Across America, Starting with the Boxing Champion

Chapter 313 Light Heavyweight Competition

 “Who are you thinking about?”

 “I’m not thinking about anyone!”

 “Don’t lie to me, I can see that you work harder when you are in a trance.”

　　　　It’s Taylor, sorry!”

"It doesn't matter, I don't care. Well~, you miss her again, right? I can feel it."

“You are such a annoying little goblin. Your assistant is about to arrive. It’s time to take a shower and change clothes.”

 “No, I want to continue to be connected with you.”

  —

Sent Emma off quietly, Link drove to the main event boxing training ground to practice boxing.

While practicing boxing, Franco came over to discuss with him about moving up to the light heavyweight category. According to the plan, he will be promoted to the light heavyweight category early next year.

There are currently four masters in this field: WBA light heavyweight champion Beirut Shumenov, WBC boxing champion Bernard Hopkins, IBF boxing champion Chad Dawson, and WBO boxing champion Nathan Cleverly.

 One of the four boxing champions is an acquaintance, ‘Executioner’ Hopkins.

 Hopkins is 45 years old this year, but he is still going strong. He made his debut in 1988, initially as a middleweight boxer, and became the IBF middleweight world champion in 1995, successfully defending the organization's title for nine consecutive years.

 Become the middleweight champion of the four major organizations WBA-WBC-WBO-IBF in 2005.

 Promoted to super middleweight and light heavyweight in 2006. After defeating the title challenger Enrique Ornelas last year, he won the vacant WBC light heavyweight title. His strength is very good.

Since Link is a famous boxing champion, after being promoted to light heavyweight, he does not need to compete in qualifying matches to qualify as a boxing champion challenger. He can directly declare war against several boxing champions through arrangements made by his agency.

Franco told him that he had sent challenge invitations to the brokerage companies and boxing organizations of the four boxing champions. For the time being, only WBA boxing champion Beirut Shumenov has accepted the challenge, and the brokerage companies of the remaining three boxing champions have not yet responded. .

 The management company will continue to coordinate to ensure that his competition in the light heavyweight field next year goes smoothly.

 For the light heavyweight competition, Link has some expectations.

 First, the opponents in the light heavyweight field are stronger and the competition will be more difficult. Defeating strong opponents will improve yourself more.

 Second, after entering the light heavyweight class, the weight can increase to 80 kg.

At his current height and weight, 76 kilograms is considered strong. If he adds another seven or eight kilograms of muscle, the muscles in all parts of his body will be thicker and stronger, and he will look more brave.

 In addition, you don’t need to be too strict about your diet. You can relax a little and eat more meat.

 The third is the light heavyweight competition, which has received more attention.

 In the field of boxing, heavyweight competitions are the most popular and have the broadest market, followed by light heavyweights.

 Compared with the former two, the super middleweight division is only a niche division.

 Before Link, the super middleweight competition did not receive as much attention as the middleweight, lightweight, and super welterweight divisions. This also led to the fact that there were not many boxing stars in this field and PPV income was low.

This is also one of the reasons why Link’s prize money in the past two games has always been only more than 20 million, and he was unable to get 30 to 40 million.

 Simply put, the upper limit of the super middleweight class is relatively low.

If he wants to become a world-renowned super boxing champion, comparable to Tyson, Ali and others, he must jump out of his comfort zone, go to a higher field to meet more powerful opponents, and win more people's attention. If he succeeds, every game There will also be more revenue from the tournament.

 The above are the benefits.

There are also disadvantages. There are more light heavyweights. If you are defeated by your opponent in the game, you will suffer huge losses.

 After talking about the light heavyweight competition, Franco talked about another thing.

 Due to the rapid development of Dynasty Promotions in the past two years, the net income in the first half of the year was higher than that of large boxing sports companies such as top promotions, major events, and competition room promotions, which attracted the attention of investors.

There are now a number of financial institutions engaged in sports investment that want to invest in Dynasty Promotion, valuing Dynasty Promotion at between US$250-300 million.

 Franco asked him if he wanted to accept financing.

 The benefit of accepting it is that the company has more funds to spend on promotion, brand marketing and channel expansion, making Link more famous around the world and earning higher box office and PPV revenue.

The reason why Tyson became famous all over the world was that he was powerful enough, and the Don King promotion and the American media behind him were very successful in publicity.

 With extra funds, Dynasty Promotions can also sign and train more professional boxers.

 At that time, the company will no longer need to be maintained by him alone, and its development will be more stable.

The disadvantage is that Link’s shares in Dynasty Promotion will be diluted, and conflicts will arise within the company’s management in the future.

