Across America, Starting with the Boxing Champion

Chapter 80 The end of the Olympics

 In August, Link went to Hanking to compete in the Olympic Games in Hanking on behalf of the US boxing team.

 The Olympic boxing competition is divided into five rounds, knockout, preliminary round, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals. There are only 30 contestants in total, but they are all the strongest boxers from four continents.

The knockout round was held at the Beijing Workers' Stadium on August 12. Link faced Japanese boxer Nobuhiro Ishida. At the 86th second of the first round, he knocked out his opponent with a back throw, causing his opponent to fall to the ground and be unable to get up for ten seconds.

In the preliminary round, Link faced Irish player Darren Sutherland. In four rounds, he knocked down his opponent five times in a row and caused the opponent to fall to the ground three times. Link successfully advanced to the quarter-finals, and his amateur record reached 24 in 24 games. Win 24KOs.

In the quarter-finals, Link faced Kazakhstan boxer Altaev. Altaev was the super middleweight champion of the last Athens Olympics. His defensive ability is not inferior to that of Peters, and he is very powerful. .

However, in the past month of training, Link's punches have increased significantly and his skills have become more sophisticated. In the fourth round, he knocked down his opponent three times in a row, causing the opponent to fall to the ground for several seconds. In the end, the referee stopped the game and Link won another round. field.

 In the semi-finals, Link was challenged by British boxer James DeGale.

James DeGale is a black man. He is 188 centimeters tall and has an arm length of 196 centimeters. He has superb skills and very good physical condition. He is like a combination of Peters and Andrzej. Although Link knocked down his opponent four times in four rounds. times, but still failed to completely KO the opponent until the end.

  Won this game with a final score of 31:19.

 This is also the only game in all amateur competitions in which Link failed to successfully KO his opponent.

 In the finals, Link met his old rival, Cuban boxer Lorenzo Aragon.

Since the match between the two once caused a sensation in the world of boxing, many people believed that Aragorn lost to Link because of his abnormal performance in that match. If he did it again, the outcome would be unpredictable.

 As a result, the match between the two attracted the attention of boxing fans around the world, and the China TV Sports Channel also broadcast the match live.

However, the course of the game was shocking. After the game started, Link immediately used heavy punches to bombard Aragorn's defense. He punched 124 times in the first round and knocked down Aragorn once in the last 10 seconds.

In the second round, the game was almost one-sided. Link continued to attack with heavy punches, knocking down Aragorn twice in a row and causing the opponent to count for several seconds. Before the start of the third round, the Cuban side announced that they would give up on the excuse that Aragorn was not healed. Contest.

Link easily won the finals and received an Olympic gold medal.

On August 25, Link took a flight back to the United States. When he walked out of Los Angeles International Airport, more than a hundred media reporters met him outside the terminal. Under the auspices of his assistant Simon, Link held a press conference in the airport lobby. press conference.

"Mr. Link Baker, congratulations on winning the Olympic Games and winning a very valuable gold medal. This gold medal is also the only gold medal won by the US boxing team in this Olympic Games. How do you feel at this time? ?”

 The "Los Angeles Times" reporter handed over the microphone and asked.

“It’s great, like the weather in Los Angeles.”

Link pointed at the blue sky above his head and smiled. At this time, he was wearing a red and white Nike sportswear, and hanging around his neck was a gold medal inlaid with jade. It had the logo of the boxing event and his name on it. The total weight was 219.3 grams. Heavy on the neck.

 But he was in a very relaxed mood.

This time he returned to China not only to participate in the Olympics, but also took time to travel near his hometown. His parents are both in good health and several brothers and sisters are still in school. However, the Lin family does not seem to have a child named Link.

Coach Lao Liu is still coaching the urban boxing team. Without his own involvement, he should be able to stay with the city team safely until retirement.

 Seeing that everyone is doing well, he is naturally in a good mood.

“Mr. Linkbeck, how do you feel about your first trip to China?”

 The "Los Angeles Times" reporter continued to ask.

“It’s great, the cities in China are also very prosperous, and the Chinese people are very hospitable. I have made many friends in China these days.”

Link said with a smile.

“Mr. Link Baker, three days ago the Chinese media reported that you rescued a child who fell into the water in Hanking Park. Is this true?”

ˆCBS reporter asked as he handed over the microphone.

“Yes, I happened to be passing by that day and I rescued him.”

"Mr. Link Baker, according to Chinese media reports, 200-meter medley champion Phelps and former Chinese team diving champion Tian Liang were also present. The three of you entered the water almost at the same time. As a result, you arrived before them. You are How did you do it?"

ˆCBS TV reporter asked.

