Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion

Emma had stayed at the Baker's shop for a day and two nights when, urged by her aunt, she reluctantly returned to Orlando to continue filming the remaining parts of "Harry Potter."

Her role in Orlando wouldn't last much longer, just about half a month left.

After resting for two days, Link returned to the boxing gym to continue his training.

"Coach, Link is here."

Seeing Link enter from the door, an apprentice named Jim stepped on the stairs and ran upstairs, calling out that Link had arrived.

Link looked up at the second floor and saw West, Robinson, Reggie, Mario, and the boxing apprentices standing by the staircase, leaning over to look down.

"What are you guys doing?"

"Link, come up here!"

Reggie called out, waving his hand.

As Link reached the top of the stairs, several bursts of fireworks exploded overhead, and others clapped and cheered, shouting "Champion Link."

"Haven't we already celebrated? Why are we celebrating again?"

Link brushed the streamers off his shoulders and asked.

"I think it's unnecessary, just a championship, not the Golden Belt. They're overdoing it,"

Mario muttered, standing on the outskirts with a look of disdain.

"Don't speak!"

Coach West shot him a glance, smiling as he pulled Link to the gym's 'Wall of Honor' and handed him the Golden Gloves Trophy to hold for a few photos.

The Golden Gloves Trophy was originally Link's personal item, but since the Baker's shop was too small to house many things, he had placed the trophy in the boxing gym.

West and Robinson could use the trophy as a sign to attract more boxing apprentices.

Link smiled lightly, holding the trophy the size of a boxing glove, standing in front of the Wall of Honor, and took several photos with West.

"Ha ha, now our boxing gym also has a champion. I hope in the future we produce more champions, more boxing champions—everyone, clap!"

Under Robinson's lead, everyone clapped enthusiastically, and Link joined in.

"Link, wait a moment!"

Coach West took a car key from his pocket and handed it to Link, "You ride your motorcycle every day, which isn't safe. I have a Pontiac GTO, parked downstairs, the dark green one. I bought it thirty years ago; it's an old car, hasn't been driven for a long time. You take it."

Link looked at the keys in his hand, surprised. When he first arrived, he had seen a very cool, vintage sports car downstairs and thought it belonged to a visitor to the gym—he had even taken a few extra glances, not realizing it was West's.

West could afford a sports car over thirty years ago, appearing to be quite the well-off old man.

"Wait!"

As Link hesitated whether to accept it or not, Mario rushed in from the side and grabbed the car keys from Link's hand, checked the logo, and pointed at the sports car by the street, asking, "West, don't tell me it's that one."

"Yes, I just drove it over!"

West snatched the keys back and stuffed them into Link's hand, not allowing him to refuse.

"Are you serious? That's an antique, worth over two hundred thousand, and you're letting Link drive it?"

Mario exclaimed in surprise.

"It's not about letting Link drive it; I'm giving it to him. I don't use it anyway, and it's just sitting there, having Link drive it would at least make it useful,"

"Giving it to Link!?"

Mario yelled in surprise, looking at West incredulously, his lips trembling, "Last time I saw it, you wouldn't even let me touch it, and now you're giving the whole car to Link? Just giving it away?"

West nodded and told Link, "Don't refuse it. It's just an old car, not worth much. I'll have someone complete the transfer paperwork later."

"Link, you're not really taking it, are you?"

Mario looked at Link with envy.

Link smiled lightly, pocketed the keys, and thanked West. He had a coaching contract with West, and as his future professional boxing career progressed, winning prize money, West would receive a share that would definitely be worth more than a few hundred thousand.

A two hundred thousand-dollar car, since West was willing to give it, he saw no reason not to accept.

"Ha ha, Link, that's right, come to my office. I have some very, very great news for you, and you'll definitely be excited to hear it."

West said, laughing cheerfully as they walked.

Happy events energized West, his face aglow, looking much healthier than a few days ago.

Mario watched their figures, grabbed Reggie by the shoulders, and shook him saying, "Can you believe it? West gave his cherished antique car to Link. That stingy man, actually giving a sports car to Link, has he gone mad?"

Reggie shrugged, "That's quite normal. People used to mock Coach West, saying he'd been teaching boxing for nearly thirty years, trained hundreds of boxers, but never produced a champion or a boxing king. Now, with Link winning the Golden Gloves Championship and bringing honor to the gym and West, it's normal for West to reward Link with a car."

"But Link is just a championship winner, not a world champion or world boxing king, and he gets a sports car? That's too much," Mario gritted his teeth.

"Just a championship winner? Why don't you try to win one yourself?"

Reggie chuckled, then returned to the training area to continue his strength training.

"Alright, I'll also win a championship and see what West rewards me with."

Mario clenched his fists and said fiercely.

——

After the afternoon training, Link drove the Pontiac GTO sports car back to the diving shop.

James, along with Daniel from the hot dog shop, Michael from the surfboard shop, and Sarez from the Mexican barbecue shop, were sitting under the sun umbrella playing poker.

