Chapter 97 The Era of Seconds

"Catherine, you know, Link is too much. A movie is 93 minutes long, and he slept for 65 minutes, and he snored in the middle. It pissed me off."

Outside the cinema, Selina held up her skirt, walked into the nanny car angrily, and complained to Catherine.

"Sorry, the cinema is too suitable for sleeping."

Link chuckled.

He practiced too long in the gym last night and didn't take a nap at noon. But just now Selina asked him to sit in front of him for a while, so he couldn't help but fall asleep again.

snort!

Selena rolled her eyes at him. Although she knew that training every day was tiring and understood him, she still had to complain in person.

Catherine smiled and said: "The target group of this movie is teenagers, not big boys like Link. It's normal for him to fall asleep. Link, how about having a potluck dinner together? I've decided on a place. Italian restaurant in front of 17th Street.”

Link looked at his watch and saw that it was almost dinner time, so he agreed. He didn't drive and sat directly in Selena's nanny car.

"Link, how about the girls I just introduced to you? Are there any you want to meet?"

Selina took out a can of coffee from the refrigerator and gave it to him. Link replaced it with a bottle of purified water and said with a smile, "It's all good. Give me their contact information."

"Ah, you want both?"

Selina's eyes widened in surprise.

"is it not OK?"

"Of course not. How could you do this? You are too bad."

Selena puffed out her fleshy face and raised her foot to give him a weak kick.

Catherine saw the two laughing through the rearview mirror and couldn't help but smile.

——

After the interlude, Link returned his attention to the game.

The fourth battle the next day.

Amid much attention, Link came to the Madison Garden Arena again. Due to the low attention received by the past qualifying matches, the WBA Americas Association did not do any publicity and promotion, and very few people came to watch the game.

After Link stirred up a storm of global public opinion, the WBA Americas super middleweight qualifying tournament suddenly became popular, and matches involving Link received unprecedented attention.

Before Game 4, Madison Garden Arena announced that 6,227 tickets had been sold, far exceeding expectations.

Link's fourth opponent was boxer Paul Samuels from Oregon.

After the game started, the opponent adopted evasive tactics and tried to use this method to survive for 10 seconds.

Yes, when you compete with others, you only need to beat your opponent to win. When you compete with Link, you only need to survive for 10 seconds to win.

Unfortunately, his speed was still too slow, and the 6X6.1 square boxing ring could not keep him apart. When Link saw his opponent flinching, he took two steps to catch up with him, forcing his opponent near the corner post, punching through the defense, and then punching KO.

It took 9.2 seconds!

Maybe he saw the benefits of running away.

In the fifth round, his opponent, New Mexico boxer Martins Kukuulis, also wanted to use this move to beat Link's 10 seconds.

It's a pity that his movements are not flexible, and he can only last 7.5 seconds under Link's violent attack.

In the sixth fight, Link faced Raul Marquez, a professional boxer who had just been promoted from middleweight. He had a professional record of 13 wins in 15 fights. Last year, he fought for 12 rounds with the middleweight world boxing champion Jermaine Taylor. The strength is good.

Everyone expected him to fight Link for a few more rounds to suppress Link's arrogance, but he only lasted 5.8 seconds.

After the game started, Raul Marquez took the lead in attacking Link, wanting to strike first. Unfortunately, his speed was too slow, and the outcome was the same as that of Romanik in the second game. Link took advantage of him and struck him. Punch KO.

After the sixth fight, the famous commentator Doug Fisher published a comment in the New York Times, saying that the super middleweight competition has entered the "second era" and that the former 12-round system has completely failed in Link's case. .

In the past six games, the duration was 6.1 seconds, 4.8 seconds, 5.3, 9.2 seconds, 7.5 seconds, and 5.8 seconds. So far, no opponent has lasted more than 10 seconds in his hands, and he is about to tie the 'Cannon' Shanon Briggs holds the record for the most KOs in the shortest time in a professional match.

"In the past ten years since the Tyson era, the boxing world lacking heavy hitters has been as boring as a pool of stagnant water. Although Roy Jones Jr., Mayweather, De La Hoya and others have made some waves, they have only stepped on their predecessors. He has made great progress and made no pioneering contribution to the development and popularization of boxing.

Faced with this situation, many people are pessimistic about the current situation, and even accept the reality that boxing has become a niche sport again. The recent waves Link has made in the boxing world can't help but make people shine. With his domineering attitude, Bringing the boxing game into the second era and making the game more exciting. I look forward to Link's next performance. I hope he can continue to win and bring more surprises to boxing fans. "

The media found the concept of the ‘second era’ very interesting and took the opportunity to hype the matter.

The American media said that Link is very powerful and will dominate the super middleweight competition. They said that Joe Calzaghe, Mikkel and others are not his opponents. The super middleweight gold belts of the four major organizations will return to the United States. .

European media said that after Link entered the professional boxing world, he had 6 wins and 6 KOs in 6 fights. He was particularly strong and ambitious. They also said that his playing style was cold and bloodthirsty, like a ruthless 'butcher' and a 'big man'. Demon King', 'Swift Gun Link'.

However, the European media still have full confidence in Mikkel, Carl Froch, and Joe Calzaghe, believing that they will definitely defeat Link and keep the super middleweight gold belt in Europe.

Link didn't know how he could be "blackened" and turned into a character like a butcher or a big devil, but he didn't care.

No matter how loud the public opinion outside is or how much negative news there is, his energy and attention are focused on training and preparing for the next game.

——

Bang bang bang!

