just need to find a way to make Taylor busy so that she doesn't have time to go toHavana that day. This is the task I assigned, and you can come up with a solution."

Mrs. Andrea hung up the phone.

Suddenly, I saw the figure of my husband Tom Swift from the reflection of the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Mr. Swift came out of the bathroom in pajamas and holding a newspaper, looking at his wife, Mrs. Andrea, in surprise.

Mrs. Andrea turned her head in displeasure, and complained: "Tom, you scared me."

Mr. Swift shrugged, sat on the bed, pulled up the quilt to cover his legs, and frowned at his wife, "So Taylor couldn't go to Miami to watch Link play last time, was it also your arrangement?"

"I'm doing it for her own good too."

Mrs. Andrea said calmly, "If the two of them are truly in love, what are the little difficulties I created for them? If they can't even pass this little difficulty and test, even if they are together, there will be no good results, am I right?"

Mr. Swift thought for a while, pushed the temples of his glasses, and sighed, "Taylor is still young, young people need to experience several relationships before they can become mature, you don't need to interfere at all."

"I know, it's just that Link is a very dangerous person. His father is a smuggler and gangster. He was beaten to death on the street five years ago, and the cause of death is unknown; Link himself has been arrested and imprisoned twice, more than two months ago He was almost killed on the street, are you at ease letting him associate with your daughter?"

Mr. Swift frowned when he heard this, "It seems that it is indeed not a good dating partner, Annie, have you told Taylor about this? Our daughter is a smart girl, she knows what is good and what is bad, you Like this to stop her, she will be closer to Link."

"I said, after leaving Miami, her relationship with Link has faded. Some time ago, she probably saw Link's cool performance in the ring, and she seemed to like him suddenly again. She is a strong girl, and I advise her It's useless."

Mrs. Andrea covered her forehead and said helplessly.

Mr. Swift sighed softly, put his arms around his wife's shoulders and said, "Annie, you have worked hard, I shouldn't have said that to you just now."

Mrs. Andrea shook her head slightly, and suddenly said: "Honey, I seem to have heard you say that your waist is uncomfortable a few days ago, if Emily can't adjust it, why don't you pretend to be sick from tomorrow?"

"Huh?"

Mr. Swift was taken aback for a moment, pushed the temples of his glasses, and said helplessly: "Annie, is this necessary?"

"Of course it is necessary! Taylor must not go to Havana. If she goes, their relationship will definitely heat up and their relationship will become closer. It will be more difficult to separate them in the future, so dear Tom, for the sake of your daughter, it is time for you to make a little sacrifice."

Mrs. Andrea looked at her husband and pointed to his waist.

Mr. Swift scratched his scarce hair, feeling very tangled. He positioned himself as a loving father, a good father, but now his wife wants him to "collaborate" to destroy his daughter's love and become a bad father?

He didn't want to see this happen to him.

But his wife was "watching" by the side, if she didn't agree, how would she explain to her wife?

The wife has paid so much for this family, and she should indeed pay a little.

But what about Taylor?

(End of this chapter)