Seeing a cool-looking sports car approaching, James immediately put down his cards and cheerfully called out, "Sir, what can I do for you? We have the best in our shop... Link? Is that you? How come you're back in a sports car? Whose car is this?"

"Mine!"

Link pushed open the car door and stepped out.

"Your car? Where did you get a sports car?"

Upon hearing it was his car, Daniel, Michael, and Sarez also dropped their cards and ran over to take a look and touch it, continuously expressing their amazement.

The Pontiac GTO is a model from the 70s, classic and broad in design, with muscular lines. It was not mass-produced at the time, with only about 300,000 units made, and it was discontinued for over twenty years until it was relaunched in 2004.

Compared to current sports cars, it might be less powerful, but its cool look and vintage feel make it one of the favorites among car collectors.

"Link, you still haven't answered my question."

James turned his head and looked back at Link, who was sitting in a beach chair drinking soda.

"Of course, I bought it!"

"Where did you get the money for a sports car? Oh right, you got \\$100,000 from your boxing match winnings. Did you buy it with that money? If I knew boxing was so lucrative, I would have trained in it too."

Daniel, touching the sports car, drooled with envy.

"Link, you spent the hard-earned prize money on a sports car? That's not a good deal. You should have saved up for an apartment first; once you have the apartment, then get a car, and besides, a sports car is not as practical as a family sedan."

James frowned deeply, clearly disapproving.

Link just smiled and didn't argue, and Daniel wanted to test the car. Link handed the keys to the four of them and went back inside to continue his fitness training and work out.

Just then at West's place, he had received a new mission — the Olympic Games.

Boxing has always been one of the major events at the Olympics since its introduction in the 1904 third edition, except for the 5th, 6th, 12th, and 13th editions when it wasn't held for various reasons. The sport has been included in all other editions of the Games.

Like other events, Boxing at the Olympics goes through a series of pre-games qualifying competitions. There are first and second-round qualifiers where athletes compete to earn spots for the Olympic Games.

For this year's Han Jing Olympic Games, Boxing is allocated 284 slots, with the host nation getting 9, Africa 60, Asia 53, Europe 91, the Americas 60, and Oceania 11.

There are 5-12 weight divisions in the boxing competition, with the Han Jing Olympic Games featuring ten divisions: 48, 51, 57, 60, 67, 71, 75, 81, 91, and over 91 kilograms.

The Americas have 60 slots: super heavyweight (over 91 kg) 3 spots, heavyweight (81-91 kg) 3 spots, and each other division 6 spots.

The first round of qualifiers, which was last November's World Boxing Championships, saw 32 boxers from the Americas region securing spots in advance for the Olympics.

The second round of qualifiers will be held from July 2-7 in Havana, Cuba, with over 30 countries and regions from the Americas, all weight divisions, competing for the remaining 28 slots. There are still 2 slots left in the middleweight division for the Americas region.

According to the regulations, before participating in the second round of qualifiers, one needs to compete in the Olympic selection trials in March this year, and only the top performers qualify for the next round.

Link hadn't come at that time and hadn't participated in the trials.

But his outstanding performance in the Golden Gloves Tournament led to the Sports Commission and the Amateur Boxing Association deciding after discussion to give him a reserve spot.

In half a month, he would join the American boxing team in Havana to compete in the qualifiers and fight for the remaining Olympic spots.

When Link received the committee's notice, he hesitated and struggled internally about whether to represent America at the Han Jing Olympics.

The struggle ended with a decision to go!

Participating in the Olympics was a long-held dream in his past life and a significant regret.

A major reason he had trained in boxing with Coach Liu was the prospect of representing his country in sports events and winning honors for his nation.

In amateur competitions, he fought fiercely and ceaselessly, hoping to achieve good results and catch the attention of the provincial team.

However, during a match against a physically weak but highly offensive competitor who had connections, he accidentally killed the man. He ended up imprisoned and later sank into illegal underground boxing matches, drifting further from his dream.

Now, having a chance to rectify past regrets in this life, missing it would be too pitiful.

Furthermore, the Olympic Games are the most well-known and largest sports events in the world.

Winning a gold medal at the Olympics would not only bring honor but also an opportunity to promote and publicize oneself, making oneself known to more people.

With the halo of being an Olympic champion, entering the professional boxing ring later would likely be smoother.

For instance, boxing champions like Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Lennox Lewis, Vladimir Klitschko, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Mayweather had all participated in the Olympics and won gold before turning professional.

As for competing against his homeland for a gold medal, he wasn't worried, as in that year, the national team had performed poorly in the middleweight division, and no one entered the final round, allowing him to fight freely.

After deciding to participate in the Olympic qualifiers, Link doubled his efforts in training.

He aimed to elevate his strength, speed, technique, and reaction skills to a whole new level before the Olympic qualifiers approached.

Bang, bang, bang!
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