Bang! Bang!
"Morales, move faster! Keep your distance. Remember, when you fight Link, you must keep your distance. He's fast and agile, and if you get too close, you'll only get hit."
At the Muscle Beach boxing training ground, Coach Brooks shouted at the two people sparring in the ring.
He was mainly instructing sparring partner Morales, hoping he could last a few more rounds with Link and create some difficulties for Link's training.
As for Link...
After fourteen professional fights, his boxing skills were becoming more and more refined. Combined with his 1500+ pound punching power, excellent speed, super-fast reaction time, and superb tactical thinking in the ring...
In the super middleweight division, Coach Brooks didn't think anyone could be his opponent.
Now, when he was guiding Link's training, his main task was to find Link's weaknesses, fill in the gaps, and conduct targeted training to make Link even more perfect.
Now, Link was not only the hope of Dynasty Promotions but also one of the spokespersons for boxing.
The higher his popularity and the stronger his skills, the more he could attract passersby to pay attention to and engage in this sport.
The more people chose this path, the smaller path would become a broad avenue.
As a member of the boxing world, no one didn't want to see boxing become more and more popular, becoming a mainstream sport.
While Coach Brooks was instructing the training in the ring, De La Hoya walked in from outside, wearing a suit, pointed leather shoes, hair combed back, dressed like a business elite.
Coach Brooks glanced at him and nodded in greeting.
Muscle Beach Boxing Gym was one of Golden Boy Promotions' training grounds, and Hoya was also a shareholder.
Last month, after Golden Boy Promotions and Dynasty Promotions negotiated and initially finalized the match between him and Link, De La Hoya often came to watch Link train, under the guise of 'observation.'
Coach Brooks was not surprised by this.
Although Golden Boy Promotions and Dynasty Promotions, as well as major event companies, were competitors, and Hoya was also Link's next opponent, the two sides seemed like opponents, enemies.
In fact, in the boxing industry, except for the two boxers fighting in the ring, there was little conflict between the two sides.
Other stages, including event negotiation, pre-match hype and promotion, post-match promotion, etc., were the result of cooperation between boxers and boxers, promotion companies and promotion companies.
A promotion company without a cooperative spirit could not survive in the boxing world, which also led to the extreme importance of connections in the boxing field.
De La Hoya was originally a top promotion company's boxer and founded Golden Boy Promotions in 2005, which had developed well in recent years.
In addition to promoting his own matches, he also had more than ten professional boxers under his banner and had cooperated many times with major events and top promotions, including Hoya's match with Pacquiao and Hoya's WBA/WBC middleweight championship fight with Shane Mosley.
Golden Boy Promotions was gradually becoming a more powerful promotion company.
"Shit!"
De La Hoya watched the training in the ring and suddenly cursed.
Coach Brooks looked at him in confusion, and De La Hoya shrugged. "Last year, I should have personally gone to Miami to persuade Link. If I offered him 100 million dollars, he would have been happy to join Golden Boy Promotions. With him, I bet that in the future, only my Golden Boy Promotions would be able to make big money in the boxing world."
Coach Brooks shook his head, thinking it was useless for him to say these things. If time could be reversed, De La Hoya wouldn't be the only one willing to spend 100 million dollars to sign Link. All capable boxing agencies would be happy to do so.
"Have you found Link's weakness after watching so many times?"
Coach Brooks asked this question to see Link's boxing from the perspective of his opponent.
"Of course, there are many problems. Don't ask what they are. You'll know when I defeat him."
De La Hoya touched his chin stubble and showed a 'confident' expression.
Coach Brooks frowned and looked at him. "Are you sure you're not joking?"
"Of course, when have you ever seen me joke about this kind of thing?"
Hoya shrugged and smiled.
Coach Brooks thought for a moment and nodded. He had known Hoya for more than a year or two and had guided Hoya's training in 2004-2005. This guy, besides being a bit of a womanizer, was quite serious about boxing.
"Then tell me, what are his weaknesses? Tell me one."
"Emm, for a boxer of Morales' level, Link is an invincible opponent. His technique, speed, and punching power are all top-notch. But for me, Mayweather, Pacquiao, even Bernard Hopkins, he has many problems. Let me give you an example, lest you think I'm bragging. It's his combinations. Individually, his combinations are fine, but the transitions and connections between combinations are not as flexible and smooth as mine and Pacquiao's, often with a second or half a second of lag. In a professional fight, you can throw five or six punches in a second. A second slower means missing an opportunity and giving your opponent a chance to defend. This is one of the reasons why Link often launches a flurry of attacks in a fight but can't destroy his opponent. Another point is that Link relies heavily on power punches in fights and likes to win by KO. In super middleweight fights, this style looks cool. When he moves up to light heavyweight, this style will make him look bad. You just wait and see."
Hoya folded his arms and smiled faintly.
Coach Brooks watched Link's training and nodded.
Link did have a little problem with combinations, but it wasn't entirely his fault. It was also because his opponents didn't put enough pressure on him, which led him to think too much in the fight and not be fully engaged.
If in a fight, the opponent was too strong, making him unable to think too much, and his punches were mostly instinctive reactions, his combinations wouldn't have any lag.
This is also the reason why most top boxers like to compete with masters. They can discover their own problems in the competition and improve their boxing skills.
Coach Brooks believed that this problem was not a big deal for Link.
Link planned to move up to light heavyweight after winning the super middleweight grand slam. There were many masters in light heavyweight, and the pressure of competition would be greater, so those problems could be gradually corrected.
There was also the issue of punching power.
After moving up to light heavyweight, Link could add a few pounds of muscle, and his punching power would become even greater.
With the punching power he was currently displaying, adding a few dozen more pounds, he would still have a great advantage in the light heavyweight division.
Thinking of this, Coach Brooks glanced at Hoya unhappily. This guy had talked for a long time but only mentioned two unsolvable problems and didn't get to the point at all.
Hoya laughed and shrugged. "Link is my opponent. I won't say it now, you should understand. After I defeat Link, I'll write a PPT to explain Link's weaknesses, how about that?"
"No need. If you really found Link's weakness and had the confidence to defeat him, you wouldn't come to the training ground in a suit every day."
Coach Brooks shook his head and walked away with his hands behind his back.
"What do you mean? I'm wearing a suit because I just finished a meeting."
Hoya retorted.
Bang! Bang!
The training in the ring temporarily ended. Link shook the sweat from his hair and waved his fist at Hoya below the ring. "Oscar, how about coming up and fighting? Let me see how fast your fast punches are."
Hoya's full name was Oscar De La Hoya, a Latino boxer.
"No, I'm wearing a suit, it's not convenient."
Hoya waved his hand and said.
"Can't you take it off? The suit isn't growing on you."
Morales grinned and teased.
"Stop talking nonsense. Continue training with Link. When you can defeat Link, I'll reward you with a million dollars. I mean what I say."
Hoya shook a finger and said boldly.
Morales rolled his eyes. If he could beat Link, a mere million dollars was nothing. He could earn ten million or even a hundred million.
Link smiled slightly and continued sparring with Morales.
(End of Chapter)