Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion

"Hello, everyone. Good afternoon. I'm your old friend Steve. God bless. After eight months away from the studio, I'm finally back in this seat. I've missed this place and all of you.

Thank God."

At the HBO broadcast center, host Steve Mandanda sat in front of the spacious desk, looking into the camera with excitement, tears glistening in his eyes as if he'd regained something he loved dearly, struggling to control his emotions.

"Steve, watch your emotions, or the boss will keep you on field hosting. Of course, if you want to keep playing the field, forget I said anything."

Ms. Tina, the program producer, spoke through the headset.

Steve quickly composed himself and, smiling, said, "As everyone knows, the Olympic Games concluded yesterday in Han Jing. The United States team won a total of 37 gold medals, 38 silver medals, 36 bronze medals—111 medals in all, topping the medal tally among all participating nations."

"Among them, the boxing team won 1 gold and 1 bronze. The gold medalist is our old friend, super middleweight boxer Link Baker. Wow, I know him so well."

"Link and I are friends. A minute before the final match of the Golden Gloves Championship, I interviewed him and he declared he would win the match against Andrea Berto in five rounds—that was his response to me."

"At the Havana Americas qualifiers, I interviewed him right before the match again and also witnessed him become the super middleweight champion of the Americas zone."

"Honestly, witnessing Link's rise, from a rookie boxer to the Golden Gloves champion, then to the Americas zone champion, and finally to Olympic world champion in less than half a year, has been amazing."

"Wow, just talking about it gets my blood pumping, and I get so excited about Link's achievements. Ladies and gentlemen in front of the TV, don't you think Link's journey over the past half-year sounds like an inspiring movie?"

"I heard that a Hollywood production company is already gathering Link's stories to make a movie based on him. I think it's going to be a great film."

"Let's not digress, get to the point!"

Ms. Tina, the program producer, said.

"Haha, today I bring you the HBO Olympic special 'Follow the Champion to Watch Boxing.' Don't get too excited, the champion isn't here yet. Please allow me first to introduce the guests for today's program."

As Steve spoke, the studio camera panned back to give a wide shot of the studio.

In the shot, to Steve's left were two show guests, one a middle-aged man in a black suit and red tie introduced as Doug Fisher, the editor-in-chief of 'Ring Magazine.'

The other was dressed in gray casual wear, wearing a baseball cap, and a slim, elderly man who was the editor-in-chief of the Miami Herald, Rafael Varane.

"Welcome Mr. Fisher, welcome Mr. Varane, and next we will invite our third guest of the program."

"Link! Link!"

The audience of several hundred roared loudly.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please, quiet. Forgive me, the next guest entering is not Link, but he is a bigger name than Link with a huge fan base worldwide. Anyone who knows boxing knows him—who could it be?"

Steve extended his hand toward the backstage entrance and shouted,

"Please welcome our heavyweight guest, Mike Tyson!"

Puff!

A mist of smoke billowed out as a muscular black man in a crab-like step, wobbling from side to side, emerged from backstage wearing a black suit with a tattoo around his left eye, and grinning to reveal two big gold teeth.

"Wow, Tyson!"

The audience shouted excitedly, clapping and cheering.

Tyson nodded at the audience and, at Steve's invitation, took a seat on the right side of the studio desk.

"Hey, Tycoon, what brings you to a show like this? Oh, I remember now—you're bankrupt."

Rafael Varane slapped his forehead as if he'd just realized it.

Hahaha!n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The audience burst into laughter.

Everyone knew Tyson was bankrupt. According to media reports, after retiring, Tyson spent lavishly on luxury cars and mansions, gambled, abused drugs and alcohol, was involved with many women, and went from being worth half a billion to being 40 million in debt, forcing him to make a comeback to earn money.

Tyson swore and waved his fist, shouting, "Damn Rafael, why are you here? Steve, if you'd told me he was here, I definitely wouldn't have come to this damned show."

"No, no, you'd still have come—you've still got bills to pay," Rafael joked.

"Shut your mouth, Rafael. When I was a boxer, you always wrote trash talk about me, and I couldn't hit you then. Now that I'm retired and no sports committee is over me, you'd better hope I don't run into you after we wrap up the show."

Tyson clenched his fist and from across the desk, waved it at Rafael.

"Let's drop this useless topic."

Ms. Tina, the program producer, intervened.

"Hey, you two, mind your manners."

Steve, taking the hint, hurriedly intervened and, facing the camera, said, "Let's get to the main topic. Today our theme is 'Watching a Boxing Match with Olympic Champion Mr. Link Baker.' As he is quite busy, I'd like to ask our three guests about their impressions of Link first. Mike, you start."

