Across America, Starting with the Boxing Champion

Chapter 26 Secret Deal

 “Mr. Link Baker, can we have a chat?”

At the east entrance of the American Airlines Arena, Link and James came back from outside after eating, and a voice came from behind them.

 The speaker was a middle-aged man wearing a Polo T-shirt and with a slightly bald head.

This person's opening remarks were the same as Greg Cohen's, making him mistakenly think that the other person was also a person promoting the company, but it turned out that he was not.

The man stepped forward and introduced himself, saying his name was Joseph or something, and he was Andrzej Fonfara's agent.

 It should be noted here that Andrzej Fonfara is his opponent in the next game.

Shortly after Link's game ended, the other three first-place vs. second-place games also ended one after another.

 Link, the first place in the Southeast Division VS the second place in the Western Division, Link wins!

Anderzej Fonfara from the Eastern Division VS the second place from the Northern Division, Anderzej wins!

Andre Berto of the Western Division VS second place in the Eastern Division, Andre Berto wins!

Mitchell Robinson in the Northern Division VS Jones Fullers, the second place in the Southeast Division.

Jones Fullers is an upset winner!

 The first round of competition is over.

 The second round draws lots to determine the opponent.

Since he and Jones Fullers both belong to the Southeast Division, during the draw, they each drew an opponent, and he drew the Eastern Division champion Andrzej Fonfara.

Andrzej is a technical boxer - in amateur competitions, due to the high elastic sponge protection, it is extremely difficult to KO opponents. Technical boxers are often easier to win by points than powerful and agile boxers. , this is why technical boxers are more popular in amateur boxing circles, and it is also one of the reasons why many power boxers give up amateur competition prematurely and switch to professional boxing.

 Anderzej has superb boxing skills. He is 189 centimeters tall and has an arm length of 198 centimeters. He punches quickly and moves like a mantis. He can often surprise his opponents with a cold punch.

His shortcomings are that he is not strong enough, his ability to withstand blows is not high, and his physical strength is worse than that of first-class boxers.

In the last game, he fought Northern Division runner-up Calvin Peters for ten rounds. His physical strength was very high and he needed help when he came off the stage.

His next opponent is the famous ring anesthetist Link Baker, a hexagonal boxer who combines strength, speed, technology and beauty.

 You can imagine what it would be like to play between two people.

 So now the audience is looking forward to the afternoon game, wanting to see how Link will KO his opponent in a fancy way.

Link was a little surprised to see Andrzej's agent come to the door, and he didn't understand what the other person's purpose was.

“Mr. Link Baker, it’s like this. I would like to ask you to restrain some strength during the game and not KO Anderzej within three rounds.”

"What?"

Link was startled for a moment, then smiled: "You want me to be gentler during the competition? But this is a regular competition, Mr. Joseph!"

“I understand, I understand, if Mr. Baker is willing to end the game after eight rounds, I am willing to pay you thirty thousand dollars as a reward.”

 The middle-aged man said very politely.

Link raised his brows and understood that he was being asked to use a coordinated punch.

This kind of thing is too common. Whether in underground boxing rings or in professional boxing circles, there is a phenomenon of fake punches.

He has played many times before and is relatively proficient in this kind of business. It was just unexpected that he would appear in the finals of the Golden Gloves Championship, and he was also surprised that the opponent would make such a request.

He pondered for a moment, said to the other party, "Wait a moment," and then pulled James, who was still in a daze next to him, to the side.

"James, I want to go back and get some sleep. Come and talk to him about this matter. You tell him, for thirty thousand dollars I will let Anderzej fall in the third round. For $40,000 I will let Anderzej fall." In the fourth round, for 100,000, I will let Anderzej fall in the tenth round. The bottom line is 50,000 US dollars. I will not do it for less than 50,000 US dollars.”

James looked to the left and right and lowered his voice and said, "Is this a fake punch? I heard that many people in the boxing circle fake punches, which is very bad. Why do you do this kind of thing?"

Link shook his head: "False punches are meant to deliberately lose the game and change the outcome of the game. We are not. We are dealing fairly. Think about it. I have a game tomorrow. The longer the game between Andrzej and I drags on, right? The greater my consumption, so if he wants me to deal with Anderzej later, he must compensate me."

James glanced at the middle-aged man not far away, "But why did he do this? Does it make any difference whether it's a few rounds earlier or a few rounds later?"

"Of course. My fists are very lethal. The longer he lasts under my hand, the stronger he is. After being reported by the media, the data will be better. If I KO Anderzej in the first round, How will the media evaluate him? So it’s money well spent.”

“But this is a bad thing after all. If the media finds out, will you be exposed?” James looked around and asked cautiously.

