Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion

Link's speech at Madison Square Garden had exploded like a bomb, shaking the entire world of boxing.

After the Olympics, Link's fame had already broken through regional barriers and spread throughout the boxing world, familiarizing many with his name.

Upon hearing of his transition to professional boxing, everyone kept a close watch on his matches, looking forward to observing the performance of the Olympic champion.

People expected to wake up, open the newspaper, and read about Link's debut, only to find such news instead.

The New York Post's front-page headline read, "Olympic Champion Link Baker Makes Bold Claim, Aims to Sweep All Opponents Within 100 Seconds."

The subheadline stated, "He doesn't think former world champions Mikkel Kessler, Lucian Bute, Andre Ward, or even Joe Calzaghe could last 100 seconds against him."

USA Today's front-page headline declared, "Link Issues a KO Warning to the World"; the subheadline proclaimed, "Link warns all Super Middleweight boxers in the world, advising them to give up and not to contend with him for the Golden Belt, or he will KO them all."

American Express's sports section featured the headline "Why Did Joe Calzaghe Suddenly Announce His Retirement from All Golden Belts? Link Baker Says It's Because of Him"

The subheadline read, "Link believes the best tribute to Joe Calzaghe is to defeat him in the match and expresses regret over Joe's announcement to relinquish the Golden Belt."

Everyone was stunned by these headlines.

What did he mean by defeating everyone within 100 seconds?

Did he frighten Calzaghe into giving up the Golden Belt?

And what about KOing the whole world?

Was Link crazy?

People just wanted to see how Link fared in his matches, whether he won or lost, and in which round he would come out victorious.

So why were the papers filled with this kind of news?

Was it a publicity stunt or fact?

Anxious, everyone opened the papers, eager to read the details below the headlines, initially thinking the press had sensationalized the story to attract readers' attention.

But after reading the content, they realized that wasn't the case.

The few headlines could only showcase one aspect of Link's speech; what he said was even more eye-popping than the titles.

The news was too sensational.

In less than a day, it was picked up by several major newspapers across Europe and Asia, including Germany's Bild, Britain's The Guardian and The Times, France's Le Monde, and Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun.

A few media reporters conducted phone interviews with some of the mentioned parties.

Joe Calzaghe stated that Link's comments were amusing but not true; his decision to vacate the Golden Belt was to focus on the Light Heavyweight rank, not because of Link.

A reporter from The Times asked Joe Calzaghe if he would face a challenge from Link in the future.

Calzaghe stated he wouldn't refuse.

Another question followed about his thoughts on Link's claim to defeat all his rank opponents within 100 seconds.

Calzaghe laughed heartily, saying it was interesting, but he didn't think Link could do it, nor could anyone else.

A reporter from Le Monde interviewed former champion Mikkel Kessler, currently ranked top three in the WBA Super Middleweight division and most likely to recapture the WBA Golden Belt, asking for his opinion on Link's claim to conquer the Super Middleweight division within 100 seconds.

Mikkel responded, "Link Baker? I know that guy, he did well in the Olympics, but this is professional boxing, he's oversimplifying things."

When Le Monde's reporter asked Mikkel if he had the confidence to defeat Link should they meet in the future,

Mikkel shrugged and said, "Him, fight me? First, he'd need to defeat Andre Ward, Jermain Taylor, and Jean Pascal to claim the Americas Zone Golden Belt to even qualify to fight me. If he somehow gets that chance, I'll teach him how to speak with my fists."

Other media reporters also interviewed Armenian champion Arthur Abraham, British boxer Carl Froch, and American Andre Ward, among others.

These hot-tempered individuals were all infuriated by Link's claim that he could defeat them within 100 seconds. They called Link a loudmouth and a braggart, proclaiming that if they ever faced him in a match, they would teach him a harsh lesson with their fists, show him how to stay humble.

"Look, Link, look at this newspaper, and this one, and this one too. Mikkel, Andre, Calzaghe, Pascal, everyone is pissed off at you."

In the car, Dino Duva shook the newspapers in his hand.

"So what?"

"So what?!"

Dino paused, "Link, you've angered everyone. Now everyone will be your enemy. Do you realize you're making the entire world your enemy?"

Link shook his head, "What's our goal in competing?"

"To win the Golden Belt!"

Dino said.

"Exactly. Since I want to be king of the boxing world, these people would become our opponents sooner or later. Does it make a difference if it's sooner rather than later? If I don't offend them and am polite, will they bow down to me?"

Link asked.

Dino Duva opened his mouth, then closed it. That might be the talk, but that's not how things are done.

Mentally sound people would think it's best to offend others one by one and then eliminate them one by one, take them down individually; unlike Link's reckless approach, spewing trash talk that offends colleagues the world over, he's making enemies with the whole world.

This guy's brain definitely isn't normal.

"Don't you feel the pressure is immense?"

Dino really wanted to grab a microphone and interview him.

When he heard this question, Link suddenly remembered a famous saying that seemed particularly fitting for his current situation and pretended to muse deeply, "To bear the crown, one must endure its weight!"

Whoosh! Everyone in the nanny van turned and looked at him, thinking that he should not be a boxer, but a philosopher.

"Link, that's a great quote. Teach me sometime how to speak as coolly as you do."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Morales said with a flash of white teeth.

"Do you want to get beaten to death?"

Dino asked with a sideways glance.

Morales opened his mouth then closed it, agreeing that speaking like Link did indeed come with high risks, and it wasn't for everyone.

Link shook his head; his reason for speaking that way, for releasing bold statements in front of the reporters, wasn't about putting on airs or creating a sensation—it was to push himself.

Since his recent arrival in New York, or rather, since becoming a millionaire Olympic champion, he found himself becoming a little complacent, with stray thoughts creeping into his mind. During training, women would randomly pop into his head; he wanted to drop his training and frolic with them, sometimes struggling to fall asleep at night.

Before the Olympics, this hardly ever happened.

After much deliberation, he surmised it was probably because he had achieved some success and made some money after the Olympics, which reduced the pressure and his drive, causing his mind and body to relax unconsciously.

This was not a good sign.

To counter this issue, he decided to add some pressure on himself.

Since his ranking competition opponents were too weak to exert any pressure on him, he came up with the idea of provoking everyone, a do-or-die strategy, a last stand. Either he would knock everyone out in 100 seconds, or he would be humiliated.

To avoid embarrassment, he would have to train desperately, compete desperately, and treat every second in the ring as a matter of his dignity and honor. Going over 100 seconds would mean utter disgrace.

So, to succeed, one must first learn to dig one's own hole.