Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion-Chapter 737 - 534 Heavyweight Match

"After the release of 'Rust and Bone', Link wasn't just idling around in the office teasing Ivanka. His match with James Toney was about to begin, and he had spent most of his time immersed in the boxing gym, training hard to improve his own strength.

His opponent this round, James Toney, is a very capable Heavyweight Boxing Champion, standing at 178 cm with a reach of 183 cm, and currently weighing 250 pounds, over 60 pounds heavier than Link.

James started his career in 1988, and his current professional record stands at 87 wins and 8 losses, making him a very experienced veteran Boxer.

His most glorious professional record was 46 fights, 44 wins, and 2 draws, with no losses in 46 matches, almost breaking the 'curse' of the boxing ring—no one in professional boxing has ever won more than 50 consecutive matches.

But in 1994, James Toney faced his first defeat against Roy Jones.

He started his career in the Middleweight division and slowly moved up to Heavyweight, successively winning multiple boxing championships, including IBF Middleweight Champion, IBF Super Middleweight Champion, WBU Light Heavyweight Champion, IBO-IBF Cruiserweight Champion, and WBA Heavyweight Champion.

He defeated Holyfield in 2003, earning the WBA Heavyweight Golden Belt.

James Toney is also a Heavy Hitter, with a KO rate over 65%, and is nicknamed 'Lights Out'.

In recent years, due to his age, his overall strength has declined, but he is still a very formidable opponent.

This competition is being held in the Ford Sports Complex in Detroit, United States. Before the match, Dynasty Promotion and James Toney's Don King Promotion did extensive publicity in the media, marketing this match as a sensational battle.

Because Link had declared last year his intention to claim all the Golden Belts in the Heavyweight division and rule it as the king.

In the promos, the media dubbed Link as 'The Conqueror' and James Toney as 'The Gatekeeper'. If Link wants to conquer the Heavyweight division, he has to first defeat James Toney, the gatekeeper.

For this, HBO even specially produced a short film for the match, featuring Link on a tall horse, dressed in impressive armor, leading a group of soldiers ready to attack, and James Toney also in armor, with a group of muscular soldiers ready to block him.

Link drew his sword on horseback, ordering the attack, and James Toney also called his soldiers to defend.

The battle was about to erupt.

The short film lasts 120 seconds, with a production cost of 500,000 US Dollars. The scenes and costume prop designs are lavish, and the cinematography is rich, depicting Roman legions encountering Spartan warriors on the battlefield. After its release, it received good responses, garnering 220 million views on YouTube within a week.

Through this short film, the match between Link and James Toney became widely known worldwide.

'All this flashy stuff, the most important thing in a boxing match is still winning it, Link, I feel you might lose this time.'

In the Muscle Beach Boxing Gym, De La Hoya came over with a tablet in hand.

'Just like the last time we fought, you thought you would win.'

'Hmph, this is different, James Toney is 60 pounds heavier than you, has more experience than you, has stronger resistance to punches, and his punching power is no less lethal. This time you might not win.'

Hoyle's face turned ugly upon hearing him bring up the previous defeat.

'Just you wait and see.'

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Link continued punching the heavy bag, his arm's sweat also vibrated from his skin with each strike, after practicing for more than three hours, he had also sweat a lot.

'This guy is becoming more arrogant.'

Hoyle muttered.

'Heh, Link has the strength to be arrogant. If you had 31 wins, 31 KOs in 31 fights, and received over 50 million US Dollars per match, you would definitely be more arrogant than Link.'

Morales said grinningly.

Hoyle glanced at him, 'I'm your boss, you better watch how you talk to me, or I'll dock your pay.'

'I'm making money for you, getting you villas, sports cars, and hooking up girls. You're the one who should be careful.'

Morales laughed.

'Hmph, I say Link might lose to James Toney this match. Do you dare to bet?'

'Sure, how much? How about a million US Dollars?'

Morales asked excitedly.

'Why bet so much, I know you don't have much money, nor do I want to win yours, so how about 10 US Dollars?'

'10 US Dollars?'

Morales rolled his eyes, as a millionaire, the smallest denomination in his wallet was 50 US Dollars, betting 10 dollars didn't seem worthwhile.

'So you also know that Link is better than James Toney, right? Then why come over to disturb him? Deliberately interfering with his training? How much did James Toney pay you?'

Morales asked.

'I didn't say Link is definitely better than James Toney. I just wanted to remind Link and lend him some useful competition experience. Too bad he's too proud to take advice from others.'

Hoyle shrugged, with a look of regret.

'Link is right, taking your advice is a complete waste of time.'

Morales said as he patted his arm muscles and walked away."

Hoyle glared fiercely at him. Ever since becoming the WBO Super Middleweight Boxing King, this guy had become increasingly presumptuous.

