Chapter 18 Southeast Division Finals

At the end of the Orlando competition, Link received the gold medal in the Florida Division of the Golden Gloves Championship, five sports suits sponsored by the Amateur Boxing Association, and a $5,000 cash prize.

Just one day later, he and West took the Silver Star train and came north to Charleston, South Carolina to compete in the Southeastern Division.

The Southeast Division includes fourteen states including Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.

The top three in each weight class in each state qualify, with a total of 42 boxers participating in the super middleweight competition.

After four rounds of competition, Link once again advanced to the finals, and entered the finals with a total KO of his opponents, causing a huge sensation in the arena and amateur boxing circles.

Almost all amateur boxers know that there is a boxer from Miami who is good at KOing his opponents. He will knock people to the ground in every match and will not give up until he knocks out his opponents. He also won the second title of "Physics" anesthetist'.

The first title given to him by boxing fans was the 'Prince of Miami Boxing'.

Because his previous performance was too high-profile, his killer moves and game tactics were studied by his opponents. Before the game, the opponents stayed up late trying to figure out how to decipher his killer moves and tactics.

This also made the next game extremely difficult for him.

In the semi-finals, his opponent was an extremely skilled Italian boxer with good skills and fast speed. He evaded Link's "back throw punch" from the beginning, which caused a burst of exclamation at the scene. Everyone was excited. I know that Link's back throw punch is very powerful.

From the beginning of the game to now, no one has ever escaped, but this time he was avoided by his opponent. Everyone felt that Link might try here and fail for the first time since his debut.

Too bad they were disappointed.

Although the killer move was avoided, Link was not discouraged. He still had some heavy punches. In the following six rounds, he threw a total of 286 punches, with more than 40 punches in each round, which was the most he had done in all previous games. , the one with the most punches and the highest frequency.

286 punches, hitting the opponent's head 48 times and knocking him down 7 times. In the last time, he used a swift straight punch to knock his opponent to the ground completely and he could not get up for ten seconds.

He won the game the hard way.

"Link, how are you?"

West saw sweat pouring all over his body and the muscles in his arms and legs were trembling. He knew that this was a symptom of overexertion. He quickly asked Reggie and Mario to help him lie down to rest, and asked the accompanying masseur to give him some rest. Massage the muscles.

"I'm fine, it's just that I'm a little exhausted."

Link took a sip of water and wrapped a towel around his body to prevent the loss of water in his body.

West looked at him with a frown and sighed: "Link, if you don't change your plan, the goal of winning by KOing all your opponents will be too unrealistic."

"That's right, Link, there are many promoters from promotion companies here today. They are looking for talents. I think winning the game is the most important thing." Reggie held a towel to fan him next to him.

Link waved his hand and said with a smile: "No need to persuade me, this is the goal I have set for myself. Since the goal has been set, it cannot be changed easily before failure."

"Your opponent will be very fierce in the next match. With your current condition, how can you KO him?" Mario curled his lips and said.

"Fight with all your strength!"

Link clenched his fists, his eyes were firm, and his raised eyebrows were as sharp as his fists.

The Southeast Division finals were held at 4 p.m. at the North Charleston Garden Stadium. A total of 12,000 people came to watch the scene. Media from the Southeast states, FOX News Network, HBO TV Sports Channel and other media sent reporters to the scene. interview.

"Link, you are about to face last year's U.S. Amateur Championship runner-up Jones Fullers. He is very strong. Will you still insist on ending this game by KOing your opponent?"

asked a reporter from the Miami Herald.

"Yes, this is my goal. No matter how difficult it is, no matter how strong the opponent is, I will work hard to achieve it."

Link responded in a gentle yet strong voice.

"Link, what if you fail? Will you give up the game?"

asked a reporter from The Tennessean News.

"Failure? Sorry, I never thought I would fail, not here, not in Miami, so Mr. Reporter, please don't mention the word failure when interviewing me."

Link shook his fist and smiled.