In the boxing training ground, Link was wearing a sweaty T-shirt, waving his fists, and kept hitting the boxing shield in Morales' hand. He used the maximum strength and the fastest speed for each punch. He wanted to see himself. From the first punch to the 1,000th punch, my body began to sweat a lot and my muscles kept shaking.

Every time he punched, his arm muscles and other muscles would feel sore and painful. He didn't know if he still had the strength to punch the next one, but he could only grit his teeth and persevere, trying to punch as many times as possible to defeat the past. Become stronger yourself and don't give your opponents a chance to laugh.

"Link, take a rest, there is a game tomorrow, don't be too tired."

Coach Brooks shouted helplessly.

When I was coaching boxers in the past, he would often yell, "Damn it, don't be lazy, hurry up and practice." But when it came to Link, he needed to yell, "Stop practicing, take a break," and "That's enough, no need to practice anymore." .

He felt that his role as a coach was to hold him back.

"It doesn't matter, I can still hold on!"

Link continued to hit the fist shield with his fist. After 1,500 consecutive hits, the muscles in his arms felt like burning pain. He knew that he had reached his limit. If he continued to practice, he would strain the muscles and affect his performance tomorrow. .

"Link, good news!"

While taking a break, Simon ran into the training ground excitedly, holding a document in his hand.

"News just came from the WBA North American Association. Your opponent in the seventh and eighth games announced that he would give up the game on the pretext of a recurrence of an old injury. You don't have to participate in the next games and will directly advance to the American finals. Is this good news? ?”

Simon laughed.

"Really? I don't think so."

Link shook his head. He originally wanted to hone his skills in the game and gain professional experience, but both opponents gave up. This frustrated his plan and he could only continue training to gain back the lost experience.

While Link was immersed in training, the qualifying matches for the WBA continental divisions were also coming to an end.

In the North American division, there are four boxers who have reached the WBA division finals, namely Canadian boxer Jean Pascal, American boxers Rubin Williams, Jeff Lacy, and Link Baker.

Among them, Jean Pascal defeated his opponent in 32 seconds, 95 seconds, and 63 seconds respectively in the last three qualifying races. His performance was very eye-catching.

American media believe that Jean Pascal will be Link's first obstacle to achieving his goal of KOing everyone in 100 seconds.

On September 21, at the Madison Square Garden Arena in New York, the North American Division ushered in the first round finals, Link VS Rubin Williams, Jean Pascal VS Jeff Lacey.

In this game, Link still took advantage of his heavy punches. In the fight with the opponent, he punched 54 times in 21 seconds, successfully KOing the opponent and winning his 7th professional victory.

Jean Pascal's performance in the first round was not much worse than Link's. He knocked out his powerful opponent Jeff Lacey in 82 seconds and won his 21st professional victory.

Just one day later, the North American division ushered in the second final, Link Baker VS Canadian boxing champion Jean Pascal. The winner will be qualified to challenge WBA North American super middleweight champion Jermaine Taylor.

The day before the game, the WBA North America Association posted the battle report of the two on the homepage of its website.

Jean Pascal, a Haitian-Canadian with dark skin, is 26 years old, 179 centimeters tall, and 183 centimeters in arm length. He has an amateur record of 103 wins and 18 losses. He won the boxing gold medal at the 2001 Francophone Games and the boxing bronze medal at the 2003 Pan American Games.

He entered professional boxing in 2005. He currently has a professional record of 21 fights, 21 wins and 18 KOs. He is ranked 8th in the WBA super middleweight world and is considered to be the most promising winner among the four major organizations in the competition for gold belts. One of the boxers to a gold belt.

Link Baker, a 20-year-old Miami native, is 186cm tall and 193cm long. He is the 2008 Golden Gloves Championship champion and the 2008 Olympic super middleweight champion. He has an amateur record of 27 fights, 27 wins and 26 KOs.

He has a professional record of 6 fights, 6 wins and 6 KOs. Currently, he is not ranked within the WBA organization. However, in the first seven games, no one can last more than 30 seconds in his hands. He is also considered to be the super middleweight of the four major organizations. One of the 'candidates' for the world boxing championship.

In addition, on the eve of the game, major gaming companies and casinos in North America announced new gaming projects:

The odds of betting on Link to win are 1:1.2

Bet on Pascal to win 1:2.5

Link won by KOing Pascal in 100 seconds, 1:3.7;

Pascal won by KOing Link in 100 seconds, 1:10.2;

etc.

Judging from the odds of various events, bookmakers believe that Link can defeat Pascal, but they still have doubts about his ability to KO Pascal within 100 seconds.

The two men's match was still held at Madison Square Garden. On the day of the match, the arena announced that a total of 13,072 tickets were sold, which was also the WBA North American match with the largest number of spectators.

"Link, are you nervous?"

In the lounge, Dino Dua kept rubbing his palms and walking up and down the aisle.

"You look more nervous than me."

Link sat on the sofa, raised his fists, and asked Coach Brooks and Morales to help wrap the palm bandages.

"Yes, I am very nervous. I bet 100,000 US dollars on you. If you lose, your pocket money for this month will be gone. Link, you must win, and you must beat Pascal within 100 seconds. If you win, I will ask you to pick up girls. Well, you don't like picking up girls, how about I give you a sports car?"

Dino came over and asked.

"Dino, stop talking nonsense! Gambling is your business, it has nothing to do with Link. Don't interfere with Link here. Link, you should relax and not be affected by him."

Coach Brooks pushed Dino away and said.

Link glanced at Dino and said, "Don't worry, I will definitely win."

"Then do your best!"