Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion-Chapter 844 - 608: Vying for Favor_2

In Huaxia, the main purpose of a boxer's existence differs; it's to help their collective win honor. A boxer who wins an Olympic gold medal representing their nation holds unquestionably higher social status and influence domestically than a boxer who has won world championships from any of the four major organizations.

This is the difference between Xiong Chaozhong and Zou Shiming, both of whom are world champions in lower weight classes, yet Zou Shiming is known by tens of times more people than Xiong Chaozhong.

In terms of earnings as well, Olympic champions make more money through endorsements and advertising.

If Link didn't compete in amateur tournaments and went straight into professional boxing, he could ignore the national team and join a fight club directly, then participate in overseas professional fights, working his way up to become a champion of one of the four major organizations.

However, Link's career plan is to first fight in amateur competitions, represent the country in world championships and the Olympics, and win honor for his country.

After making a name for himself domestically, he would then switch to professional boxing to vie for the four organizations' Golden Belts.

Compared to the first plan, the second is slower, but it comes with more benefits.

Firstly, as a Chinese, striving for glory for one's country is an ideal for everyone. Now that he possesses the capability and opportunity, he cannot let it slip by.

Secondly, representing the country at the Olympics, during which all national media will help with promotion, is extremely beneficial for enhancing one's fame and social status, and fame comes at a faster speed.

The last point is that currently, boxing is very niche in the domestic arena, with neither the right environment nor the market, which is not conducive to the development of professional boxers.

Competing for the national team first and letting the national media help with promotion to become a boxing star also raises the profile of the sport and expands the market.

In the future, when entering the professional boxing ring, this fame can also translate into wealth and even government position.

So, although the second career plan is slower, it has more benefits.

"Who are you?"

Link sized up the man, who appeared to be in his thirties or forties, not very tall or particularly strong, wearing a square-necked shirt and holding a black briefcase, presenting himself with a refined, albeit ordinary, appearance.

The only notable feature was his thick, dark eyebrows, which seemed as if they were drawn on with charcoal.

The eyes beneath those eyebrows were also bright. This type of facial feature is highly regarded in traditional Huaxia culture – thick eyebrows and big eyes.

"Haha, hello Link, my name is Zhao Liwei, I'm a coach for the boxing team at Kyoto City's Sports Center. Your boxing skills are quite impressive. If you participate in this year's boxing championship, you'll surely achieve a good rank. I assure you here, if you can win the 69kg rank championship, I will help you join the national boxing team, how does that sound?"

Zhao Liwei pushed past a few colleagues, walked up to Link, and enthusiastically shook his hand.

Coaches like Chen Zutao were momentarily stunned by his words. It wasn't about directly joining the national team, but rather waiting for Link to win the championship before helping him join.

According to this, it wasn't just Zhao Liwei who could do it; many people present had the ability.

Because according to the national team's rules, those who perform well at the national boxing championships have a great chance of being recruited into the national team, so they didn't need Zhao Liwei's help at all.

This guy must think Link doesn't know the ropes and is here to trick him.

"Link, I can also help you join the national team, and you don't need to win the championship; ranking within the top three in the 69kg category is enough."

A few coaches shouted unwillingly to give up.

Zhao Liwei was irked by these remarks, he glared at them and said laughingly to Link, "Don't listen to their random shouts. Some of them are from fight clubs, some from sports schools; they're not in the official system. We from the City Sports Center have an established rank, affiliated with the national team. Joining the City Sports Center's boxing team is equivalent to joining the national team's reserve squad, which is something they definitely can't match."

"That sounds quite good indeed."

Link thought it over and decided to cooperate with the other party for a while. If the cooperation went well, he would consider joining the Sports Center. During this period, the other party could also get to know him better, making it a mutual evaluation process.

The time limit is from now until the end of the National Boxing Championship.

If I don't perform well at the championship, the other party will also have the chance to back out.

"Haha, Link, that's a great idea, but with your boxing skills, you'll definitely get a good ranking at the championship, I have faith in you."

Coach Zhao Liwei enthusiastically patted Link on the shoulder, glanced at a few colleagues, chuckled, and couldn't help but reveal a smug smile.

"Hmph! Zhao, you're just lucky."

"Teacher Zhao, congrats on finding a good talent."

"Link, when you have time, come visit the Dragon Fight Club, our facilities are better than the Athletic Center."

The coaches who didn't snag him didn't persist, and went back to their seats to continue watching the matches on the boxing ring.

I originally thought today's matches were not bad, with a few boxers performing quite well, but after seeing Link's match and fighting style, I realized that those I had my eye on were just so-so compared to Link—they were far worse.

It's a pity that Link was snatched away by that cunning guy, Zhao.

"Teacher Zhao, about the 3,000 Yuan subsidy you mentioned earlier, is that for real?"

Link asked.

"Of course it's real, but I can only apply for it after you join the Athletic Center."

Coach Zhao Liwei said with a smile.

"Teacher Zhao, here's the thing, I'm having some financial difficulties right now, could you advance me a few thousand? I hear there's prize money for the championship, and I could pay you back once I win."

"Sure! Hehe, actually, you don't need to win the championship, you're still young. It would be great to place in the top three for your first time in the championship. After participating, we'll train for another two years, aiming to win the championship next time."

Coach Zhao Liwei said.

Link nodded, not saying much more.

The preliminary selection competition held by the school quickly finished, with one or two boxers from each rank chosen to participate in the Kyoto City regional selection, and the winners would represent Kyoto City at the National Boxing Championship in Ximei, West River.

The second round of selections is a lot more challenging than the first.

The first round competitors were mainly boxing enthusiasts from the boxing associations of various universities around the sports university, including Beijing University, Tsinghua, University of Science and Technology, Agricultural University, Renmin University, Jiaotong University, and others.

The boxers participating in the second round were more diverse, some from the military region, some from the police force, and some from various fight clubs.

These people were generally older, mostly over twenty, some over thirty.

Their boxing skills might be average, but they were not too bad in terms of strength, speed, and willpower, making them quite troublesome to fight against. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

Link had to put in quite a bit of effort to beat several opponents and secure his qualification for the National Championship.

Owing to his exquisite technique in the matches, winning every bout with a substantial margin and often winning by KO, he rapidly built a reputation in the Kyoto boxing circle, and many who practiced boxing learned of a master boxer named Link from the Kyoto Sports University.

Additionally, Link gained some boxing fans, like number 7-011, Zhang Wenlong, who would enthusiastically call him 'Brother Ke' every time they met and wanted to take him as a master to learn boxing.

Link didn't agree; he might have considered it in the past, but not now.