boxer to hollywood

Chapter 5: The Return of the Champion

During the break between matches, the bar's gambling den would allow ten minutes for the patrons to place their bets and for the boxers to rest.

But for Link's match, ten minutes seemed too much. After he stepped onto the stage, the gambling den only received $13 in bets on him winning. Clearly, everyone knew Link couldn't win, and no one wanted to give money away to the house.

On the stage, Mario, having finished his rest, walked up to Link. The two stood face to face, about the same height, around 186 centimeters. Link was slender with muscles, but not bulky. Mario, on the other hand, was stout, with a thick waist and round arms, like a cow's hind leg.

Standing together, they looked like a bodybuilder and a sumo wrestler.

"Hehe, kid, you're dead," Mario sneered, bumping his gloves and showing his teeth.

"Don't smile like that when you're ugly. It makes you even uglier," Link said calmly.

"Holy shit, what did you say?" Mario roared, swinging his fist to hit him.

The referee saw this and quickly came over to stop him.

"Kid, you're dead, I swear to God," Mario gasped, cursing.

Link shrugged, looking at him with disdain. Mario gritted his teeth in anger, wishing he could rush over and punch him right now.

The referee began to announce the rules of the match.

During the match, pushing, pulling, biting, and strangling were not allowed. Kicking the groin, hitting the opponent with the head, shoulders, or elbows were also prohibited. Valid punching areas included the front and sides of the head, above the waist, and the front and sides of the upper body, but hitting the arms didn't score. When the referee shouted "break," they had to stop and step back, or they would be disqualified.

The referee mainly addressed Link, worried that he was too amateurish and might use forbidden moves in the heat of the match.

Link nodded, indicating that he understood completely.

"Boxing (Begin)!"

After the announcement, the referee waved his right hand down, and the match began.

"Mario, hit his face, I'll buy you a drink."

"Mario, knock him down in one round, or you're a wimp."

"Go Link, protect your nose."

As the match started, the patrons began to cheer, shouting all sorts of things.

Among the crowd, there were also more professional spectators, such as West Corian, Mario's coach.

As soon as the fight started, he could tell that Link was not a rookie. He saw Link's relaxed body, naturally hanging arms, and agile footwork, like a well-trained boxer.

"Mario, be careful, don't underestimate him!" West Corian stood up and shouted.

But it was too late.

After the match started, Mario abandoned his usual conservative style and chose to attack. He took two steps forward in the middle of the ring and rushed directly at Link.

Seeing that Link didn't dodge in time, he was overjoyed. With a roar, he swung his fist, aiming for Link's handsome yet hateful face.

It was a jab, fast and hard, with a tricky angle. If it landed, Link's nose might be broken.

Just as Mario threw his punch, West Corian's eyes widened in shock. He saw Link's shoulders not moving, only slightly turning his head, narrowly and skillfully dodging Mario's fist, as if he had completely predicted Mario's attack route.

However, what happened next shocked West Corian even more. As Mario's fist just grazed Link's hair, Link's left fist appeared on the side of Mario's face, and Mario was completely unprepared.

"Mar..."

Bam!

Before West could shout "watch out," Link's swing landed hard on Mario's face. Mario's face was violently jolted, and the fat on his face rippled.

Pfft! The pink mouthguard flew out of his mouth with saliva, translucent under the white light.

Mario staggered a few steps, his body tilting, and fell onto the ring with a thud, raising a cloud of dust.

"..."

The scene fell silent.

A thousand spectators stood frozen, their necks tilted at 45 degrees, mouths agape in an 'O' shape, staring blankly at the ring.

"...Seven, six, five, four, three, two, one!"

As the referee counted down for Mario, who was lying on the ground, the audience also began to thaw from their frozen state.

Boom!

"That pretty boy won?!"

"How is that possible? He's so thin, how could he knock Mario down with one punch?"

"Who is that white guy?"

"His name is Link! Link Baker! He's my buddy." James's chubby cheeks flushed with excitement as he raised his hands and kept shouting Link's name.

"Link won? That's incredible." Daniel also shouted excitedly, "Link, you're the best!"

Looking at the crowded audience and hearing their cheers, Link's heart couldn't help but race. He felt like he was back in the ring from his past life. The audience, the ring, the opponent, himself, everything seemed unchanged.

He loved this feeling, the feeling of defeating his opponent and receiving cheers.

Link waved his fist forcefully.

"I declare the winner of the first match, Link Baker." The referee raised Link's arm.

"Second match, anyone want to challenge Link?"

"I will, he must have knocked Mario down by luck."

"He won by a sneak attack, he's not that good. I could knock him out too."

"He's not as strong as me, he can't be that good. If I had $100, I could definitely beat him to a pulp. Would any buddy be willing to sponsor me $100?"

The crowd was clamoring, many people wanted to go up and beat him, but only five people came to the ring with hundred-dollar bills, lining up. The first one to come up was a Latino man with a boa constrictor tattooed on his shoulder.

