CHAPTER 931: CHAPTER 653: JOINING THE CREW TO FILM

At that moment, Hopkins suddenly noticed a rush of wind by his ear, and in the corner of his vision, a red blur of a fist came crashing toward his head with an unexpected speed.

"Rear Hook Punch!"

Hopkins suddenly remembered Link’s signature move. Link had only used this technique once during the Olympic finals, knocking out Cuba Team’s champion seed, Aragon, with a single punch.

This punch had made many people recognize Link and understand the devastating power of his finishing move.

Hopkins was also aware of this technique but noted that it had rarely been used in his last dozen matches, almost causing him to forget it.

Seeing Link’s killer move coming, Hopkins had two options: evade quickly, though being too close might make it unavoidable, or trade punches, accepting mutual injury.

In less than 0.01 seconds of thought, Hopkins swung his fist, aiming directly at Link’s face.

Bang!

As Hopkins’ fist connected with Link’s face, Link’s fist simultaneously smashed into Hopkins’ cheekbone on the side.

The heavy impact of Link’s punch on Hopkins’ face felt like a shot put crashing into a sand dune.

Hopkins’ left cheek instantly caved downward, with the surrounding skin rippling in waves. His head and neck snapped violently to the right, sweat spraying from his face and scalp, and his mouthguard was ejected from his open mouth.

Hopkins staggered backward as if knocked away by the punch, his head followed by his upper body and then his lower body, stumbling to the right before collapsing onto the boxing ring with a heavy thud.

"Yes!"

"Hooray!"

As Hopkins fell, the crowd of tens of thousands in the audience surged to their feet, erupting in cheers.

Link, struck by Hopkins’ fist on the forehead, stumbled back two steps and bumped into the ropes but quickly steadied his footing.

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6..."

The referee knelt beside Hopkins to check his condition and began a ten-count.

By the count of 5, Hopkins braced the ground with both fists and tried to stand. However, his head, having endured the heavy blow, left his body unable to maintain balance. Just as he managed to get up, his steps involuntarily shifted to the right, hitting the ropes, and he staggered back down.

By the count of 8, Hopkins still couldn’t stand.

The referee announced the match was over, raising Link’s fist in the center of the boxing ring as the crowd cheered loudly, while colorful streamers rained down from above.

Amidst the roaring applause, the presidents or vice-presidents of the four major boxing organizations placed four middleweight Golden Belts on Link.

After just two years of joining the boxing circuit, Link had become the champion of all four major organizations, the first Asian dominator of professional boxing.

This match earned Link and the top promoters a combined revenue of $18.5 million USD. According to the initial agreement, any single-match revenue exceeding $10 million would be split 80-20.

Link’s final earnings for the match amounted to $14.8 million USD, while Hopkins, despite losing, still took home over $10 million USD including appearance fees and revenue shares after the event.

——

After the match, Link spent a few days in Tokyo with his assistant, Zhang Zilin, sightseeing and also conducting boxing promotional events and fan meet-and-greet sessions. On the 10th, they boarded a flight back to the Capital City.

The domestic media and audience reacted even more enthusiastically to him becoming the champion of the four organizations.

On match day, CCTV5 broadcasted the event live, inviting National Team head coach Zhang Chuanliang and Zou Shiming to provide live commentary.

Statistics afterward showed the match achieved a peak viewership rating of 31.86%. Though it couldn’t compare to the over 90% ratings of Spring Festival broadcasts, it ranked first among sports programs and was 5 percentage points higher than Link’s 5000-meter championship and Liu Xiang’s 110-meter hurdle victory from last August.

Even during the reruns in the following days, the ratings remained above 2%.

The match had such a huge impact that, upon returning home, Link held three successive press conferences and gave interviews to 16 media outlets, including CCTV Channel, "Huaxia Youth Daily," "Kyoto Evening News," "Huaxia Sports Daily," "Southern Weekend," and others.

Additionally, under the arrangement of the National Sports Bureau, Link hosted boxing workshops in Capital City, Shanghai, Chengdu, Xi’an, Guangzhou, Hong Kong Island, and Taiwan Island, sharing boxing knowledge and techniques.

It wasn’t until late July that Link finally had time to join the "Curse of the Golden Flower" film crew for shooting.

"Curse of the Golden Flower" was adapted from Cao Yu’s stage play "Thunderstorm," with the story set during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.

It depicts the Late Tang ruler returning from a campaign only to find subtle shifts in palace dynamics. The Queen engages in a scandalous affair with the Crown Prince, while the Crown Prince falls in love with a palace maid who might be his half-sister.

The King assigns the Imperial Physician to assassinate the Queen. To save his mother, the Queen’s son, the Second Prince, Yuan Ke, decides to wage a coup. Inevitably, the conflicts erupt into a catastrophic showdown, where everyone pays dearly in this brutal struggle for power.

Link plays Yuan Ke, a prince burdened with an Oedipus complex, blind filial piety, and a sense of helplessness.

Compared to his previous films, this role was relatively simple for Link.

"Actors in position, all units ready."

"Scene 31, Shot 1, action!"

On the set of "Curse of the Golden Flower," Zhang Yimou sat behind the monitor and called out.

On the scene, Zhou Runfa, clad in golden armor, walked in with his commanding officers.

"Son of the Emperor, greetings to Father King!"

Link, dressed in silver-gray armor, knelt on one knee and saluted with clasped fists, his gaze flickering with a mysterious expression.

Zhou Runfa passed him with his entourage, settling onto his chair with the assistance of his generals, his face impassive as he looked at Link.

Link’s expression returned to calm, though his body remained motionless, gradually showing a trace of tension.

"Good, good!"

Behind the monitor, Director Zhang watched the footage from the camera and nodded in satisfaction.