Chapter 023: Carry the KO Through to the End

"Link, you've been had, you shouldn't have told those reporters to their faces that you'll continue to take the championship with KOs. That's too difficult."

In the locker room, West furrowed his graying eyebrows, the age spots on his cheekbones distorted slightly due to the tight furrowing of his brow and the corners of his eyes, resembling dried leaves floating in coffee. His dry eye bags also gained a few more wrinkles because they were filled with worry.

"West, you don't have to worry, I have a plan."

Link took off his T-shirt and put it in the locker.

"Link, don't you understand? Those reporters are setting you up. They keep asking you sensitive questions to provoke you, forcing you to respond so they can dig up big news from you.

You are too young and impetuous, lacking experience in dealing with the media, that's why you were tricked.

In the future, when facing such situations, just dodge the topic and ignore it. The reporters can't do anything to you."

West continued, "Regarding you telling the reporters that you will continue to win the championship through KOs, you can ignore that as well. As long as you can win and take the championship, those reporters can't criticize you for it."

"No, West, before I said those words, I had thought it through carefully. It wasn't a decision made under pressure from the reporters, so I will continue to maintain my previous fighting style, knocking out my opponents, until I win the championship."

Link sat on the bench, leaning back against the locker with his shoulders. The golden sunlight shone through the window, landing on his chiseled side profile, illuminating a confident smile at the corner of his mouth.

"Ha!"

Mario curled his lips, about to mock Link with a few words, but a fierce glance from Link made him immediately shut his mouth and punch Blonde Reggie on the shoulder.

Link saw West's disbelief and smiled, "It's true. Tyson once said that the reason why today's boxers aren't as good as those from his days is not only because their punches aren't hard enough but also because they are too well-behaved.

They're like well-mannered kids taught in Sunday school, they play by the rules, they don't create spectacles, they don't know how to use various methods to market and promote themselves. Their popularity and influence among the public are too low.

Take John Ruiz for example, a world champion boxer with a fame lesser than even a third-rate Hollywood actor. How can boxers like him expect audiences to pay to watch their matches?"

West stroked his graying stubble, his face thoughtful.

"The purpose of what I'm doing is to continue creating topics of news value for the media."

Link looked at West with a calm gaze and said, "Even though these are amateur matches with no prize money, we should still always market ourselves as much as possible and treat ourselves like professional boxers.

Now that I have publicly announced that I will continue to take down my opponents with KOs until I win the championship, from this moment on, the media will be eager to focus their cameras on me and pay attention to every move I make.

If I succeed, they will continue to sing my praises and give me a lot of coverage.

If I fail, they will also use a lot of news report to laugh at me and make jokes, but so what? I will still be the most popular boxer in this Golden Gloves tournament. No one can match me."

Link clenched his fist, his face radiating the smile of a victor, brighter than the Miami sunshine outside the window.

"...."

Blonde Reggie opened his mouth, looking at Link with admiration.

He was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the state competition at this Golden Gloves tournament.

He thought the gap between himself and Link was just in terms of skill, but hearing Link's words, he realized he was far behind Link, not just in strength but also in concepts, awareness, thinking, courage, strategy, and more.

While Link was still in amateur matches, he was already laying the groundwork for transitioning to professional boxing, preparing to become a world champion, whereas he himself was just naively fighting matches, not knowing what he was fighting for.

Someone like Link, he should become a world champion.

Reggie hurriedly took out his phone, opened the notepad, and recorded Link's words.

"I have a question."

Mario put away the smug look on his face and said seriously, "Link, you make it sound simple, but what if you fail to KO your opponent, or you lose the match, what then?"

Heh, when the time comes, those media folks will laugh at you, call you a clown, someone who only boasts. Is this what you're hoping to see?"

Link chuckled indifferently, "If you've studied history, you'd know that all great figures in history—Washington, Lincoln, Franklin, and the like—none of them were praised by everyone while they lived, and not even after they died.

