Chapter 648: Bonuses and Arrangements_2
At the time, Jermain Taylor was defeated by 'The Ghost' Kelly Pavlik, losing the four major middleweight organization Golden Belts and moving up to the Super Middleweight division in disgrace, becoming the WBA North American Super Middleweight Champion.
Later, when challenging Taylor for the WBA World Champion title, Link was defeated within one round.
Jermain Taylor in 2005 was younger and had better stamina, but his shortcomings remained evident. Against such an opponent, Link was even more confident.
Bob Arum glanced at him, not understanding where this guy's confidence came from. But so far, Link had never failed, so even though he didn't understand, he had no choice but to trust him.
"If everything goes smoothly, your match with Jermain will be held in early May. During this time, you can train here. The facilities and staff arrangements are more complete here, which will be more helpful for you. What do you think?"
Bob Arum asked.
"This place is good, but Las Vegas is too prosperous. The surrounding environment is rather complicated, filled with temptation and decay. I'm used to hardships, and training here makes it easy to be affected. So, I plan to return to my home country to train and come back before the match,"
Link said while looking around and smiling.
Bob Arum opened his mouth to try to persuade him further but realized that what Link said made sense.
For someone like Link, who came from a different society, the allure of a city like Las Vegas, the entertainment capital, was indeed great—alcohol, drugs, women, etc. If Link's self-control was slightly weaker, it might not take more than a few months for him to fall into excess.
If Link really fell into decadence, the company's investment would also go down the drain.
"You're right. You're a Huaxia native; training over there would be better. If you're short on coaches and sparring partners, I can send them to Huaxia. You just focus on your training; leave the other matters to me and Shawn Gibbons."
"Alright!"
Link nodded.
After the match, Link didn't immediately return to his country. Instead, he drove to Los Angeles' Santa Monica Bay and, through a real estate agent, bought the villa he used to live in.
The villa originally had an owner. Although the agent quoted 3 million US Dollars, the owner didn't sell. Link raised the offer to 3.5 million USD, and the original owner immediately agreed to sell, leaving behind two used sedans when they moved out.
Link lived in the Bay Villa for three days—running in the morning, training at Muscle Beach in the afternoon, and playing the piano in the villa in the evening. Although he followed his old habits, he couldn't find the familiar feeling and found it a bit dull.
By mid-March, he flew back to the Capital City.
Due to his match against Trinidad being broadcast by CCTV5, and many domestic media covering the news of him defeating the previous World Boxing Champion, there were plenty of boxing fans and media welcoming him at the airport.
Fans and reporters were very enthusiastic about him. As he walked out of the airport, many people shouted, "Boxing King Link."
The reason for their fervor was that when the media covered this match, they exaggerated Trinidad's strength, listing all the notable opponents he had defeated—such as the Super Champion Hoyle, Boxing King Fernando Vargas, and Boxing King William Joppe—making him seem extremely formidable.
But such an incredibly strong boxer lasted only 165 seconds against Link.
He suffered two broken ribs, liver damage, and a concussion.
When the readers saw this, they thought, "Wow, Link is awesome, super badass."
Watching the CCTV5 broadcast and seeing Link punch continuously, knocking down his opponent, and pounding him to the ground until he couldn't even stand, everyone thought Link was even more impressive.
Articles from newspapers like "Huaxia Youth Daily" and "Beijing Daily" directly referred to Link as the "Huaxia Boxing King" and "Huaxia's #1 Boxer."
Moreover, many media outlets reported Link's earnings from the match. According to foreign reports, he earned over 20 million US Dollars from this match, which meant 165 seconds made him over 20 million, translating to over 100,000 per second—he was truly a walking money-printing machine.
Everyone who read these reports admired Link even more.
Seeing Link walk out of the airport, many people shouted in excitement.
Facing enthusiastic fans and reporters, Link had to stop and handle them seriously for nearly an hour before leaving.
——
"Link, the company recently received several scripts for films that want you to take part. Among them are three well-known directors: Director Zhang Yimou, Director Feng Xiaogang, and Director Chen Musheng from Hong Kong Island. Do you want to take a look at the scripts?"
In the nanny car, his agent Zhang Ying turned back to ask him.