“I live by the sea and my swimming skills are pretty good. As for swimming faster than them, this may be a misunderstanding.”

Link said as he spread his hands.

Three days ago, when he was about to participate in the finals, he was running near Houhai. Suddenly he heard someone shouting, "Someone has fallen into the water." He jumped into the water without thinking much. After rescuing the child, he did not stay long and returned directly. Change clothes in the dormitory.

In the evening, a CCTV evening news report reported this incident, and someone also took a video. When he jumped into the water, Phelps and Tian Liang, a former member of the Chinese diving team, were also running nearby. The three of them almost entered the water at the same time. Link was further away from the child who fell into the water than the two of them, but in the end, he arrived before the two of them.

After the news was exposed, it became one of the biggest and most interesting news in this Olympic Games. Because he was also wearing athlete's clothes at the time, his appearance and body shape were very recognizable. In less than half a day, his true identity was revealed. USA Boxing Team Link Baker.

Then the news got even more exciting. It was said that the diving champion, swimming champion and boxing champion jumped into the water to save the drowning child. The boxing champion rescued the drowning child first even though he was further away.

 People think he is a hidden swimming master.

Some boxing fans also joked that he was a KO maniac and an anesthetist. He must have KOed two people in the water and then brought the child ashore. Otherwise, how could he be a boxer faster than a swimming champion?

“Mr. Link Baker, Phelps has publicly said that he wants to compete with you again to see which of you can swim faster. Will you accept his challenge?”

A reporter from ABC TV station asked.

Link smiled and said to the camera: "Of course, but please tell him that if he loses, keep the gold medal. Anyway, he has eight pieces. I am very envious."

 “Okay! We’ll tell him.”

The reporter from ABC TV station laughed.

"Mr. Link Baker, in the finals, many people thought it would be a close match. Why did you defeat Aragorn in only three rounds?"

 HBO TV reporter asked.

"First of all, this is not a close match. I have defeated him in the qualifying round and I am better than him; secondly, Aragorn is injured, and his condition is worse than in July, and his strength is also weaker. Thirdly, Aragorn is injured. Before the Olympics, I did intensive training for more than a month, and I was stronger than in the qualifications, which is why I was able to beat him again.”

Link said.

“Mr. Link Baker, what is your next goal after becoming the world champion?”

 The New York Times reporter asked.

“The next step is for me to move to professional boxing, compete for the super middleweight boxing championship belts of the four major organizations, and become a true world boxing champion.”

Link said, waving his fist.

 After answering a dozen questions, Link winked at Simon. Simon stepped forward and said that the interview was over and the champion now needed to go back and rest.

  —

“Link, look, this is your schedule for the past few days.”

In the business car, Simon Curtis handed him a bottle of purified water and an itinerary.

 “Okay, let me see what kind of job you have found for me first.”

Link took it and looked through it. There were more than thirty work arrangements, including CBS TV's "The Ellen Show", NBC's evening talk show "The Tonight Show", interviews with the "Los Angeles Times", "The New York Times" and "People Magazine", An exclusive interview with "Ring" magazine, the HBO TV show "Boxing with the Champions", six commercials and three charity events.

"Link, after you won the championship, we received more than 50 advertising invitations. According to your request, we will not accept advertising less than 500,000. There are still these six and three charity activities that we can do or not. , but my suggestion is to expand your fan base and increase your exposure.”

"I see."

Link doesn't have any objections to doing charity. He originally had a lot of black material. If he does charity activities, he can let more viewers know his character and words and deeds through TV programs. If he performs well, he can be washed away to a certain extent. The black material on his body has turned many passers-by into fans.

“What kind of program is this about watching the Olympics with the champions? The Olympics are over, what else are we going to watch about the Olympics?”

 Link pointed to the HBO TV event. There were three episodes in total and required three days of recording. It was the longest of all events.

"This is a program specially created for you by HBO. Because you are very popular and won the gold medal at the Olympics, they are going to make a program and invite you to interpret the five rounds of Olympic boxing live. The offer from HBO is 50 Thousands of dollars.”

 “Sounds good, I’ll take it.”

Link nodded, put down the document, and looked out the car window at Los Angeles. The sun was shining brightly, the blue sea was golden beaches, and the Pacific Coast Highway was lined with rows of tall palm trees. It looked a lot like Miami.

He took out his mobile phone and sent a message to Taylor, asking her if the tour was over. After a while, Taylor replied to the message and said that it would take half a month to return to China.

Link didn’t mention his coming to Los Angeles anymore. He sent a message to Gal Gadot. Gadot said she was at home and sent him the address of an apartment.

 “Simon, go to White Oak Apartments on Bird Street!”

 (End of this chapter)