Chapter 158: A Lesson

Thump! Thump! Thump!

In the brightly lit boxing training gym, Link, wearing a thin T-shirt and red athletic shorts, with hand wraps and gloves on, repeatedly punched the black leather sandbag hanging from the beam.

Punch after punch, the sandbag made muffled sounds as he hit it, but didn't swing much.

The sandbag was filled with iron sand, sawdust, sea sand, wheat, and sponge, weighing 100 kilograms. He could send the sandbag flying with a forceful punch, but the purpose of training with the sandbag was to practice footwork and coordination, and develop a sense of rhythm, not strength.

Therefore, during training, the smaller the sandbag swung, the better.

After practicing for over two hours, Link was covered in sweat, his T-shirt sticking to his back, revealing the outline of his inverted triangle-shaped back.

After returning from Nashville, he originally planned to go to the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts to participate in the MJ concert rehearsal, but they called and said that MJ had something urgent and couldn't come to New York temporarily. The rehearsal would be postponed for a few days, and the time would be notified later.

MJ even personally called to apologize to him.

Link guessed that he was probably having health problems and didn't mind, but he felt a little regretful that he might not be able to see MJ in person.

With the extra time, besides practicing singing in the recording studio, he spent the rest of his time in the training gym. After watching Mario's match last time, he also realized that he had some problems with his mentality and approach to competition.

He was too impetuous in the matches, too eager to create hype, which led to his matches only having flashy data but lacking substance, and there wasn't a single battle that could be called a classic.

After painful reflection, Link decided to calm down, seriously hone his boxing skills, and strive to show more boxing qualities in the next match, not just pure strength.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

While he was practicing, Mario, Morales, Dino, and the newly joined Joe Smith Jr., a 20-year-old white boxer with a height of 183 cm and an arm span of 193 cm, arrived.

After winning the cruiserweight gold medal in the National Championships, Mario, under Dino's instigation, also joined Main Events and was preparing to turn professional this year.

"Link, there were a lot of hot girls at the Screaming Girls bar last night. It's a pity you didn't go."

Dino said, holding the sandbag with his two tattooed arms.

"If I had gone, there wouldn't have been anything left for you guys."

Link chuckled, put away his fists, and said to Morales and Mario, "Start training now that you're here. Who wants to go first?"

"I'll go first!"

Morales raised his hand and said.

"Wait!"

Mario frowned and looked at Link, saying solemnly, "Link, there's something I think you should pay attention to."

"Go ahead."

Link put on his boxing gloves.

Mario raised his chin, his ugly face full of flesh, and said, "Link, I'm now the national amateur boxing champion in the cruiserweight division. If it weren't for the timing, I could have been an Olympic champion too.

I think you should be more polite when you talk to me. Like just now, you should have said, 'Mario, do you have time? If you do, how about we have a sparring session?' instead of rudely asking who wants to go first. That's very impolite."

Link chuckled and nodded. "You're right. So, Mr. Mario Juarez, do you have time? How about we have a sparring session?"

"Alright, then I'll spar with you and see if you've made any progress recently."

Mario shrugged, put on his boxing gloves, and followed Link into the ring.

"How long do you think Mario can last?"

Dino asked, crossing his arms.

"Within 10 seconds!"

Morales grinned.

"No way, Mario is the cruiserweight champion. Can he only last 10 seconds against Link?"

Joe Smith Jr. couldn't believe it. He knew Link was very strong, but Mario was the national amateur champion and a cruiserweight boxer. It was impossible for him to not even last 10 seconds against Link.

---

"Come on, Link. You were stronger than me before, you could hit me however you wanted. Now I'm a champion too, you won't be able to knock me down so easily."

In the ring, Mario raised his fists, his head swaying left and right on his shoulders, looking very agile.

Link glanced at him. "I suggest you put on your headgear and protect your head."

"I don't need it! Come on!"

Mario roared and swung his fist towards Link.

Link threw a punch at Mario's forehead at an even faster speed. Suddenly, Mario stopped and quickly tilted his head to the left, nimbly dodging his fist.

Seeing Link miss his punch, Mario grinned smugly. From today on, the days of being bullied by Link were over.

"Watch out!"

Thump! Mario felt a hit on his right forehead, as if his head was struck by a hammer. The strong inertia dragged his body a step to the left, and thump! He fell heavily to the ground, his left cheek making intimate contact with the rubber floor of the ring, saliva flying out of his mouth.

"How could you lose focus at this time?"

Link looked at Mario on the ground and asked in confusion.

Mario blinked, also confused. How could he have been daydreaming just now?

After thinking for a moment, he felt it wasn't his fault. It was that bastard Link who was too cunning. His first punch was a feint, deliberately letting him dodge, and the second punch was the real deal, catching him off guard.

He was too despicable.

"Drag him down. Morales, let's continue!"

Link waved his hand and said.

Hearing his words, Mario almost fainted. He was a boxing champion, rated by "The Ring" magazine as one of the ten most noteworthy boxers of the year, and Link actually said "drag him down." That was too disrespectful.

Then he felt someone grabbing his legs and dragging him from the center of the ring to the corner.

Mario cursed inwardly, "Can't you drag me from the other side? Doesn't my face hurt rubbing against the floor?"

Link looked at Mario, who was rolling his eyes, and shook his head helplessly.

This guy was getting too cocky after winning the championship, racing, chasing girls, smoking marijuana, and partying for three days straight. If he didn't teach him a lesson, with his current strength, he would only become a stepping stone for others in the professional boxing world.

If he lost too badly and was exposed by the media, it would also embarrass Link.

So it was necessary to give him a beating from time to time.

"Link! Let's start."

Morales put on his headgear and boxing gloves and entered the ring.

Link continued sparring with Morales. Morales planned to participate in the Golden Gloves tournament in June. After training with Link for over half a year, his technique, defense, and ability to withstand blows had greatly improved.

Participating in the Golden Gloves again, even facing old rivals like Andre Berto and Andrzej Fonfara, he had a good chance of winning the gold medal.

During the training, Simon came over.

He told Link that the date for the WBA title challenge had been set for May 25th, still at Madison Square Garden, organized by the WBA North American Boxing Association.

They promised that Link's appearance fee would not be less than $5 million.

After earning over ten million dollars from Link Music and nearly twenty million from endorsements this year, Link's desire for money had decreased a lot.

He cared more about the opponent's strength. The stronger the opponent, the more interesting it was to win, and the more exciting the match would be.

He looked at Andre Dirrell's information: 185 cm tall, 190 cm arm span, black, and strong.

His current record was 28 fights, 27 wins, and 1 loss. He was the former WBF super middleweight champion, defeated by Andre Ward last year and lost his title. At the beginning of the year, he defeated Jermain Taylor to become the WBA Intercontinental champion. He was a decent opponent.

(End of Chapter)