"Link, congratulations on successfully advancing to the Southeast Division finals and successfully qualifying for the national championship. What is your next goal?"

The HBO sports reporter asked, passing the microphone.

"The champion, of course, is the champion! I have no choice but to be the champion."

Link said with his fist raised.

The interview time is over.

The reporters left, leaving only two Spongebobs in the ring - Link in the red sponge suit and Jones Fullers in the blue sponge suit.

Jones Fullers, African-American, 22 years old, from Tennessee, 192 cm tall, 195 cm long, 78.2 kg in weight, was the light heavyweight runner-up at last year's U.S. National Amateur Championship.

In order to win the championship, Jones Fullers lost two kilograms before the competition and signed up to compete in the super middleweight competition.

His characteristics are that he has a small head, a strong body, fast speed, is good at fast breaks, and is also very good at defense. He is a boxer with comprehensive skills on both offense and defense.

He once broke the noses of three opponents in a light heavyweight amateur competition.

Currently, he has 28 wins, 3 losses and 1 draw in 32 amateur matches, and has rich experience in the competition.

After the game started, Jones Foles adopted a conservative style of play, did not take the initiative to attack, and was more than one meter away from him;

Link tried to chase Jones, but was quickly avoided by Jones at an extremely fast speed.

After thinking about it, Link decided to change his tactics, give up the plan of active attack, and save his energy first.

In the first and second rounds, both sides only threw 12 punches in total, and they bumped their fists perfunctorily at the urging of the referee.

"What are they doing, why are they not fighting?"

Mario asked puzzledly.

The audience at the scene was also puzzled. Before coming to watch the game, the news said that there was an amateur boxer from Miami who was very fierce. He fought crazy in the arena, hitting whoever he saw, and knocked out all his opponents. He was called the 'anesthetist'.

Now it's the finals, why is the 'anesthetist' not numb?

"Link, what are your plans?"

During the break in the second round, West asked Link this question.

Link shook his head and said to his opponent who was also resting, "Don't worry, wait a little longer."

"Wait? What for?"

Mario glanced at Jones on the opposite side and asked in a low voice, "Did you put anesthetics in his water?"

Link was stunned for a moment. Can this be done?

After entering the court, he was sweating a lot, panting, and his steps were a little shaky.

"Did Link consume too much energy in the last game? No strength left?" Reggie asked.

"Will he get tired too?"

Mario shook his nose and expressed doubt.

During this period, there were games every day, but as long as he had time, Link would run outside or work out in the hotel gym. His physical strength was more abundant than the beef cattle in his ranch. Mario didn't believe that Link would be so tired that he would walk shaky, unless there were three women in his bed last night.

"Hey, play faster!"

"Don't waste time anymore."

"Refund! Refund!"

The audience shouted loudly to express their dissatisfaction with the game.

The referee also urged the two to play faster, and passive play would be deducted points.

Link ignored it, just raised his fists, stared at his opponent, and occasionally threw a few punches perfunctorily.

Although the reaction of the audience is important, we cannot be manipulated by the audience's emotions and change tactics easily.

His opponent Jones Foles was also relatively calm. He frowned and looked at Link in confusion.

According to the analysis of the coaches, Link is a boxer who is eager for success. He likes to launch a fierce attack on his opponent in the first three rounds, and often KOs his opponent in the first three rounds to end the game.

So before the game, his coach repeatedly told him to defend himself and protect his head, and never give Link a chance to KO.

Jones has watched Link's game video and remembers his heavy punches clearly. He is also prepared to deal with his heavy punches.

But since the start of the game, Link only tried a little and gave up the attack. He played very passively, as if he was deliberately delaying the game.

Jones was a little confused. What did he want to do? Suddenly noticed that Link was sweating a lot and his steps were floating. Was it because he consumed too much in the last game? His body has not recovered yet?

He decided to take the initiative and attack to test Link's condition.

The next chapter will be in two minutes