Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion

Chapter 057 Anesthetist vs. Rock

Link's hesitation lasted only a second before he dismissed it from his mind.

On the stage, every second counts. Since he had made up his mind to KO his opponent, he would try every possible way to knock the opponent down. Hesitation, doubt, and self-doubt would all lead to a dismal failure in the match.

After the match began, Link switched to full-on assault mode, pressing forward with his feet and continuously bombarding Pitts' arms with heavy punches, one after the other.

Pitts's body was very solid, and with protective gear on him, hitting him felt like striking a wooden board, making a thudding sound.

Moreover, his defense was well-executed, his arms tightly guarding his head and ribs, covering vulnerable areas very tightly. No matter where he hit, Pitts' fists and arms would promptly arrive to block and parry.

In the first round, Link threw 87 punches, 35 of them heavy punches. On average, there was a heavy punch every four seconds, but only two of them accurately hit the opponent's ribs. Due to the protective gear on his ribs, the two punches didn't inflict much damage.

But after one round, Link was covered in sweat.

"Link, have you thought about changing your fighting style?"

Coach Ed sprayed water on him with a water bottle and said, "I'm not asking you to give up the KO. What I mean is, switch from attack to defense. I saw the match between you two just now; it's not just you attacking Pitts, Pitts is also attacking you. He hit your vital areas at least twice.

Clearly, he does not respect your strength, nor does he think you can KO him, so he wants to counterattack and score against you. Why don't you focus on defense first, wear him out, and counterattack in the third round? Perhaps you'll find an unexpected opportunity."

Coach Ed knew he couldn't persuade him normally, so he changed his method of persuasion.

Listening to Ed, Link eyed the Haitian Pitts across the corner.

In previous matches, because the opponents were not very strong, lacked stamina, were not fast, or didn't have good resistance to strikes, they would switch from offense to defense after he threw heavy punches, tightly guarding themselves, fearing being knocked down by his punches, like Andrea Berto.

But it was different with Pitts; Pitts was not afraid of his heavy punches and believed he could withstand them. His heavy punches had no deterrent effect on Pitts; in fact, Pitts wanted to use heavy punches to intimidate him.

Perhaps in Pitts' mind, he was the weaker party.

This discovery surprised Link; having fought numerous matches and often been termed the "Anesthetist" or "KO Maniac," it was the first time someone considered him the weaker party.

He spat out the water in his mouth and had an idea, deciding to test it out to see if it was valid.

The second round began, and Link and Pitts moved to the center of the ring.

"Hey, Pitts, your defense is really good,"

Link said appreciatively.

Pitts's squat nose snorted, and he did not plan to respond verbally.

Link closely watched his opponent's expression and saw a hint of contempt in his eyes.

This discovery also intrigued Link; after so many matches and knocking out 20 opponents, it was the first time he was looked down upon in a match.

This contempt was not unfamiliar to him; instead, it was very familiar.

Back when he first learned boxing with Old Liu, he was not tall, was skinny, had crude techniques, clumsy steps, and besides being strong, he hardly had any merits.

The boxing world is a world of the strong.

Unsurprisingly, he encountered a lot of mockery, disdain, and contempt, earning the nickname "Miner".

To avoid being mocked and looked down upon, he trained daily in the boxing gym, repeatedly pounding the punching bag and lifting barbells heavier than himself, enduring numerous injuries but never skipping training.

Through others' contempt, he gradually grew and thus was very sensitive to such gazes.

Realizing his opponent's mindset, Link decided to test it out; if his opponent truly underestimated him, this was definitely good news.

He closely followed Pitts's steps, continuing the attack though with less frequency and force than in the first round.

This also gave Pitts the opportunity to counterattack.

After his initial attack fell through, Pitts seized the moment to strike a straight punch at his chest, sending Link reeling backward. Pitts, not letting up, followed up with several straight punches and jabs that quickly landed on Link's ribs and shoulders.

Link staggered backward, his back against the ropes.

"Wow!"

A gasp erupted from the crowd, especially louder from the United States boxing team.

In the past, it had always been Link attacking others, forcing his opponents to repeatedly retreat, but now it was he who was forced to retreat, a phenomenon so rare that everyone couldn't help but exclaim in astonishment.

"Is Pitts that strong? Can't even Link withstand it?"

Andrea Berto and a few others looked shocked at the ring, knowing well how resilient Link was in taking punches. Now, Link couldn't handle Pitts' heavy punches. Just how powerful were Pitts' heavy punches? Could it surpass Link's?

Link's punches weighed over 1000 pounds; if Pitts was stronger, wouldn't that be at the level of a world champion?

"Could Link be knocked out?"

Jones Fullos asked.

Everyone was startled by his question.

If the knockout maniac Link was to be knocked out by someone, it would definitely become the biggest news in the boxing world of 2008, even bigger than the news of Britain's Joe Calzaghe beating Bernard Hopkins.

In the ring, after Link hit the ropes, their offensive and defensive stances instantly changed.

Pitts, who was initially defensively passive, switched to offensive, swinging his fists, aiming punch after punch at Link's arms, seemingly trying to break through Link's defense and knock him down.

But Link's speed and reaction capabilities far exceeded his, and during defense, Link raised his arms with nimble footwork, moving his head skillfully, dodging the heavy punches time and again.

The second round ended with Pitts throwing 85 punches, most of them heavy.

The third round began, and Pitts continued his aggressive assault. His punch power slowly declined, roughly to the level of Mario, his body also drenched in sweat.

Link continued to defend in this round, his defense still impeccable, not once broken by Pitts, his cheeks still clean and unscathed.

"It turns out that Link is not only good at attacking, but his defensive work is also extremely meticulous."

Sawon exclaimed.

In previous matches, although Link also defended, he mostly attacked and didn't show much defensive capability, but in this round, despite Pitts' full offensive, he never managed to break Link's defense, not even once.

Sawon looked at Link with increasing admiration, as he suddenly realized that Link was a perfect type of boxer. Even if Link were defeated by Pitts in this round, he had shown extreme talent in attack, defense, speed, strength, mindset, and boxing quality.

Aside from being too flamboyant, this was almost a perfect boxing apprentice.

"Good defense is useless if it doesn't score any points, the third round is about to end, and he hasn't scored much; the outcome is almost certain."

Aragon shook his head.

"Do you think Link will lose?"

Rosni turned back and asked.

"Not achieving a knockout is a failure,"

Aragon said.