"Filming takes too much time. I'm pretty busy this year and don't have time for movies,"
Link replied.
This year, besides several boxing matches, there are also various athletic events, including August's 10th World Athletics Championship, October's 10th National Games, and November's 4th East Asia Games in Macau.
He needed to allocate time for all these events—not only for shot put, javelin, and the 5000m, but also for the 100m, 200m, and 400m events.
His usual training results were excellent, and the national team intended for him to practice more in preparation for the 2008 Olympics.
He truly didn't have the time to spend months filming a movie.
However, given that all three directors were major names, he decided to call them personally and explain his situation. He also planned to see if they needed actors or investors.
"Link, apart from movies, there've also been advertising offers. These include clothing, automobiles, watches, phones, computers, and beverages, with quotes from eight companies exceeding 20 million. Would you like to review them?"
Zhang Ying flipped through a file and asked.
Link took a look, picked out five brands with promising future potential, and agreed to endorse them.
Adding these to the four long-term endorsements he had taken on after the Olympics last year, he now had nine endorsement deals under his name.
The nine deals span different product categories and have a duration ranging within three years.
Taking all these meant he couldn't endorse similar products in the future three years, so he had to choose carefully.
"Is there anything else?"
Link handed the file back to Zhang Ying and asked.
"Yes, plenty of work. For example, several fashion magazines want you to shoot editorials; singers are asking you to write songs; and there are far more commercial performance invitations. If you're willing to take them, they'd keep you busy until the end of the year."
Zhang Ying laughed.
"Forget the commercial performances; I don't have the time to travel around. For magazines, pick two high-quality ones with large circulation. As for songwriting, I'll pass. If someone wants to cover my songs, they can do it. But I don't have the time to write songs for strangers."
"Got it. I'll sort it out."
The car returned to the Knowledge Park in Haidian District, and Link said goodbye to Zhang Ying before stepping out.
March weather in the Capital City was still cold, and as Link got out of the car, he spotted Zhang Zilin wearing a long white down jacket, pacing underneath the apartment building.
Seeing him appear, Zhang Zilin bounded into his arms like a swallow returning to its nest, hugging his waist tightly.
The two had agreed that next time he held a book signing or participated in a boxing match, she would accompany him as an assistant. However, due to the recent match coinciding with the start of the school term, Zhang Zilin had been busy with training and couldn't tag along as his shadow, postponing things to the next time.
Link held the girl, kissed her cheeks, and then her lips, kissing her until she was breathless and nearly unable to stand before finally letting go.
"I bought you a gift. Come on, let's go see it,"
Link said, holding her tight.
"I don't care about gifts; I just want you to come back sooner,"
Zhang Zilin leaned on his shoulder, her voice sweet and soft.
Last year, Link was just 180 cm tall, slightly shorter than Zhang Zilin. But over the past year, he had grown nearly 3 cm taller, now matching Zhang Zilin when she wore flat shoes.
Now Zhang Zilin could comfortably lean on his shoulder, giving off an air of delicate reliance.
"Alright then, we'll look at the gift later. Let's head back and sleep first."
Link chuckled lightly, pulling a blushing Zhang Zilin into the elevator.
——
After returning to the Capital City, Link trained at both the boxing gym and the national team's athletics training base. He also squeezed in time to attend classes, shoot advertisements, and appear in magazines.
Furthermore, he had previously discussed starting a talent agency with Liu Xiaoli. After careful consideration, Liu Xiaoli agreed to collaborate.
Link invested 20 million US Dollars in Liu Xiaoli's newly established Fairytale Entertainment Company through the Golden Shell Company in Hong Kong Island, acquiring an 85% stake. The company's main business covers movie and television production and talent management.
Since the company was still in its early stages, its primary focus was on Liu Yifei's projects for now.
Liu Xiaoli mentioned that becoming a singer was currently the fastest way to gain fame in the entertainment industry, which could also enhance an actor's popularity. She asked if Link could write a few songs for Liu Yifei.
After some thought, Link agreed and got Song Ke involved to sign Liu Yifei for two albums.
Considering Link's talent for music and Liu Yifei's beauty and fame, Song Ke readily agreed.