Conquer America, Start with a Boxing Champion

After the game, Link returned to New York and transferred the 4.2 million US dollars he earned into his account. The prize money for this game was 10 million.

According to the pre-match negotiation, he and Tyson split the money 7:3, with the winner taking the lion's share, and then split it 6:4 with Dynasty Promotions, leaving only 4.2 million.

He contacted Franco again and bought the Yorkville apartment for 3.2 million. Now the real estate crisis is still going on, and New York house prices have fallen a lot. Buying real estate at this time is also a reasonable investment.

He gave the remaining money to Ms. Cathie Wood, the manager of Vanguard Asset Management Company, and bought some technology stocks such as Amazon, Apple, Google, Netflix, and YouTube before the stock market rises.

When the stock market recovers next year, it will not be difficult to become a billionaire before 2010.

"Link? Are you Mr. Link Baker?"

At Rooftop Music Bar on Third Avenue in Manhattan, Link was reading a newspaper when a surprised voice came from the side. Link looked up and saw two young men and women in their early twenties, both of whom looked at him with excited eyes.

"Hello!"

"Mr. Link Baker, I'm your fan, can you give me an autograph?"

The boy said, holding a picture album.

Link nodded, signed for the two, and took a photo with them. The two fans left happily.

After he defeated Tyson, Dynasty Promotions did a lot of publicity to spread the news all over the world.

Now his reputation in the boxing world is louder than when he became the world champion, and there are more and more boxing fans. In addition to his videos on YouTube, he is often recognized when he goes out shopping.

"Hey, Link, it's you."

Hearing someone behind him greet him, Link turned around and saw the blond Paul Walker walking down the aisle with a glass of wine. The two had worked together once in Miami on the set of "Fast and Furious 4". They didn't contact each other much, and they didn't expect to meet here.

"Paul, are you in New York too?"

Link waved and invited Paul to sit down.

Paul smiled cheerfully and said, "Yes, I came to New York to promote the new movie. I saw in the newspaper that you defeated Tyson again. You are so amazing."

"Tyson is too old. If he were younger, I would not be his opponent." Link shrugged his shoulders and said.

"Haha, you are too modest. Last time in the Miami bar, you said you couldn't race. When you got on the road, you left us far behind in less than ten miles. Your skills are not worse than those of professional racers. When will we race again?" Paul Walker patted his shoulder and laughed.

This guy is a racing fan. He talks about racing every three sentences. Link laughed and said, "Okay, I will find you next time I go to Los Angeles. If you lose, you leave the car."

"No problem! That's it."

Paul Walker extended his fist and bumped it with him.

After chatting for a few words, Paul Walker got up and left. His new movie "Torn Memories" was recently released. It is a thriller. This guy is also an ambitious person. After the explosion of "Fast and Furious", he will also take some niche movies to try to transform.

After seeing Paul Walker off, Link continued to read the script on the table. After a while, a middle-aged man in a black tweed coat came to the booth. He was about 40 years old, white, with brown curly hair, and looked very energetic.

This man was the person Link had an appointment with today, Darren Aronofsky, the director of the movie "The Fighter".

Director Darren is also a New Yorker. His representative works include "Requiem for a Dream" and "The Fountain of Preciousness", as well as the recently released "The Wrestler" and the future "Black Swan".

"The Wrestler" is also a sports-themed movie, telling the story of a popular professional wrestler from glory to failure in the 1980s. The movie received good response after its release. At the Venice Film Festival in August, the other party won the Best Director Award for this movie.

It was also for this reason that Relativity Pictures, the producer of "The Fighter", found him to be the director of this movie, and the script in Link's hand was also sent by him.

"Mr. Link, I'm sorry, I'm late."

"It's okay, I just arrived too."

Link stood up, shook hands, and invited the other party to sit down.

After sitting down, Director Darren stared at Link and said, "Link, although I know you are the world boxing champion, I am still a little surprised to see you in person. You don't look like a boxer."

"Oh?"

Link called the waiter to order a cup of coffee for Director Darren.

Director Darren spread his hands and said, "Do you know Mickey Rourke? The male lead of "The Wrestler" was an actor before. He switched to boxing at the age of 29. Because of many facial injuries, his facial muscles are stiff, while your facial muscles are very flexible, and you have a literary temperament. It is hard to believe that you can be a world boxing champion."

Link laughed, "This is because I have better skills. It is difficult for ordinary people to hit my face."

Another reason is that after being injured, I recover faster and more thoroughly than ordinary people, so after being injured, it will not affect my muscles and appearance.

Director Darren nodded, "I've seen your matches. At first I just wanted to understand your fighting style, but after watching two matches, I became your fan. Your boxing skills are amazing, combining speed, strength, and skills perfectly. Every match is very exciting."

