Chapter 52: Second Round of the Qualifiers

"Go, Link!"

"Go, Canadian!"

In the afternoon, the second round of the 18-to-9 matches continued. In this round, Link faced Canada's number one super middleweight, Denis Urus.

Denis was 24 years old, standing at 184 cm with a reach of 188 cm. With an amateur record of 67 fights, 61 wins, and 6 losses, he was a skilled amateur elite, somewhat reminiscent of Andrejzejek. However, his stamina and resilience were slightly better than Andrejzejek's, making him more challenging to deal with. Knocking him out within four rounds would be very difficult.

"Boxing!"

Time was limited, and as soon as the match began, Link aggressively attacked, giving his opponent no chance to rest.

In the first round, Link threw over a hundred punches, including more than twenty straight punches with a force of over 1000 pounds each. Only then did he break through his opponent's defense, landing a jab directly on his opponent's face.

Link couldn't help but sigh at the difficulty of the Olympic series compared to the Golden Gloves. In the Golden Gloves Championship, his twenty heavy punches would have been too much for anyone but Andre and Morales.

"Link, you have a good chance of winning now, even by points. Why not give up on the KO?" Coach Ed advised.

Seeing Link drenched in sweat, Andre Berto and the others also urged him not to be too fixated on the KO, saying it was mainly for the stats and wouldn't matter much in professional boxing.

"It's okay, I can hold on," Link shook his head. Since he set the goal, he had to achieve it, even if it meant exhausting himself. A man must be hard on himself to be hard on others. Without being ruthless, how can one become a boxing champion?

Bang bang bang!

As the second round started, Link continued to unleash heavy punches on his opponent, turning his attacks into a relentless storm, suffocating his opponent.

With 10 seconds left in the second round, Link finally landed another straight punch on his opponent's forehead. The Canadian staggered back, leaving himself wide open. Link seized the opportunity, delivering two lightning-fast jabs to his opponent's face.

Bang! These two punches landed solidly, causing Denis's head to jerk back, making him take two steps back before collapsing on the ring.

"Wow!"

With the first knockdown of the match happening in the second round, the audience erupted in cheers.

"Go, Link! Keep it up!"

Morales and Andrejzejek shouted from below the ring, waving their fists.

Link, panting heavily, waved his fist but remained wary. With only two rounds left and just one knockdown so far, completely KO'ing his opponent and ending the match would require continuous strong attacks, draining his already limited stamina. This was his second match of the day, and he had little energy left.

Link shook his head, realizing he had set a tough challenge for himself.

"Aragon, what do you think of Link's performance?" Savon asked, watching the ring.

Aragon crossed his arms and nodded slightly, saying, "Not bad, better than I expected, but not difficult to handle."

Savon nodded. Link Baker wasn't just a heavy hitter; his boxing skills were also good, deserving of his Golden Gloves Championship title. However, judging by his current display, he was still a bit inferior to Aragon.

â€"â€"

The third round began.

Link continued to attack his opponent with heavy punches, this time targeting the nose and jaw, the body's weak points. Once hit, these areas could cause bleeding and significantly impact his opponent.

Bang bang bang!

Gritting his teeth, Link's fists rained down on his opponent's arms, ribs, and shoulders. After over sixty continuous attacks, he finally broke through his opponent's defense, landing a jab on his opponent's nose.

The opponent's eyes welled up with tears, blurring his vision, and he shifted his defense to protect his nose.

A great opportunity!

Seizing the moment, Link delivered two hooks to the sides of his opponent's forehead, causing him to stagger. Link followed up with a straight punch.

Bang!

With 15 seconds left in the third round, Denis was knocked down again. Link, drenched in sweat, felt his arm muscles trembling uncontrollably.

"10, 9, 8, 7..."

Unfortunately, just as the referee finished the fourth count, Denis slowly got up from the ground.

Link sighed lightly. What a tough opponent.

The fourth and final round began.

Holding his breath, Link continued his relentless attacks on his opponent's shell-like defense.

Bang bang bang!

Link decided not to conserve any energy, continuously attacking his opponent's defense with heavy punches. After over eighty punches, nearly exhausting all his strength, he finally knocked his opponent down again.

Bang!

Denis's face was struck, causing him to stagger two steps to the left before collapsing on the ground.

"Can he get up again?"

Link propped himself up on his knees, panting heavily, unable to straighten his back.

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5..."

At the count of six, Denis grabbed the ropes and slowly stood up again, earning applause from the crowd.

"Incredible!"

Link praised, acknowledging that being the number one in any country required immense strength, technique, and willpower. No matter how many times they were knocked down in the match, as long as they could stand, they would keep fighting.

This greatly increased the difficulty of KO'ing his opponent.

The match continued with only 69 seconds left.

Link didn't waste a second, using his remaining strength to unleash all his power on his opponent.

With 32 seconds left, he knocked his opponent down again.

Bang!

Denis fell, and Link leaned against the ropes, unable to straighten his back.

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3..."

Just as the referee was about to finish the count, Denis miraculously stood up again, receiving thunderous applause from the audience.

"..."

Link smirked. As expected of Canada's number one, his strength was indeed formidable.

But would Link give up on his goal of winning by KO? Absolutely not! Even if there was only 1 second left, he would strive to achieve his goal.

The match continued. Link roared, lifting his numb, swollen arms, and launched another attack on his opponent. Heavy punches broke through the defense, and jabs followed.

One punch, two punches, three punches.

30 seconds, 20 seconds, 10 seconds.

Link used his last bit of strength.

Bang! Denis was knocked down again.

Link habitually threw two more punches into the air before retracting his numb arms, watching his fallen opponent.

Would he get up this time?

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."

He didn't get up.

Link raised his fist, panting heavily.

Despite the fatigue and difficulty, he had won.

"Link, you won!"

"Link, you knocked out another guy. You're insane."

Morales and the others jumped from their seats, slapping the ring and shouting at him.

Link smiled slightly but remained cautious. Almost failing in the second round, how would he fare in the upcoming rounds? The goal of KO'ing all opponents to enter the Olympics was indeed challenging.

"I declare the winner of this match to be Link Baker from the USA!"

The referee raised Link's arm high in the air on the boxing ring.

"Interesting, but the champion is still mine," Aragon said lightly.

Savon glanced at his disciple, smiling, "Don't underestimate him. Link is good at attacking, and his punches are heavy. He's not easy to deal with. Watch more of his matches and understand his style. It will be easier when you face him."

Aragon nodded. "I will!"

(End of the chapter)