Not long after finalizing the contract with Franco, Link received a call from Greg Cohen of Top Rank, a leading boxing promotion company.
"Hi, Link, are you busy? How about we chat again about the contract?" Greg Cohen greeted him in a familiar tone.
"Mr. Cohen? What are we chatting about?" Link asked, putting down his dumbbells.
"I heard you're about to sign with Dynasty Promotion?" Greg Cohen snorted disdainfully. "Link, as a veteran boxing promoter, I can responsibly tell you that this is a very bad decision.
Everyone knows that boxing promotion companies operate similarly to Hollywood talent agencies. The more powerful the company, the stronger their star-making ability. Small companies have weak promotion capabilities. They simply can't afford the upfront promotional investment for an event, nor can they take you to higher event platforms. It's like the five major agencies in Hollywood; everyone wants to be a contracted artist with CAA, WMA, or ICM.
If you want to become a boxing champion like Mayweather or De La Hoya and earn a lot of money, it's best to choose to cooperate with a powerful promotion company, such as Top Rank, Don King Promotions, Main Events, or Warriors Boxing. They have almost all the boxing champions and profitable boxers under their banner. Link, you're a smart person, I think you should know this."
"Yes, I know." Link shrugged.
"Then why make such a hasty decision to sign? Link, I'm very optimistic about you, it's true. Even if I can't sign with you, I want to advise you as a friend and senior, don't rush to sign. Wait until after the Olympics. If you can win a medal at the Olympics, I think many companies will be willing to offer you big contracts.
Top Rank is the same. I've been discussing with Mr. Arum to get you a bigger contract and a higher share of match revenue, maybe up to 50%, before you become a world champion. In the future, we may be able to give you a higher share, 70% is not a problem. It's a pity to hear that you're going to sign with a small promotion company, Link, I advise you to reconsider."
Greg Cohen said earnestly on the phone.
Link shook his head, feeling that this guy was here to cause trouble.
After the qualifiers, many promoters from various companies came to him, including Top Rank, but not Greg Cohen. Although the contracts they offered were bigger than those after the Golden Gloves Championship, they were still below his expectations, and they were stingy with the match revenue share.
Now that he was about to sign with Dynasty Promotion, Greg Cohen suddenly called to persuade him, but only made promises without showing a contract. Link was sure that the other party just wanted to cause trouble.
"Mr. Cohen, thank you for your guidance, but I've decided to sign with Dynasty Promotion."
"Why?"
"Maybe because Franco is more sincere." Link thought of an excuse.
"Sincere? Humph, Link, I bet you'll regret this decision in the future. Professional boxing is far more complicated than you think, and you and Franco definitely can't handle that situation."
"Maybe, but we'll talk about the future later."
Link hung up the phone decisively.
--
After the contract was finalized, Dynasty Promotion held a large signing ceremony at the Palm Beach Hilton Hotel, inviting dozens of local celebrities from Miami, including members of the State Sports Commission, senior officials from the Boxing Association, senior executives from media and advertising companies, and hundreds of media reporters, to attend the event.
For the first time, Link put on a suit, styled his hair meticulously, and arrived at the Hilton Hotel venue.
More than two hundred people came to the scene. Except for Coach West, Manager Robinson, Raphael Varane, and others, the rest were strangers. Link saw them at the scene and went over to say hello.
"Haha, Link, you came just in time. Let me introduce you."
Raphael pulled him over and introduced several middle-aged and elderly men around him.
These were senior executives in the local media and publishing industry in Florida, including the executive president of Miami Commercial Television, the director of the Southern District Distribution Department of "The Ring" magazine, the head of the news department of the "Florida New Herald," the general manager of the McClatchy Publishing Company, and the executive editor of the "Miami Herald," Anderson Gyllenhaal. According to Raphael, the executive editor's nephew was the Hollywood star Jake Gyllenhaal.
Link politely greeted them, neither humble nor overbearing.
There was no need to flatter these senior executives in the media and publishing industry too much.