"Thank you!"

After the waiter brought the coffee, Link took the initiative to change the topic to the script of "Fighter".

After getting the script, he did a lot of work. First, he read acting books and learned several acting theories.

Second, he found the contact information of Mickey Ward, the prototype of the protagonist of "The Fighter", through major event companies, and asked about his personality and hobbies.

He also took the initiative to find director Woody Allen to ask him about acting.

Originally, he was very confident, but director Darren said that he didn't look like a boxer, which made him a little confused about the other party's ideas.

"Link, you have read the script, what kind of person do you think Mickey Ward is?"

Director Darren asked.

Link thought for a while, "A slow and dull person with no opinion."

Mickey Ward's career has been controlled by his mother, who is an agent. He has no plan of his own. Later, he met his girlfriend and was controlled by his girlfriend again, breaking up with his mother's family.

He has no personal ideas in professional competitions. He only listens to his brother's arrangements. He fights as his brother tells him to. After his brother went to prison, he obeyed the coach's arrangements.

His fists are hard, but his boxing IQ is low.

When the male protagonist needed to make a choice between his girlfriend, coaching team, mother and brother, he chose to escape.

In the end, his brother took the initiative to stand up and mediate between the two parties. In the end, his girlfriend and mother sat together, and he also defeated boxing champion Arturo Gatti in the ring, a Hollywood-style ending.

"Link, you are smarter than Mickey in boxing. If you were asked to play him, how would you show his dullness and slowness?"

Director Darren asked with his fingers crossed.

When Link read the script, he found that this character was a bit like Guo Jing, the hero, dull and slow, and easily influenced, but with a simple mind and no distractions. He was also more focused during competitions and training, which is one of the reasons why Mickey Ward became a boxing star.

It is not easy to play this role well.

He specifically asked director Woody Allen for advice, and the other party's advice was to have fewer facial expressions, fewer words, speak slowly, and not move his eyes randomly, and to be quieter in both language and actions.

Following the instructions of director Woody Allen, Link put on a dull expression and spoke slowly, "Director Darren, how do you feel?"

Director Darren stared at him. From a professional perspective, Link's performance was very rough and immature, much worse than that of a professional actor.

The only bright spot was that his performance was spiritual, his appearance was outstanding, and he was recognizable.

What he was thinking about now was whether to give the role to Link for these reasons.

In fact, it was his impulse to hand the script to Link's agency. When preparing for the movie "Fighter", he planned to find a professional boxer to play the male lead, which would look more professional.

At that time, Link's game happened to be broadcast on TV. He thought Link had a good image and was very suitable for this role, so he asked someone to hand him the script.

But after reading many reports about Link later, he found that Link and Mickey Ward were two types of boxers, one was dull, the other was shrewd, one was a late bloomer, and the other became famous at a young age. The more he watched, the more he felt that the two were too different and not suitable.

Director Darren considered that Link was a world boxing champion and might not be interested in acting, so he did not withdraw the script.

But two days ago, Link's agent suddenly called and said that Link was interested in this role and wanted to talk to him.

Out of respect for Link, he came to the appointment and was ready to reject Link in person, but seeing that Link had some talent in acting, he was a little hesitant. Should he work with Link once?

"Link, let me ask you a question. You are a world boxing champion and you are doing very well in boxing. I saw the evaluation of you in the New York Post. Your potential is no worse than De La Hoya and Mayweather. You have been so successful. Why do you want to cross over to become an actor?"

Director Darren asked curiously.

Link smiled gently, "There are many reasons, two of which are more important. First, I like acting and I have the desire to perform;

Second, I want to promote myself and boxing through movies. When I got the gold belt, Chairman Mendoza said that the gold belt is not only an honor, but also a responsibility. Every boxing champion should take the promotion of boxing as an obligation to fulfill, so that more people can understand and learn boxing.

So when I saw the script of "Fighter", I would not hesitate to take it. I think playing this role is not only acting, but also a kind of boxing."

Director Darren looked at him in surprise. I thought he would say that he loves acting and being an actor is a dream. I didn't expect him to say that he would use this method to promote boxing. It seems that he really wants to be an actor, not just for fun.

Director Darren hesitated for a while and decided not to rush to reject Link.

Link has a good image and high popularity. He is also a professional boxer and has some talent in acting. These are all advantages.

The only disadvantage is that his acting skills are immature, but this is not a big problem. For a professional director, talented players are easier to work with than veteran actors.

"Lin Ke, this role is more important, and I can't decide on my own. I have to go back and discuss it with everyone. Maybe I will ask you to come to the production company for a second audition. I hope I won't disturb you."

"No problem, I'll wait for your call."

Lin Ke said.