Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion-Chapter 855 - 614: World Championship Begins

Before Link returned to Beijing, he had informed Zhang Zilin of his itinerary. So, when he stepped out of the airport, Zhang Zilin picked him up at the entrance in her mom's car.

Upon meeting, Link didn't say much but embraced the girl and gave her a passionate French kiss, leaving her breathless.

"Why are you like this every time, like a pervert?"

In the car, Zhang Zilin straightened the skirt that he had mussed up and gave him a cold look.

"I've missed you, and you look very tempting."

Link said while looking at the girl.

Zhang Zilin had obviously dressed up before coming out, wearing a light purple strap dress, exposing her fair, smooth shoulders and collarbones, with slender and long arms. Her bust line was not as plump and prominent as Dadalio's, but was modest and matched her tall, slim figure well.

Beneath the knee-length dress, her fair and plump calves were crossed, with light blue veins slightly visible at her knees.

The girl liked the Japanese brand Issey Miyake's perfume, wafting a light litchi and lemon fragrance, giving off a fresh and elegant vibe.

"Don't mess around anymore, or next time I'll tie your hands first."

Zhang Zilin said pretending to be annoyed.

"Alright, I'll be careful next time."

The car slowly started to move. Zhang Zilin hadn't had her driver's license for two years, and her driving skills were average. She stared nervously ahead, never driving over 60 mph.

Link wanted to take over driving but realized he didn't have a license yet, needing to find time to test for it.

"How's it going at the training class, have you mastered the catwalk?"

Link asked.

"Catwalk is quite hard, I'm talking about the European and American models' catwalk. You need to know how to sway hips, walk like a cat, and carry that cool and self-centered attitude. My coach said I only know how to walk forward and I lack any presence."

Zhang Zilin said while driving.

"European and American models are different from Huaxia models. Some are busty and voluptuous, some are skin and bones. You are different from them; imitating them is useless. You might as well start with your own style and slowly adjust. Over time, you'll develop your own style and presence."

"You seem to know a lot about foreign models."

Zhang Zilin turned her head towards him, "Do you often read foreign fashion magazines? I heard many guys collect a lot of such magazines."

"I've read some, but don't collect them. Watch the road, don't crash!"

Link cautioned.

Zhang Zilin got startled, tightly holding the steering wheel, carefully maintaining the car distance.

"Has anyone bullied you in the training class, or taken advantage of you? Tell me if they have; as your boyfriend, it's my responsibility to protect you."

Link said leaning against the window.

"No, my father, my grandfather, and my uncle are all in the military, and I'm from a military family. I also practiced military boxing when I was young, no one dares bully me unless they want trouble."

"Sounds quite intimidating."

Link nodded.

After reaching the city, the two had seafood at Xi Dan Restaurant, shopped at Wangfujing Department Store, watched a movie, and when they parted at dusk, they shared a hot kiss, messing up the girl's skirt.

Link proposed moving out to live elsewhere and asked her if she wanted to join him. Zhang Zilin blushed and said she hadn't decided yet.

Link didn't press her. After sending the girl home, he took the subway to the Sports Center to continue boxing training.

The Sports Center, near Shichahai Park and compared to the Sports University training field, had more complete boxing facilities, various training equipment, and coach Zhao Liwei even arranged two sparring partners for him.

The Sports Center also had a small cafeteria and dormitory, with decent living conditions.

After training in the Sports Center for about ten days, Link and coach Zhao Liwei, along with other boxers participating in the World Boxing Championships, flew to Bangkok, Thailand, including Zhang Xiaoping and Zou Shiming.

The 12th World Boxing Championship was held in Bangkok, Thailand. This time, participants from 127 countries and regions competed, with a total of 455 male boxers and 372 female boxers fighting for championships in ten weight classes.

In the 69 kg category, there were 67 participants, with the competition divided into four rounds.

In the first round of the preliminaries, 59 people were eliminated, leaving only 8 to advance to the quarterfinals.

In the second round of quarterfinals, 8 people fought head-to-head, deciding the top 4.

The third and fourth rounds determined the top three.

Each match in the World Championship consisted of four rounds, two minutes per round, with a one-minute rest in between.

In the first round, Link fought three matches, respectively against Japan's Shigeo Shibata, India's Cheh Rekha, and Mexico's Jesus Angel.

He won all three matches by substantial margins.

In the second round of quarterfinals, his opponent was Marlon Carreo from the Philippines Team. The opponent was 24 years old this year, 178 cm tall, with an arm span of 185 cm, an amateur record of 13 matches, 11 wins and 2 losses, including two knockouts. His punches had decent destructive power.

There was limited information about the other data, and Link couldn't learn too much before the match.

At the start of the match, Link adopted a defensive stance, while his opponent didn't hesitate to launch a powerful attack with both fists, matching Link's speed.

However, his boxing skills and Combination Punches usage were quite average, with many flaws in his attack sequences.

And for Link, his punches weren't too heavy.

In the first round, Link mainly focused on defense, continuously dodging and using the Shake and Flash techniques to avoid his opponent's punches, rendering all attacks ineffective.

Whenever the opponent's attacks missed, Link would take the opportunity to counterattack defensively.

