Chapter 014: State Championship II

The heavyweight match ended, and then continued the cruiserweight (over 90 kg) and light heavyweight (over 79.45 kg) first round until after two in the afternoon when the super middleweight (over 76.27 kg) competition began.

Link weighed in at 77.4 kg before the match, qualifying for the super middleweight category.

In the first round, his opponent was a black boxer from Great Swamp City in the west, whose skin was much darker than Mario's, shiny, and his body lean, marking him an agile fighter.

As the first round began, his opponent took the initiative to attack Link. Link intentionally moved closer within the attacking range, dangling his head as a flaw right before the opponent, luring him to attack.

The opponent fell for it, throwing a fierce straight punch at his head.

"You fell for it."

Mario shouted.

With a super-fast response, Link dodged the punch and, to the surprise of his opponent, launched an unexpected punch to the black boxer's left cheek, smashing hard!

Bang!

A fierce swing punch sent his opponent staggering and tumbling to the ground.

"Wow!"

"Oh, my God!"

A gasp echoed through the venue.

Owing to Link's handsome looks and strong, sexy physique, he had attracted the attention of many female spectators. Seeing him knock down his opponent triggered loud gasps and cheers, louder than in all other matches.

"That move again, that sneaky move,"

Mario, covering his face, remembered the first time he was stunned by that punch, and although it had been half a month, he still felt a bit dizzy thinking about it.

"That move is too fierce, I dare say no one can decode it. I wish I could learn it."

Reggie said excitedly.

West shook his head, stroking his chin stubble, "It's hard. That move demands high levels of speed, strength, and reactive ability, which ordinary people can't learn."

"I don't believe it, when I get back I'll ask Link to teach me. Next time I compete, I'll use this move to trap my opponent."

Mario said firmly.

On the ring, thanks to the protection from the sponge helmet, his opponent, though knocked down, wasn't knocked out and quickly got up to continue the fight.

After suffering once, the black boxer became wiser. In the following two rounds, he kept dodging and didn't engage in close combat; whenever Link approached, the black boxer would back off or clinch to deny him the chance to deliver heavy punches.

Link felt a bit helpless; compared to the few boxers in the bar and his three opponents in the regional competition, participants at the state championship were obviously stronger in speed and defense.

Out of ten punches he threw, more than seven were dodged by the opponent.

The increased capability of the opponent made the match more challenging.

To quickly win the match, it required more exquisite skills.

"Link, take it slow, don't aim for a KO, just focus on winning."

At the end of the second round, in the resting area, West pulled him aside and advised.

"I understand!"

Link nodded, spat out the water in his mouth; maintaining a slight hunger during the match helped him perform better, like a hungry cheetah.

The third round started, and Link slowed down the pace of the attack, remaining calm and responding flexibly to every move.

Seeing him not pursuing aggressively, the opponent thought he was tiring and slowed his pace as well.

Just 50 seconds into the third round, as the opponent retreated towards the corner, Link suddenly charged, landing a long-distance Throwing Punches on the opponent's arms, breaking through his double arm defense and following up with a right swing punch to the cheek, then a straight punch to the forehead.

Bang!

This punch was more accurate, striking directly on the opponent's face. The opponent staggered backward into the ropes, then fell to the ground.

Even though the opponent was protected by a sponge helmet, this heavy and solid punch made him struggle to get up twice without success.

The referee declared Link the winner.

In amateur matches, sponge helmets significantly reduce the impact of the punches along with boxing gloves; a 100 pound force could be reduced to about 10 pounds.

With this reduction, to land a blow that the opponent couldn't recover from was extremely formidable, a first in this championship.

After Link's victory by KO, the audience loudly cheered and applauded his two spectacular KOs.

Link waved his fists and walked down the stage.

"Link, you're incredible, managing to knock someone down even with a helmet on." Reggie flattered timely, while Mario, flicking his nose, snorted, "Now do you see how dangerous it is to be his sparring partner? I risk my life every time I train with him, it's not easy."

"But your boxing skills have improved a lot," Reggie laughed.

"Of course, I've earned them with my life,"

Mario patted his chest and said.

Listening, Link didn't show much joy, considering that he had been dragged into the third round in just the first round of the state championship. In national championship matches, with opponents' skills escalating, they would likely be even tougher to handle.

He had originally envisioned charging into the finals of the Gold Glove Championship with an all-KO record and winning media attention with his overwhelming strength.

Now, it seemed extremely difficult.

Link clenched his fists, silently blaming himself. He should have trained harder. With a heavier punch, greater speed, and faster reactions, the match would have been easy, and he wouldn't have had these worries.

——

After the super middleweight competition ended, the middleweight competition (above 72 kilograms) continued. Reggie, wearing his gloves, entered the ring. His opponent was not weak. They fought for ten rounds, and in the end, Reggie won by points with a score of 96:88.