At most, they could only add to his development. If he achieved results in the boxing world, those media would cheer loudly and support him. But if he lost the match or had negative news, these media would not hesitate to step on him and throw dirt on him.
The role of the media was somewhat like a small entertainment company that handled both weddings and funerals. Whether public figures had good or bad news, they had the opportunity to join in the fun and earn a wave of circulation.
If you wanted them to say good things about bad things and bad things about good things, it was also simple. You needed to pay enough publicity fees.
After all, this was the capitalist world, where everything was based on capital.
"Link! You once publicly told the media that as long as Roy Jones Jr., Bernard Hopkins, Chris Byrd, and others dared to challenge you, you could finish them in three rounds. Were you joking, or do you really have the confidence to do it?"
Editor-in-Chief Anderson Gyllenhaal said, holding a champagne glass.
Link smiled and said, "Mr. Gyllenhaal, I never talk big. As long as they dare to challenge me, I will never avoid the fight and can defeat them. If they don't challenge me, I will challenge them when I enter professional boxing in the future. After all, there are fewer and fewer people who can fight in the current professional boxing world."
"Sounds good, Link. When are you going to have a professional fight? We're all looking forward to seeing your performance."
Anderson Gyllenhaal asked, raising his champagne glass.
Everyone nodded. If Link was really that good, they wouldn't mind going to support him.
Link smiled slightly and was about to speak when he saw Franco and Nora walking side by side from the crowd. After Nora came to Miami, Franco's attire became neat and stylish again. He was wearing a black twill suit and a red tie, which matched perfectly with Nora's red evening dress.
Link looked at the two and said, "Look, the boss and the boss lady are here. Gentlemen, when I can have a professional fight depends on his arrangements."
"Haha, Link, we're partners. Besides, I'll be serving you in the future. You're my boss."
Franco patted his shoulder and smiled at everyone. "As for Link's professional matches, we'll start arranging them after the signing. The time should be before Christmas, and the opponent should be at least an intercontinental champion-level boxer. I invite you gentlemen to come and support us then."
"Haha, definitely!"
Everyone responded with a smile.
The signing ceremony began. Witnessed by celebrities, lawyers, and media reporters, Link and Franco signed the boxing promotion contract, becoming a contracted boxer and the second largest shareholder of Dynasty Promotion, with more than eight million dollars in hand.
However, after the signing, negative news about him suddenly appeared in many newspapers, saying that his father was a smuggler and gangster, that he had also participated in smuggling and drug trafficking, had been imprisoned twice, and was not a good person. They said that his style of winning by knockout in the ring might be due to his bad habits from the streets.
However, this negative news didn't last long. A character report in the "American Express" caused a bigger sensation in North America.
"Link Baker: A 'Cinderella'-like champion, the American dream of a new era."
In this issue's new character section, the "American Express" used more than 5,000 words to introduce his life experience in detail, saying that he was born in Miami Beach, his ancestors were fishermen for two generations, his mother left home early, his father died early, and he was helpless. When he was young, he was influenced by the surrounding environment and became a bad boy, was imprisoned twice, and was almost killed on the street, and so on. It did not shy away from the bad things he had done in the past.
But since he came into contact with boxing three years ago, he began to turn over a new leaf, practice boxing, and from the Golden Gloves competition, step by step became the American regional qualifying champion.
Recently, he signed a contract with Dynasty Promotion with a signing fee of over ten million dollars and was about to represent the American super middleweight boxing team in the Olympics.
The "American Express" said that because of his boxing practice, he changed from a notorious "bad boy" to a 20-year-old "millionaire." His life experience was more inspirational than Ali, Tyson, James J. Braddock, and other boxing champions. He was called the new idol of young people at the bottom and a representative of the American dream.
This article was reprinted by "People Weekly," "The Ring," "Chicago Tribune," and other major newspapers and magazines, causing quite a stir in North America.
Link's fame did not suffer from the previous negative news but became even more renowned.
(End of Chapter)