 This is not a big problem for Link. He owns 30% of Dynasty's shares, which is about 30 to 40 million yuan. After financing, the value of the shares will also increase.

 In addition, the main source of income for Dynasty Promotion is his share of income from boxing matches. No matter who manages the company, his status as the core of the team cannot be shaken.

 If the management's decision harms his interests, he has every right to ask for correction.

 If the cooperation is not satisfactory, he can end the contract early.

 When he signed the contract, the liquidated damages he and Dynasty Promotion paid were three times the signing fee, about 24 million U.S. dollars. This amount of money was nothing to him.

Link tells Franco that everything is up to him and that no matter what decision he makes, he will support it.

 Franco expressed his thanks.

Link also discussed with Franco that in the future, in addition to signing boxers, Dynasty Promotion can also sign athletes in football, basketball, and rugby. With diversified development, Dynasty Promotion can go further.

 Competitor Sports Room Sports has done well in this regard. In addition to boxing, they also sign contracts for niche sports such as tennis, badminton, and ice hockey.

 Link’s idea is to buy an NBA team or a football team to play when he has time in the future.

 Franco said he could consider it after hearing this.

 After sending Franco away, Link continued to practice boxing.

Mario came over to harass him in the middle, saying that he wanted to practice with him to see how long he could last in his hands and whether he made any progress.

Link didn’t agree. After Mario entered the professional boxing world last year, he won several times in a row at first. Later, he participated in the WBC cruiserweight American boxing championship and was eliminated in the second round of the preliminary round.

 The current professional record is 6 wins and 3 losses in 9 games. His performance is average, slightly worse than Reggie.

“Link, if you don’t fight me, do you think I’m not worthy of being your opponent?”

Mario asked with a dark face and a big belly.

 “Yes, you don’t deserve it!”

ˆ “.”

 The muscles in the corners of Mario's eyes twitched, and he wanted to get angry, but he thought that this guy was no longer the little boxer in the past, but a billionaire, a big star, and a super boxing champion.

 He rubbed his big nose and asked unhappily: "Why?"

Link glanced at him, took a water bottle and sprinkled it on the hot muscles from the top of his head, and wiped his chest muscles with a towel, "If you want to know whether you have made progress, go to the boxing weight test machine. If your boxing weight increases, it means you have If you make progress and vice versa, why fight me?”

 “I’m technical.”

"Don't mention your skills to me. This is professional boxing. Without the blessing of heavy punches, you are just a paper tiger. If you want to continue to fight in the boxing world, just train honestly. Don't think about becoming famous overnight. If you don't want to fight, If you don’t, just go back to Miami as soon as possible and inherit the family business. Your family is not short of money anyway.”

Link said.

 Mario’s family owns a cattle farm and a beef processing plant. It is one of the largest beef suppliers in Palm Beach County, with a market value of seven to eight million. He is also considered a wealthy second generation.

“No, I want to box. My goal is to become a lightweight world boxing champion, at least a world boxing champion in a small organization.”

Mario clenched his fists and said vowedly, but in the blink of an eye he slumped his shoulders and said, "But professional boxing matches are too difficult. It is very difficult to win a match. Sometimes I try my best and my face is swollen." I can’t beat you, what can I do? I’m not like you. After one year of practice, my boxing weight has increased by more than fifty pounds. This is too exaggerated. Who can compare with you?”

 Mario wrinkled his face, and his expression became very aggrieved.

Link shook his head, "A person who tried their best and lost the game will never complain here like you. They will just practice hard, work hard to improve their strength, and strive to turn defeat into victory in the next game. Go train and persist. Training, your fists and body will not let you down. If you don’t believe me, go and train in seclusion for half a year, and then compete again after half a year. If you lose, come to me.”

"Okay, this is what you said. If you lose, you have to train with me. Don't forget that I am your first sparring partner, not Morales."

 Mario hammered his chest with both fists and ran to the strength training area to hit the iron.

Link put on his gloves and continued to fight with his sparring partner Curry.

 After training, he came to the boxing weight testing machine alone and tested the current boxing weight.

 He ​​was tested once in June last year. After ten consecutive punches, the maximum weight of his right fist was 1,610 pounds and the maximum weight of his left fist was 1,440 pounds.

 Tested again after a year, the maximum weight of the right fist was 1640 pounds and the maximum weight of the left fist was 1480 pounds.

 Although there has been growth, compared with the rapid progress in the second half of 2008, the progress this year is not significant.

 According to the current boxing weight, there is not much advantage in the light heavyweight field.

 To get the gold belt in this event, you need to strengthen technical training and use technology to make up for the lack of boxing weight.

 (End of this chapter)