He watched Link's training for a while and, realizing there was nothing he could instruct Link on, sighed lightly and turned to leave.

On June 8th, at Ford Sports Arena, Link's first heavyweight cross-rank challenge was held here, in Detroit—the sixth largest city in the United States and a world-famous international business and industrial hub known for its automobile manufacturing and engineering technology. The cars produced in Detroit were once the global leader in quantity, earning it the nickname "Motor City."

Here, there are numerous boxing fans, which is one of the reasons why the organizers decided to hold this competition here.

Another reason is that the city of Detroit was experiencing a financial crisis, with its economic condition continuously deteriorating and the city government in debt of over $18 billion, currently applying for bankruptcy.

The city government was looking for ways to improve the current financial situation, such as through hosting concerts, large sports events, and Link's boxing match.

Link was hugely famous and influential in the United States; every match of his could attract numerous boxing fans who contribute significantly to the city's GDP in hotels, transportation, and gambling.

Inviting Link to participate in the match was also a cost-effective business activity.

Regardless of the organizers and city government's plans, as long as the organizers could afford the prize money, Link was daring enough to fight even if the venue was on Mars.

The match day was a Saturday, and workers from capitalist factories didn't need to work. That day, all 36,000 seats at Ford Sports Center were filled, and dozens of photographers with their 'big and small cannons' continuously snapped photos of Link and James Toney on stage.

Link, dressed in black shorts and wearing black gloves, appeared even more robust than when he defended the WBO Light Heavyweight title in March—his sturdy chest muscles and explosive strong limbs, his steel-like back, his eight-pack abs resembled C4 explosives clearly defined under the lights, shimmering with a metallic luster.

And his arm muscles, shoulder blades, and the inverted triangle of his back, akin to a Greek sculpture—beautiful yet more lively, as he moved, solid muscles rippled under his skin, like causing an awakening in the Amazon jungle. Just by looking at his muscles, one could feel the immense power.

Opposite him, James Toney, a bald black man, was shorter than Link, but bulkier, built like a solid stone stump, lacking clear muscle definition yet giving off a thick and sturdy feeling.

"Hey, Link, choosing me as your first heavyweight opponent is definitely not a wise decision. I will make you taste defeat here."

James Toney shouted, fists in hand.

"James, you were quite good when you were younger, but you're older now, probably not a match for me."

Link responded with a smile.

"Hmph, just you wait and see."

James Toney retorted with a thick curl of his lips.

The two touched gloves, and after the referee lowered his arm, the match officially began.

"Link, go for it!"

"Link, for the win!"

Below the boxing ring, thousands of Link's fans waved flags, loudly cheering for Link in the stands.

There were also many cheering for James Toney.

Detroit is a city with a majority black population, and they enjoy boxing matches. When the bout on the boxing ring involved one black and one white fighter, no matter how formidable the white boxer was, they instinctively supported the black boxer, rooting for their black brother and loudly shouting, 'Take down Link.'

Bang, bang!

After the match started, Link took the initiative in the first round, using the advantage of his arm length, continuously pounding punches on James Toney.

However, James Toney weighed 250 pounds, with his chest, shoulders, abdomen and elsewhere consisting of dense muscles, offering strong resistance to hits. Punches to these areas didn't bring much damage to him.

Link could only aim for his head, trying to hit as accurately as possible.

Meanwhile, he also guarded against James Toney's counterattacks; James Toney was a heavy hitter, with immense punching power, and a real punch weight over 1400 pounds, not to be underestimated.

Link started to relax his guard to test out punches, and was hit by two punches in the abdomen and shoulders, which were very uncomfortable.

To avoid being hit, Link moved flexibly while continuing to punch, employing guerrilla tactics + position warfare, one punch after another hitting his opponent.

Bang, bang, bang!

In the first round, he threw 121 punches, hitting his opponent 21 times, 6 of which landed on James Toney's head, the rest hitting below James Toney's shoulders.

James Toney was heavy and stable, with strong resistance; although his head took several punches in the first round, he resiliently did not fall, marking the first time Link hadn't knocked out his opponent in the first round since his debut.

Whereas James Toney threw more than 110 punches in the first round, hitting Link's body 16 times, one punch grazing Link's chin.

This round James Toney mostly defended, covering his head to prevent Link from landing hits.

But due to Link's fast speed and flexible fighting style, and James Toney's bulky body, defense was exhausting for him. After the first round ended, James Toney's dark skin was all sweaty; he sat in the corner stool and gasped heavily.

"James, hold on, even if you can't win against Link, give him some hard punches. Don't let him win too easily."

Holyfield encouraged behind James Toney's coach.

"Increase your defense, don't let Link hit your head; Link's punches are heavy."

James Toney's coach said.

Puh!

James Toney stared at Link across from him and spat out water, "I know, next round I'll show that damn kid."