This score was determined by the on-site referee.

There were six referees present at the championship, three scoring judges, two arbitrators, and one ring referee. The scoring used a computer system.

In amateur competitions, each match consists of 10 rounds, each lasting 2 minutes, which is two rounds less and 1 minute shorter per round compared to professional matches.

Each fighter starts the round with 10 points.

When both boxers demonstrate the same ability and strength without any clear advantage, both score 10 points each, 10-10.

When both boxers suffer heavy blows in a round but one side is at an advantage, the dominant side scores an extra point, 10-9.

When a boxer wins a round through clear dominance, the dominant side scores two extra points, 10-8.

If a fighter knocks down his opponent once during the match, showing overwhelming dominance, it's 10-7.

If the victor knocks down his opponent twice in a round or has overwhelming dominance and knocks down his opponent once, it's 10-6.

If the fighters complete all 10 rounds, at the end of the match, the three scoring referees will add up the scores of all ten rounds. The one with the higher total wins, known in boxing as 'victory by points.'

Victories by points can result in three different outcomes depending on the judges' scores:

If all three judges unanimously decide, the winner is marked UD;

If one judge favors boxer A and the other two favor boxer B, boxer B wins, marked as SD;

If one judge scores a tie and the other two favor one side, the winning side is marked MD.

Reggie clearly had the advantage in the match, and all three judges unanimously awarded him the cumulative victory, marked as UD.

After the middleweight competition ended, the second round of the heavyweight competition commenced.

In this round, Mario's opponent was a robust white man with great skills. They fought intensely for 10 rounds. Mario knocked down his opponent once, but his opponent also scored several hits to his head.

The scores were 91:94. One judge ruled in Mario's favor, but two ruled in favor of the white boxer. Mario lost the match by a narrow margin.

"Discrimination! It's absolute discrimination. If I were white, they would have definitely declared me the winner."

Mario said angrily after stepping off the ring.

"Shut your mouth!"

West pulled him away from the boxing ring.

Among the five judges of the match, there was one white, two black, and two Latin judges. Even if there was an element of bias, it was unavoidable, but realistically, the problem wasn't so much with the judging; rather, it was Mario's fighting technique that was flawed.

He adopted a defensive strategy in the first round, realizing his opponent's strength was average. In the second round, he launched an attack first, but this time, he encountered a skilled opponent who defended well. Despite knocking down his opponent only once in the second, third, and fourth rounds, he completely failed to kill the competition as he had in the first round.

After the fifth round, Mario's attacks were weak, forcing him to choose defense, fighting very tiredly while the white boxer gained a certain advantage on the field.

If not for Mario knocking his opponent down once, the score gap would have been even bigger.

Therefore, it was reasonably justified for the judges to declare the white boxer the winner. Even if Mario insisted on arbitration, the members of the amateur boxing association wouldn't support him.

"Hmph!"

West left the arena with a grim face, unwilling to give Mario another look. During the match, he repeatedly asked Mario to change his tactics, but Mario didn't heed his advice, underestimated the opponent recklessly thinking his skills had improved from training with Link, expecting to easily defeat his opponent, but clearly, his skills weren't as high as he imagined.

Seeing West's stern face, Mario calmed down, scratched his forehead, and said, "West, it's my fault. I didn't expect his skills to be that good. I think he might make it to the finals."

"Whether he makes it to the finals or not, what does that have to do with you? You've already been eliminated," West retorted coldly.

"I know I was wrong, but what's the point now? The match is over."

As Mario thought about not being able to compete in the upcoming matches, he looked at his fists and growled lowly, sitting dejectedly in the chair, watching Link listening to music and Reggie playing a video game, and unhappily said, "I lost, and you guys aren't even comforting me a bit?"

"Huh? You lost? That was quick. I had no idea," Reggie looked up, feigning surprise.

"Fuck you Reggie! You were playing games while I was competing?" Mario clutched his chest, feeling twice the injury.

"Sorry, I'll definitely watch the next match," Reggie said politely.

"Fuck! I've been eliminated, I'm going home. There is no next match, you get it?" Mario yelled, grabbing his shoulders.

"Losing isn't something to brag about, why yell so loud?"

Link cleared his ears, leaned back in his seat, and stretched, "Besides, this was your own doing. West gave you a strategy but you didn't listen, so who's to blame? You should head to the locker room, grab a notebook, and write a ten-thousand-word self-criticism instead of yelling around here."

"Hmph! You haven't lost yet so you think you're great. You'll lose someday, and I'll use these same words to mock you," Mario said grumpily, fuming.

"Buddy, you won't have that chance."

Link shook his finger, stood up, and headed backstage to prepare.