CHAPTER 928: CHAPTER 651: CHALLENGER QUALIFICATIONS

Upon hearing the shouts, Jermain Taylor crossed his arms in front of him, constantly shifting positions, trying to defend against the rapid attacks with all his might.

Link didn’t care about Jermain’s defensive tactics. He closed in on Jermain’s strides, using lightning-fast combination punches. His fists relentlessly struck Jermain’s defensive arms, leaving Jermain no chance to fight back.

Bam!

When Jermain focused all his attention on protecting his head, Link seized the opportunity, delivering a fierce Liver Blow Punch to Jermain’s left rib, causing a muffled sound from his abdomen.

"Ah!!"

Jermain let out a miserable scream, gritting his teeth and glaring angrily at Link as he raised his fist to strike back.

Link ducked his head to dodge, stepped gracefully with Butterfly Steps, closing the distance between them once again. As Jermain swung his fist, Link unleashed a vicious Swing Punch from left to right, slamming into Jermain’s right arm. Jermain’s arm was knocked aside.

Bam! Link’s fist immediately followed through, landing solidly on Jermain’s cheek, as if striking a rubber punch target.

Jermain staggered, stepping back two paces, nearly falling. At the last moment, he hooked the ropes with his arm to stabilize himself.

"Jermain! Counterattack, counterattack! Don’t just stand there like a punching bag letting him hit you!"

"Jermain, use a heavy punch!"

"Jermain, hit hard!"

The fans in the audience, seeing Jermain on the verge of losing, shouted angrily.

Taking advantage of Jermain’s unstable footing, Link closed in and delivered three consecutive punches to Jermain’s body. Among them, a Hook Punch from below landed cleanly on Jermain’s chin, forcing his head to fling upward, sending spit and sweat flying from his scalp.

Bam!

Under the watchful eyes of many fans, Jermain collapsed onto the ground.

"Stop!"

The referee ran over to block Link and asked Jermain if he could continue the fight.

Jermain clenched his teeth, stood up, and glared at Link with even greater rage, as if he wanted to devour him.

After the referee announced the match to resume, Jermain roared and unleashed all his muscle power, charging at Link.

With the first round near its end, Link showed no intention of retreating, ducking to dodge Jermain’s punch and countering with a strike of his own. Jermain twisted to evade it.

Link swiftly followed up, targeting Jermain’s left rib with his punch. Jermain quickly dropped his left arm to block, but just at that moment, Link’s right fist came out of nowhere, smashing upwards toward Jermain’s chin. Jermain saw the incoming punch and tried to dodge.

Unfortunately, he was too slow.

Link’s Right Upper Hook Punch landed seamlessly on Jermain’s jaw.

Crack!

A crisp sound echoed from Jermain’s chin, with his facial skin quivering. His head, neck, and shoulders followed suit, toppling backward like a felled tree.

Bam!

Jermain Taylor’s body slammed heavily onto the boxing ring.

"Stop!"

The referee stopped the match once again, crouching beside Jermain to count to ten.

"Jermain, get up!"

"Jermain, there are only 20 seconds left in the first round!"

"Jermain, keep fighting!"

The audience shouted at Jermain.

Link smiled at the fans under the ring.

"10, 9, 8, 7..."

When the count reached six, Jermain lay sideways on the boxing ring, shaking his head. A streak of red liquid dripped from the corner of his mouth, making him look pitiful.

As the count reached three, Jermain slowly stood up under the encouragement of many fans. When everyone thought the match would continue, Jermain’s knees buckled, and he fell back to the ground.

The referee stood up, crossed his arms, and declared the match over.

Link won the match again, earning the challenger qualification for the Boxing King title.

The match lasted only 143 seconds, even shorter than the previous one.

"F***! Damn Link!"

"Jermain is such a wimp!"

Some of Jermain’s fans shouted obscenities.

However, these shouts were a minority. Most of the audience gave thunderous applause as Link raised his arms.

Regardless of Link’s race, skin color, or negative rumors about him, he had conquered the audience with his superb techniques, powerful punches, and brilliant performance in this match.

"Haha, Link, well done! You’ve created another miracle!"

Bob Arum clapped as he spoke.

"Thank you!"

Link wiped the sweat off his body.

"Hey Link, you fought excellently. I’ve got my eye on you!"

The burly African-American Tyson walked over and shouted at Link.

"Thank you, Mr. Tyson. You’re the GOAT in boxing!"

