Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion

As he prepared for the match, Taylor's second album "Fearless" also began to hit the shelves.

In its first week, it sold 650,000 copies and topped the Billboard 200, becoming a smash hit.

On the streets, in supermarkets, or on radio and television, you could hear songs from "Fearless", including "The Way I Loved You," "You Belong With Me," "Love Story," and the addition of "Dream It Possible."

After its release, six songs from the album made it into the top ten of the Billboard singles chart, with "Dream It Possible" debuting at number one, making it Taylor's first chart-topping single.

With album sales booming, Taylor was incredibly busy, often flying out to do promotions, signings, concerts, and other preparations.

Usually, Link could only contact her by phone, and sometimes, before they could talk much, Taylor had to get back to work.

Link couldn't help but think of a famous saying, "It's hard to be a famous woman, but it's even harder to be the boyfriend of a famous woman."

He continued his training in the boxing gym.

From the end of the Olympics to December, three months of strength and speed training increased the power of his right punch to 1600 pounds, his left to 1420 pounds, and slightly improved his body's reaction ability.

However, according to Dino's gossip, Tyson had also been undergoing intense training in recent months, restoring his punch power to over 1600 pounds, and his condition was no worse than before 2003. He warned Link to be careful.

Naturally, Link wasn't careless.

Tyson was a veteran champion, a spokesperson for the boxing sport; in the competitive boxing world of the eighties and nineties, he had reached an extremely high level with his strength, speed, technique, tactics, and boxing consciousness.

Even though he was older, he was still a robust and fierce elder beast, not to mention that his opponent was more than 60 pounds heavier than him.

To prepare for the fight with Tyson, Link set aside all his work, even delaying the promotion of his own singles, focusing entirely on his closed-door training.

On December 15th, the match between Link and Tyson took place at Thomp Entertainment City in Atlantic City.

Before the match, Thomp Entertainment heavily promoted the event, from advertisements to newspapers to Times Square's giant screens.

Thomp Entertainment proclaimed the match as a 'world-class battle,' after Holyfield VS Valuev, Pacquiao VS De La Hoya, the third 'unequal match' of 2008.

The 'inequality' refers to the weight difference, with Tyson being more than 60 pounds heavier than Link, Valuev being 100 pounds heavier than Holyfield, and De La Hoya, a Welterweight, was 5 pounds heavier than Pacquiao, who had just moved up.

But in terms of overall impact, the bout between De La Hoya and Pacquiao garnered more attention; it took place on December 7th in Las Vegas, and after 8 rounds, Pacquiao defeated De La Hoya by TKO.

The prize money for that fight reached 100 million US Dollars, with Pacquiao taking home 65 million and Hoyle 35 million, surpassing the previous record of 65 million USD set by Tyson and Holyfield in 1997, making it the highest-paid boxing match to date.

Link and Tyson's 10 million was much less in comparison.

However, in terms of influence, Link and Tyson weren't far behind the other two fighters.

Tyson was a past legend of boxing and an ambassador of the sport, while Link was an Olympic champion and a boxing star in the top ten of the current boxing world's popularity rankings.

Any match involving either of them would be eagerly anticipated by boxing fans, let alone a match against each other.

The fans wanted to see how much Tyson had left after retiring for three years and whether he could continue to compete in the boxing world.

They also wanted to see how the Super Middleweight dominator Link would perform against a Heavyweight boxer who was more than 60 pounds heavier; how many rounds could he last?

The Chicago Tribune listed in detail the strengths and weaknesses of both Link and Tyson.

For example, Link excels in speed, stamina, and endurance.

Tyson surpasses in punch power, durability, and fighting experience.

Both are considered equal in terms of technique and tactics.

Finally, the conclusion was drawn that Link had a 45% chance of winning, while Tyson had a 55% chance, giving Tyson a slight advantage.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

In the betting companies of Atlantic City, the odds were 1:1.5 for Link's victory and 1:1.8 for Tyson's, suggesting that the companies believed Link had a slightly higher chance of winning, but not by much.

Because the match was so unpredictable, on the day of the fight, many people flew to Atlantic City, New Jersey, to watch the boxing match live.

Those who couldn't make it sat in front of their TVs, ready to watch the broadcast of the match.

——

Bang, bang, bang!

