Chapter 50: KO again

"Link, Andre is defeated!"

"Defeated? Is Aragorn so powerful?"

In the Social, Cultural and Sports Center Gymnasium in Havana, Cuba, the venue for this year's Olympic qualifying tournament, Link just came off the boxing ring when he met his teammate Morales with dreadlocks and came to report the news.

In the first round of eliminations that just took place, Andre Berto VS Lorenzo Aragon of the Cuban team.

The match time was 14:31.

Andre Berto suffered a defeat.

Lorenzo Aragon is the number one super middleweight in Cuban amateur boxing.

He is 25 years old, 190cm tall, 194cm long, black, with superb boxing skills.

At the 2004 Athens Olympics, he represented Cuba in the men's 69kg boxing event. He passed all the way and reached the finals. In the finals, he encountered Kazakhstan boxer Artyaev. Unfortunately, he was defeated and won a silver medal. .

Four years later, Aragon raised his weight to 75 kilograms and participated in the super middleweight competition, aiming directly for the Olympic gold medal.

Andre Berto got such a tough opponent in the first round. It can't be said that he was very unlucky.

"That bastard named Aragon is just like you. During the game, he dodges around and is as cunning as a loach. Andre can't hit him at all."

Morales cursed angrily.

"Sounds really tough."

Link nodded.

"Link, how are you doing here?"

Jones Fullers squeezed through the crowd, his expression a little solemn.

He used to only compete in domestic competitions. Seeing the extremely high level of boxing in the United States, he thought that the best boxers in the world were concentrated in the United States. If he could reach the top five in the American Golden Gloves Championship, he would not be inferior abroad.

But when he came to the Americas and watched several games in Cuba, Mexico, Brazil and other countries, his scalp became numb and his horizons widened.

Cuban boxing: imitates Russian boxing, with fast and fierce punches and a good attacking rhythm.

In addition, most of the Cuban boxers are black, with good body flexibility and very flexible movement speed. They are similar to the guerrilla tactics of the Cuban Revolutionary Army. They can change places after punching, and the tactics are flexible.

Mexican boxing: It combines modern European and American boxing techniques with regional characteristics. The fighting style is extremely fierce. It is fearless, never flinches, and is not afraid of injury. During the competition, it is like fighting the opponent with all his strength, even if he dies, he will be on the other side. Bite off a piece of meat.

Boxing in Brazil and Argentina combines the specialties of local races, such as fast movement and flexible and changeable movements. When punching, they often punch one after another, and the attacks are continuous and very difficult to deal with.

There are also small countries in Central and South America such as Haiti, Jamaica, and Guatemala. Because boxing is their means of survival and a way to achieve a superior life, they are determined and have a very tenacious fighting style during the competition.

Compared with boxers from these countries, American boxing is only better in technology, experience and physical fitness, but does not have advantages in other aspects.

Jones Fullers watched the competitions from various countries and was so shocked that he even restrained his arrogant attitude when he first came to Havana.

When he saw Link leaving the ring, he quickly came over to ask. The second place super middleweight of the American team had been defeated, and all hope lay with Link.

Link's opponent in the first round was Matias Ezekiel Vargas Martín, the second-placed player on the Mexican team, who was also a very strong opponent.

If Link also fails, it's time for Team USA's super middleweight squad to go home.

"KO! I win."

Link chuckled softly.

"KO?!"

"Another KO?"

Morales and Jones exclaimed in surprise.

No wonder the two of them were surprised, this result was really amazing.

The Olympic qualifying tournament is set up differently than the Golden Gloves tournament.

There are only four rounds in a game, each round is two minutes, and there is a one-minute rest in between. There is too much time, and the difficulty of KO increases exponentially.

There are three situations in which you want to get KO in the Olympic series:

The first is to directly knock down the opponent so that the opponent cannot get up.

Second, in one round, if one party is knocked down three times in a row and counted for seconds three times, the referee can directly determine that the other party wins by KO; or in one game, that is, within four rounds, if one party is knocked down four times, After being counted out four times, if the referee thinks that the gap between the two sides is large, he can also directly judge the other side to win by KO.

Third, if it causes serious injury to the opponent, the referee will stop the game for safety reasons.

When Link competed with the Mexican team's second-placed Martin, he knocked down Martin four times with heavy punches in the first three rounds, but Martin stood up tenaciously and had a very strong willpower.

Link could only increase his strength and keep punching, hitting 47 punches in the fourth round. In the end, with punch weight and speed that was much higher than his opponent, he completely knocked out Martin in the fourth round and successfully won the game.

"Let's go check out Andre's place!"

At Link's suggestion, the four came to Boxing Ring No. 6.

Due to the short qualifying period, only five days, there are too many competition events. There are eight boxing rings set up in the social, cultural and sports center venue. Sometimes eight games are held at the same time. Before the game, the coaches of each team draw lots to determine the venue.

Link is on stage 2, Andre and Cuban boxer Lorenzo Aragon are on stage 6.

When Link and others came over, Andre was talking to the coach and translator.

Since Cuba belongs to the Latin language family, more than 90% of the people only speak Spanish and native languages, and English is not taught in schools. It is said to prevent people from smuggling into the United States.

So when they come to compete here, both the American team and the Canadian team need to be equipped with translators.

Other American countries basically speak Spanish and Portuguese, which also belong to the Latin language family, so they are collectively called Latinx.

Miami, where Link is located, has one of the highest proportions of Latinos in the United States. More than half of the population speaks Spanish. Link Baker knows Spanish, and Link also uses some Spanish.

"Link, how was the game?"

Andre Berto looked over and shouted.

“Excellent!”

Before Link could speak, Anderzej told everyone about the game in an excited tone. Everyone cheered happily when they heard that Link continued to defeat his opponent with KO.

"Great job, Link!"

Andre clapped his hands with the coaching staff.

"Thanks!"

Link shrugged and smiled.

"Link, I lost. The rest of the game depends on you."

Andre Berto patted him on the shoulder and said.

Link nodded. Since there are only two places left in the super middleweight class, since the first place Link won, the second place in the American team lost the qualification to continue the competition. Next, they can participate in the experience exchange competition.

Link needs to face all the fighters who advance in the first round alone.

A total of 28 countries and regions sent boxing teams to participate in this round of the American Olympic Boxing Qualification Tournament, with a total of 325 boxers.

There are 18 countries participating in the super middleweight competition, and the number of people who advance to the first round of knockout rounds is 18, all of whom are the best in the super middleweight class.

"Link, look over there, that guy is Lorenzo Aragon."

Andre Berto pulled him and pointed to the opposite corner.

There stood a dark-skinned, lean black young man with a blue tattoo on his shoulder. He was 190cm tall, 4 centimeters taller than Link, and 2 centimeters longer than Link. He had participated in two World Championships and one. He has rich experience in the Olympics and competitions and looks very difficult to deal with.

"Next to him is his coach Felix Savon."

Andre Berto said, pointing to the middle-aged black man next to Lorenzo Aragon.

"Felix Savon?"

Link's expression became solemn.

Felix Savon is the third boxer in the history of the Olympic Games to win gold medals in boxing for three consecutive years in 1992, 1996 and 2000.

The first is Teofilo Stevenson, the legendary Cuban boxer.

The second one is László Papp, the legendary Hungarian boxer.

For various reasons, they have not entered the professional boxing world, but in the amateur boxing world, no one can compare with them in terms of amateur achievements and honors.

Felix Savon is also the new first-generation figure in Cuban boxing.

Lorenzo Aragon is his disciple, so his strength is naturally not bad.

Link felt a little stressed.

——