Bang!

Taking advantage of the opponent's offensive interruption and defensive vulnerabilities, Link's right fist fiercely struck his opponent's abdomen. As the opponent's attention shifted downward, Link followed up with a punch to his opponent's face, causing him to stagger and retreat three steps into the ropes before stabilizing.

"Good, beautifully done."

"Link, keep fighting like this!"

Below the ring, Coach Zhao Liwei shouted excitedly.

"Link is really good, very well-rounded. I heard he's only 18 this year?"

Coach Zhang Chuanliang of the 48kg category stroked his chin and said.

"Yes, to have such great technique at 18, Link is a genius, he's born to be a boxer."

Coach Zhao Liwei said.

"Teacher Zhao, how did he train his technique? His footwork is very agile, he hardly ever gets cornered on the ring, and his defense is super impressive. The opponent threw over a hundred punches, and not one hit his face, that's amazing."

Zou Shiming sat next to Coach Zhang Chuanliang, looking at Link on the ring with admiration. At the national boxing championship in June, he had heard of the 69kg champion Link but hadn't paid much attention and didn't expect Link to be a formidable fellow boxer.

Now, seeing Link's fight, he realized that Link was extremely formidable, his boxing skills were not inferior to those professional boxers in the videos.

Hearing that Link was only 18, four years younger than himself, he admired Link even more.

"Haha, Link likes to watch videos of boxers, he trains following the videos. Of course, I also give him pointers sometimes. Link has great aptitude; he gets many things with just a little guidance from me," Coach Zhao Liwei laughed as he said.

"Link learned boxing from you? Teacher Zhao, you're really impressive," Zou Shiming said admiringly.

Coach Zhao Liwei slightly twisted his mouth and continued watching the game.

The first round ended, the Philippines boxer Marlon Carillo threw more than a hundred punches, 0 hits to Link's head, and three effective hits to Link's abdomen and shoulders.

Link threw 43 punches, 2 hitting the opponent's head, and 6 hitting the opponent's abdomen.

Link was leading by 6 points on the score.

The weather in Thailand's summer is quite humid and hot, and after one round, both sides were sweating profusely, with the Philippines boxer sweating more visibly, his hair almost soaked. From this aspect, the opponent's consumption was greater than Link's.

At the start of the second round, the opponent became more conservative, actively distancing himself from Link to avoid being hit.

Link didn't want to drag on with the opponent, he approached aggressively and switched to attack mode, his fists alternately striking, swinging upward and downward, Jab and Swing Punches in rotation.

Because of his fast speed and heavy fists, initially the opponent could still defend, but later on, with poor defense and wide open, Link's heavy punches broke through the opponent's defense, hitting his face and chin consecutively.

Bang!

At the 56th second of the second round, Link executed a swift Swing Punch from left to right, fiercely smashing onto the opponent's headgear. The opponent's head jerked to the right, his face skin rippled shockingly, and sweat from his hair and saliva from his mouth were flung out.

The opponent staggered a step and fell sideways onto the boxing ring.

"Good!"

"Awesome!"

Zou Shiming excitedly jumped up in cheers, and other boxers from Huaxia Team also excitedly clapped their hands.

Although there was headgear to reduce some of the impact of the punches, Link's punches were quite solid, and the opponent lay on the ground for six seconds before struggling to get up.

Link didn't give his opponent a chance to rest, continuing to stay close and aggressively attack, his fists alternating again breaking through the opponent's defense. At the 92nd second, he landed a Straight Punch on the opponent's forehead, causing him to fall again.

This time the opponent lay on the ground for 10 seconds without being able to get up.

Link won the match, smoothly progressing to the semifinals.

"This Huaxia boxer is quite interesting."

In the audience seats below the ring, top boxing promotion company's agent Sean Gibbons was looking at Link on the ring.

"He is indeed impressive, not only in power, speed, technique, but also tactically, and he has a good presence too. Since when did Huaxia produce such a formidable character?"

Dmitry Salita from the sports promotions company said in surprise.

"It's said that this boxer named Link is just 18 years old, having such technique and power at 18 is quite rare," said Frank Warren from Queensbury Boxing Promotion.

At that moment, not only these three agents and scouts noticed Link, but also people from Huaxia, Japan, and Britain's boxing and sports companies started focusing on Link.

The World Boxing Championships is also a place for scouting boxing talents, every championship, boxing promotion companies send agents or scouts to watch.

Because there are many matches, they don't have much time, usually coming to the venue only during the quarterfinals or semifinals.

In previous editions, they hadn't found any outstanding talents, but this year in the middleweight category, Link had emerged as a boxer catching everyone's eye.

"Are you going to talk to Link?"

Seeing few agents from different companies standing up and heading towards Link, Dmitry Salita speculated that they were likely intending to sign Link, a promising talent, ahead of time.

"Let's wait and see how he performs in the next match, hoping it's not just a sudden burst."

Sean Gibbons said unhurriedly.

As an agent from the world's largest boxing promotions company, Top Rank, he wasn't worried about Link getting snatched up; as long as Link's capabilities and potential were strong enough, even if someone else signed him first, they also had opportunities