The man was over 190 centimeters tall, with thick muscles and shoulders as wide as a door. When he walked over, he gave people a sense of overwhelming pressure.

"Hey, kid, it's nothing to beat Mario by luck. I can finish you in one round, believe it or not?" The boa constrictor man said provocatively, waving his fist.

"I don't believe it. Nothing on your body, except your mouth, can get hard. You're more of a wimp than Mario." Link looked at him with disdain.

"Fuck! Kid, you pissed me off. I said one round, and I mean it. If it takes more than one round, I lose," the boa constrictor man roared, waving his fists.

Link smiled.

The referee came over, announced the rules of the match, and the match began.

"I'll kill you!"

The boa constrictor man didn't touch gloves with him. As soon as the match started, he swung his sandbag-sized fist and slammed it towards Link's forehead.

"Watch!" West Corian shouted to Mario, who had just woken up.

Mario was leaning on a chair with an ice pack on his forehead, his head dizzy and his face no longer fierce. He squinted, watching the match in the ring.

The boa constrictor man fiercely attacked Link's head, but Link nimbly dodged his straight punch.

"Watch his right hand," West shouted.

Mario's eyes widened. While he was focused on Link dodging his opponent's killer move, he was surprised to find that Link's right fist had somehow appeared on his opponent's face.

Bam!

Link's hook punch made intimate contact with the boa constrictor man's jawbone.

The boa constrictor man's chin was hit, his head jerked back, he sprayed a mist of water, stumbled back three steps, and fell on his back on the ring. A 1.9-meter tall man falling to the ground was a visually stunning sight.

"..."

The ring fell silent for two seconds before exploding with noise.

"KO, another KO."

"How is it this move again? Is this the only move he knows?"

"Link, champion! Link, champion!"

James and Daniel were going crazy with joy, their arms around each other, dancing the Cuban salsa in the crowd.

"Another one-punch knockout?" Mario was dumbfounded, the ice pack on his head had slipped to the ground at some point.

"Another one-punch KO! But this is not a simple punch. His speed, power, reaction ability, boxing skills, and boxing awareness are all reflected in this punch. He is definitely notan ordinary boxer."

West Corian looked at Link in the ring with burning eyes. Link had the potential to become a top boxer, even a champion.

He wanted to become Link's coach and train him into a champion, but the eagerness in his eyes quickly cooled down. A boxer of Link's level couldn't possibly lack a coach.

"West, is it possible that this is the only move he knows? If I had prepared in advance and adopted a defensive tactic, he would never have been able to knock me down with one punch," Mario said, feeling like his coach was about to 'shift his affection' and quickly reminded him.

West shook his head. "With his speed and power, it wouldn't be difficult to break through your defense. With his strength, among the amateur boxers I know, he could at least rank in the top ten."

"West, you're exaggerating. If he was that good, would he participate in this kind of competition?" Mario curled his lip.

West also frowned, wondering why a boxer of Link's level would be here.

The third match was about to begin.

The third challenger was a lean, muscular black man. He was wearing white shorts and bouncing around in the ring, looking very agile.

"Haha, Link has met his match. He won't win this round so easily," Mario clapped and laughed.

In the ring, the third match began. Link touched gloves with the white shorts boxer. Before he could throw a punch, the white shorts quickly retreated, circling around him at the edge of the ring, not engaging him at all.

"Johnson, run faster, don't let him catch you!"

"Johnson, you're the sprint champion."

"Link, take him down!"

Link looked at the white shorts and smiled. Apart from his speed and agility, he was weaker than Mario and the boa constrictor man in other aspects. As long as he could surpass him in speed, it wouldn't be difficult to deal with him.

Taking advantage of the moment when the white shorts retreated to the corner, Link took a step forward and rushed towards him. The white shorts was startled and raised his fists to block.

Link used a jab to break his opponent's defense, and while his opponent was unguarded, he followed up with a backhand swing to his face.

Bam!

The glove hit the side of the white shorts' forehead. He staggered a few steps, bumped into the ropes, struggled a few times, and fell out of the ring through the gap between the ropes.

"Whoa!"

"Another one-punch KO!"

There was a gasp from the scene.

The audience also knew that he was very skilled and powerful, and there was no need for him to win by a sneak attack. They began to applaud and cheer for him, shouting his name.

"Link won!"

"The pretty boy won, he's really good."

"He knocked out three opponents with just one punch. I bet he's a professional boxer."

"I declare the champion of this month's Red Glove Bar boxing match, Link Baker!" the referee shouted, raising Link's arm.

"Champion Link!"

"Champion Link!"

The audience roared.

Link closed his eyes, listening to the cheers from the audience. He felt his soul lighter and more alive than ever before.

He was Link the boxer, not Link the diver. He should walk his own path.

Link suddenly opened his eyes, a hint of determination in his handsome brows. He decided to continue boxing, to continue the path he didn't finish in his past life, to achieve the goals he didn't achieve in his past life, to become a champion, to become a legend in boxing.

"Champion Link!!!"

(End of Chapter)