Tyson adjusted his posture and said to the camera, "Link? I've known about him for a while, back since the Golden Gloves Championship. I heard he won his matches there by knocking out his opponents, which is quite impressive."

"Mike, have you ever knocked out an opponent in your amateur matches?"

Steve began the interview.

"Of course there are, but they're few and far between. Everyone knows that in amateur matches there are protective gears, and the match times are short. It's really hard to knock out an opponent to win."

Tyson said while clenching his fist.

"Yes, and that also shows how impressive Link is. It's said that his punches are as heavy as those of top heavyweight boxers. That's incredible! Next up, Mr. Varane."

"Wait, I'm not finished yet."

Tyson shouted at the camera, "Besides Link's heavy punches, I admire his style of doing things. He's a smart guy, very good at stirring things up through media. Even when he was participating in super middleweight amateur matches, he dared to challenge Chris Byrd, James Toney, and Valuev, several heavyweight champions. He's really cool, and I want to get his autograph when he comes."

"You want his autograph? Link once said that he took up boxing because of you and Roy Jones. Now you're asking him for an autograph, that's really funny. Mike, are you done talking?"

Steve asked.

"Yeah, but you don't need to ask those two. They're newspaper people, always publishing some trashy comments in newspapers and magazines. Listening to them talk is a waste of time,"

Tyson disdainfully looked at Rafael and Doug Fisher, the two editors across from him. These guys hadn't been shy about badmouthing him back when he was still boxing.

Rafael and Doug Fisher just smiled nonchalantly. Their job was to praise and criticize people; Tyson was very popular back then and had many issues. Almost every boxing commentator had criticized him, not just these two.

Under Steve's questioning, both spoke about their impressions and evaluations of Link, naturally all positive.

At this time, Link had just become the world champion, the only gold medalist on the United States boxing team. His popularity was booming, and speaking ill of him publicly would mean a backlash from his fans.

Moreover, since his debut, there was nothing really scandalous about him, making it hard to target him for criticism.

"Alright, thank you both for your insightful comments. I've received word that Link has just arrived backstage."

Steve stood up and looked toward the backstage entrance, shouting, "Up next, let us welcome with warm applause the world middleweight champion of the 29th Summer Olympic Games, the youngest boxing world champion in history, Mr. Link Baker!"

Puff!

A blast of white smoke appeared, and Link, dressed in a black suit with a blue tie, strode in from the entrance, tall and muscular with long, powerful legs, looking handsome and fresh.

Clap clap clap!

Steve and hundreds of audience members stood up and clapped loudly, shouting Link's name.

"Wow, Link looks so handsome in a suit, I thought I was seeing a movie star just now,"

Steve clapped his hands, exaggerating his tone.

"Indeed, he's a very cool guy. He must have a lot of girlfriends,"

Tyson grinned broadly and laughed.

"Hi! Good afternoon, everyone!"

Link waved to the audience below and then said to Steve, "Why does the entrance feel like a 'Man Show'? My manager told me this was a serious sports talk show."

"Haha, it's so hot in Los Angeles, we wanted to cool you down a bit. How was it, nice and cool, right? I've tried it a few times before."

Steve shook his hand and laughed.

"Don't forget, I'm from Miami, the weather in Los Angeles feels like spring to me, very comfortable,"

Link smiled, greeted Rafael and Doug Fisher, two familiar faces in the industry, and then looked at the boxing giant Mike Tyson, feeling a bit thrilled.

Despite his controversies, in the world of boxing, no one didn't respect Tyson, the king of heavy punches, the youngest WBC champion at 20, the youngest world champion in history.

In his prime, Tyson had almost defeated all the champions of the time and forced many heavyweight boxers to end their careers prematurely.

Back then, a saying circulated in the boxing world that the only one who could defeat Tyson was Tyson himself. Before his defeat in Tokyo, he was a god in the boxing ring, his punches almost the upper limit of human combat potential.

Around the world, he, along with Michael 'Air' Jordan and actor Schwarzenegger, were synonymous with tough and strong men.

However, Tyson was quite shorter than expected, about 178 centimeters tall, very sturdy, sitting there like King Kong in a movie.

"Hey, Mike, I'm your fan, glad to see you here."

Link stretched out his hand and shouted.

Tyson laughed, extending his hand for a high-five, "Link, I'm your fan too, remember to sign something for me later."

"No problem!"

Link smiled lightly and waved to his still applauding fans before sitting down next to Tyson.

"Ask Link for his thoughts on Huaxia."

The show producer conveyed the message.

Steve, pressing his earphone, nodded slightly.