Since my goal is to become a great boxer, what's a little insignificant criticism? Does an elephant stop moving forward because it's worried about ants biting its feet?"

Mario rolled his eyes. This guy always talks about great historical figures and being a great boxer; he shouldn't be in boxing at all. He should go into politics, use his terrifying rhetoric to fool the public, and maybe someday he could take over the White House.

West listened to Link's words and did not quite understand, but he thought Link was a smart guy and wouldn't joke about his career. Hence, he did not say much, just that Link should prepare well, relax, and welcome the upcoming match.

Link nodded and went into the locker room to warm up.

When Mario saw his figure disappearing at the door, his expression immediately dropped, and with a pout, he said, "Reggie, don't you think there's something wrong with Link's mind? Ever since he took first place in the divisional competition, he's been acting crazy, spouting nonsense. Talking about causing a huge change in the boxing world, unifying five ranks, the four major organizations' Golden Belts, and becoming a great boxer—is that something a normal person would say?"

Reggie spoke seriously, "I don't think so. Back in the day, Copernicus madly told the cardinals that the Sun is the center of the universe, and the church thought he was mad, so they burned him; when Magellan came back from his journey around the world, he told them that the Earth is actually round, and many people said he was crazy. Now Link says he wants to become a great boxer, and you think he's crazy. Is there a possibility that he is not mad and instead, it's our perspective and frame of reference that's too limited?"

Mario opened his mouth in shock, staring at Reggie, "Have you gone mad too? Are you really comparing Link with Copernicus and Magellan?"

"Why not?" Reggie blinked, and asked puzzledly.

Mario looked at him and quietly stood up and walked away. These guys are sick; he needed to stay away from them to stay safe.

——

After Link publicly told the media journalists that he would continue to finish his matches with KOs, this news was quickly published on news websites by the reporters, becoming a hot sports news topic on sites like Yahoo.

The boxers participating in the competition also quickly got wind of this news.

Since the Golden Gloves tournament moved to the regional competitions, Miami boxer Link Baker had come out of nowhere, stirring up a lot of news in the media and becoming one of the most popular athletes in the amateur boxing scene.

Hearing that he had won each match with a KO, with an amateur record of 14 fights and 14 KOs, even as competitors, everyone had to admit that Link Baker was a guy with a lot of abilities.

Now hearing that he intended to continue his previous fighting style, finishing with KOs all the way, some got really nervous, started thinking of countermeasures, figuring out how to break Link's killer moves and heavy punches, while many others dismissed it, believing that Link was just boasting.

"Haha, Link Baker is too arrogant."

In the locker room, a burly black boxer with a head full of dreadlocks laughed loudly, "Last time he fought Jones Fullos, he almost lost. His strength isn't much stronger than Jones'; with that level, he dares to say he will flatten all of us with KOs? Dream on!"

"You can't say that, Link's fists are really powerful, 14 fights, 14 KOs—no one has ever done that in amateur matches before. Link is very strong; we definitely can't underestimate him."

Someone argued.

"No, no, he is powerful, but not more so than us. His opponent, Jones Fullos, is ranked seventh in the Super Middleweight. Andzeje Methodra, Andrea Berto, and I have all beaten him. I don't think Link can beat Andzeje and Andrea Berto, let alone KO them. It's just not possible."

Everyone listened, and it seemed to make sense.

Previously in the regional matches, Link had a tough time and barely made it through. Now it's the national finals, and the boxers' abilities are on par with, or even stronger than, Jones Fullos.

Link barely defeated one Jones and now wanted to beat several?

Indeed, it seemed rather arrogant.

They also heard that initially Link was planning to change tactics and give up finishing the finals with KOs. It was trouble-loving journalists who trapped him, and because he responded inappropriately, he was forced to retract his statement and announced to continue his previous style.

This showed he wasn't too confident about the finals either—it was a tactic decided in haste.

So it looked like although Link was troublesome, there was no need to worry too much.

The match was about to begin, everyone returned to their lockers to get ready, while Link also put on his gloves and strode confidently onto the boxing ring.