 “Don’t worry, just rest assured, I’ll take care of everything.”

Link said with a smile.

After giving James a few words, he yawned and went back to the lounge to sleep.

More than ten minutes later, James ran in panting. His fluffy curly hair was wet with sweat and stuck to his forehead. He didn't know whether it was because of the heat or fear. He stuck out his **** and carefully closed the door and came to wake him up. Link is taking a nap.

“Link, fifty thousand dollars, KO after eight rounds, do you want to agree?”

James swallowed and asked softly.

Link rested his arm on his arm and thought for a while, then nodded.

 “Then I’m going to collect the money?”

James took two steps, turned around and asked, "How about we come together?"

Link turned around, faced the wall, snored, and heard a soft closing sound behind him.

Half an hour later, Link took a nap, and James ran in with a flushed face, holding his stomach, and his face was three parts excited and seven parts worried. He locked the door of the lounge, took out a butter paper bag from his stomach, spread it out on the stool, and put five piles of green dollar bills.

Link was stunned for a moment, "Where did the money come from?"

"ah?"

James blinked his eyes and said, "This is the $50,000 we traded with Joseph just now. I just got it back."

"What Joseph? Who is Joseph? What deal? Why did he give you so much money?" Link asked in surprise.

ˆ “.”

James was stunned, rubbed his eyes with his fists, and stared at him, "Didn't you just ask me to go out, did you forget?"

"I didn't, don't talk nonsense, I was just sleeping and didn't know anything." Link closed his eyes and shook his head seriously.

James sat down on the ground and pointed at him with a trembling finger, "You, why are you like this? You asked me to do it, why are you pretending that you don't know?"

"I really do not know."

"Impossible, you clearly know, how can you say you don't know? What I didn't want to do was what you asked me to do, and after I did it you said you didn't know. You can't do this."

James slumped on the ground, his eyes red.

Link touched his forehead, feeling a little unbearable, and said helplessly: "James, I am the person involved. There are some things I should know, and some things I shouldn't know. I only know what I should know, and I don't know what I shouldn't know. Will ask, do you understand?”

James blinked his little eyes. He was not stupid, but he had never done such a thing before. His mind could not turn around for a moment. After thinking about it, he suddenly slapped his forehead and said in shock: "I understand, what you mean is, You make the money and I take the blame?”

“NoNoNo, it’s the two of us who make money, and it’s clean money, so there won’t be any problems.”

Link picked up a wad of money and threw it into the fat man's arms.

There is no personal income tax or inheritance tax in Miami, and there is no tax on gifts from others. This is both the entire American product trading center and a money laundering center. Fifty thousand US dollars is nothing at all.

“Is this money really a problem?”

James felt his hands were hot while holding the money, so Link simply threw all the money into his arms and asked him to take it back.

"No problem. If there is a problem, I will take care of it. It has nothing to do with your little assistant. Go out and I will sleep for a while."

 Link waved his hand.

James wiped his sweat, put the money into a bag, stuffed it into his belly, hesitated, and went out the door hesitantly.

  —

“This fat man has been sneaking here a few times, with something still hidden in his stomach. What are they doing?”

At the door of the next room, a ferocious-looking face looked at James's back from the crack of the door, with some doubts on his face.

 “Is Link taking drugs?”

Mario's pupils suddenly dilated. He started thinking and after much deliberation, there was only this possibility. The fat man was sneaky when he came, like a thief entering the house. He hid something in his belly and hid it when he left. This is the middle point. It was enough time for Link to take drugs.

 Can just taking drugs solve the problem?

 Urine testing will be done before the fight, and the boxer’s preserved urine will also be checked after the fight.

  Cheating will lead to big trouble.

Link wouldn’t think that the organizer’s urine testing agency couldn’t detect what he leaked, right?

 Mario rolled his eyes and came to West's coaching lounge.

 West was watching the video of Andre Berto's game in the morning. Mario walked behind him twice and said in a low voice: "West, can you believe it, Link is a K-fan in the lounge?"

 West was stunned for a moment and shook his head, "No way, he doesn't need it."

“Really, I just saw the fat man in his shop sneaking into his lounge with something in his belly, and then sneaking out again. Link must be taking drugs.”

 Mario said decisively.

 “Don’t talk nonsense, Link can’t be taking drugs.”

 West waved his hands calmly and continued to watch the game video.

Mario clenched his fists and took a few deep breaths. He walked over to Reggie who was taking a nap and punched him awake. "I swear, Link must be taking drugs."

Reggie rubbed his eyes, yawned under Mario's gaze, and covered his head with a blanket.

 “Why why, why don’t you believe me?”

 Mario shouted angrily.

  —

 (End of this chapter)