In the VIP resting room, Link, shirtless and wearing red shorts, his hands wrapped in bandages, kept punching the air as a way to warm up,

"Link, Tyson punches hard, and he's solid. In the first three rounds of the match, try not to go head-to-head with him; use your technique to wear down his stamina first."

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After three rounds, his offense will become impatient, and his flaws will be exposed. That's when you attack him with your fists.

Given his current condition, I estimate you can knock him out within six rounds to win the match,"

Coach Brooks explained at his side.

Link nodded, Coach Brooks had worked with Tyson for two years and knew Tyson's condition very well. With him in his corner giving advice, Link felt even more confident about the fight.

"Six rounds? Link, can you knock out Tyson in the sixth round?"

Dino asked, arms folded, leaning against the cabinet.

"Not sure. I'm confident I can defeat him, but as for which round and how, I can't tell you now."

"Alright! Then I'll blindly bet on the sixth round,"

Dino said after thinking it over.

Link continued his warm-up exercises. Outside, the pre-fight warm-up show was in full swing, with Thomp International having invited the Green Day Band, famous singer Ricky Martin, and soul singer Macy Gray and others to perform live.

After their performances, there was a Love Haus men's and women's underwear fashion show, a UFC women's lightweight fight, and finally, it was Link and Tyson's turn to enter the ring.

"Next up, please welcome the Olympic champion, the WBA Super Middleweight World Champion... Link Baker!!!"

Hearing the announcer's loud call, Link strode out of the tunnel entrance, a dazzling spotlight cast upon him, the crowd erupting into waves of applause and cheers. Link raised his arms and waved, striding up to the boxing ring.

He noticed that the seats around the boxing ring were mostly filled with men and women dressed lavishly - men in dark suits, ladies in evening gowns and furs, as if they were attending a banquet.

Among them were many familiar faces - Mr. Thomp, Murdoch, the governor of New Jersey, congressmen, the mayor of New York City, and other politicians.

There were also old boxing figures like old Duvall, Bob Arum, the WBA President Mendoza, Holyfield, De La Hoya, Riddick Bowe, and others.

"Hey, Link, go for it, I'm rooting for you."

From the front row seats, an elderly man in a suit shouted at him.

It was Director Woody Allen, surrounded by a few familiar faces, also directors from the entertainment industry.

Link waved his fist and strode up into the boxing ring.

As he climbed onto the stage, Tyson entered to the cheers of tens of thousands of spectators, with his shaved head, bulky physique, rippling muscles, and dark iron-like skin adorned with many tattoos, he appeared several sizes more robust than Link, very formidable.

The cheers grew even louder at Tyson's appearance, including from Director Woody Allen and many older individuals vigorously clapping as if watching Tyson fight was a matter of sentiment.

Under the boxing ring, Tyson waved his fists nonstop at the audience, looking extremely excited, and it was only at the referee's urging that he finally climbed through the ropes onto the stage.

"Hello, Mike, how are you feeling today?"

An HBO television reporter stopped Tyson at the edge of the ring to ask.

"Fantastic, I feel like I could kill a lion,"

Tyson, clenching his fists, yelled at Link in the ring, "Hey, Link, I'm going to knock you out in three rounds. Are you ready to lose?"

Link glanced at him, smirked, and said, "Mike, it's you who should be preparing. You've aged, and if you feel unwell during the match, it's better to throw in the towel early. Neither I nor anyone else wants to see you collapse in the boxing ring."

"Link, stop boasting, I'm going to show you just how big a gap there is between us,"

Tyson shouted, swinging his fists.

Link just smiled lightly and moved to a corner of the boxing ring to rest, where Coach Brooks whispered, "Tyson seems a bit overexcited; he's probably used some stimulants. Be careful during the match, his attacks will likely be very fierce in the first two rounds."

Link nodded.

Doping was a fairly common practice in professional sports.

For example, meldonium, a drug for treating heart conditions, can enhance blood flow, improve the body's oxygen uptake and endurance. It was once used on the battlefield to boost soldiers' combat effectiveness and is now taken by tennis, American football, and boxing athletes.

Link wasn't bothered by this. As a boxer, what excited him the most was facing a strong opponent in a match, outsmarting and defeating them by whatever means necessary.

The stronger the opponent, the harder the victory, and the greater the rewards. The likes of Andre Berto, Pitts, Aragon, and Gedel were examples.

Therefore, after entering the boxing world, he never feared meeting a strong opponent; he only feared having no opponents at all.

Tyson resorting to such means was even more to his liking.