GOAT in American slang means Greatest Of All Time.

Tyson laughed heartily, returning a few compliments to Link.

After the match, Link participated in several promotional events in Las Vegas before returning to the Bay Villa in Los Angeles to rest.

This match earned him a prize of $4.2 million, with a $200,000 appearance fee, and the rest being revenue from PPV and ticket sales. The broadcast sold 870,000 copies in the North American region, a respectable figure for a secondary match.

Additionally, he profited over $3 million from casino bets. After deducting 20% income tax, he was left with about $2.5 million.

Altogether, this trip to the United States earned him a total of $6.8 million.

Even more significant than the money was the boost in his reputation in the Western boxing ring, with an increasing number of people knowing his name. At the fan meetup in Las Vegas, over a thousand fans attended.

"Hey, Mr. Lin, I heard you were training here before, but I didn’t think it was true."

At the Muscle Beach training ground, Link was practicing on a pear-shaped ball when Hoyle strolled over with his hands in his pockets.

"Yes, Mr. Hoyle. Are you training here as well?"

Link stopped to ask.

"Haha, you might not believe it, but I’m the owner of this training gym."

Hoyle shrugged with a smile.

"Really? Quite the coincidence!"

Link replied.

Hoyle smirked, originally expecting some surprise from Link, but instead got an unusually calm response from him.

"Mr. Lin, your boxing skills are impressive. Hey, do you think you could knock me out in one round if we fought?"

Hoyle asked.

"Shouldn’t be much of a problem."

Hoyle’s lips twitched; this guy was far too unhumble. Talking to him might just infuriate someone.

"Mr. Hoyle, I’ve watched your fight videos. Your jab and combination punches are well-practiced. Got time for a sparring session in the ring?"

Link asked.

"Not today. I’m wearing a suit, so it’s inconvenient. Perhaps next time."

Hoyle waved dismissively, greeted Link, and walked away.

Link continued training on the pear-shaped ball.

Hoyle looked at him from afar, then took out his phone to call Hopkins, asking what he was up to.

Hopkins replied, asking why Hoyle was asking.

Hoyle mentioned that Link was now training at the Muscle Beach gym—six hours daily for several consecutive days. He was working incredibly hard and asked Hopkins if he had any confidence in beating him.

Hopkins responded confidently, claiming that although Link was formidable, he was no slouch. He promised he would end Link’s winning streak and ensure Link walked away empty-handed.

Hoyle shook his head. Before meeting Link, he had also been confident in Hopkins’ abilities; after seeing Link, all that confidence evaporated. Link was like a towering mountain, his aura unmatched by anyone currently in the boxing ring.

Hoyle advised Hopkins to train more diligently and be cautious not to get knocked out in the first round.

Hopkins retorted that it was absolutely impossible.

Hoyle hung up the phone, glanced at Link one more time, hesitated briefly, and walked into his private training gym to start his own workout.

Bam, bam, bam!

After finishing his obligations post-qualification matches, Link boarded a plane back to the Capital City for some rest. Meanwhile, news of him defeating the North American Boxing King Jermain Taylor and becoming the mandatory challenger for the Middleweight Golden Belt spread back to his home country.

Fans back home cheered and rejoiced, feeling proud of his achievements.

Word spread about his $4 million prize money from the match. Hearing this inspired many domestic boxers to train even harder in their boxing pursuits.

"Link, the news says you earned $5 million from a match. Is that true?"

At the boxing training gym, Zhang Xiaoping and Zhang Zhilei asked.

"Not quite. After taxes in the United States, there’s not much left."

Link replied.

"That’s still a lot! 143 seconds and $5 million—35 million RMB—that’s incredible."

The group remarked enviously.

After expressing their envy, they returned to their training stations and practiced even harder, with increased diligence.

Link also returned to his routine training.

After his return, good news came from France as well—Director Wang Xiaoshuai’s film *Qing Hong* earned the Jury Prize at Cannes, second only to the Palme d’Or and Jury Grand Prize.

Link called Director Wang Xiaoshuai to congratulate him. Wang Xiaoshuai expressed regret that Link hadn’t attended Cannes, claiming that many foreign directors and actresses became curious and immediately asked about him upon seeing him, commenting on his handsomeness and impressive performances.

Link couldn’t tell if Wang Xiaoshuai was joking and replied that there would be other opportunities in the future.

Wang Xiaoshuai said that he was preparing for the film’s domestic release and hoped Link could attend the premiere.

Link agreed.