NOVPUBAfter more than ten days of concentrated training, on Saturday, April 26th, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the WBA Heavyweight Boxing Champion challenger qualification match was held.
Link faced off against the North American Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Deontay Wilder.
Deontay Wilder was born in 1985, 29 years old this year, and won a bronze medal in heavyweight boxing at the 2008 Olympics.
He turned professional in November 2008 and has participated in 30 fights since.
His current professional record is 30 wins and 30 KOs, and so far, all his matches have ended within the first four rounds, earning him the nickname 'The Bronze Bomber'.
On the other hand, Link's current professional record is 36 wins with 36 KOs, and all his matches have ended within the first three rounds.
Since both participated in the Capital City Olympics, maintained unbeaten records, and won by KO,
this match, announced at the end of last year, quickly attracted the attention of boxing fans, as many were eager to find out which of the two undefeated champions would come out on top.
As a result, the betting odds set by the bookmakers were 1.32 for a Link win and 1.65 for a Deontay Wilder win.
The odds for both sides were not much different.
This was the fight with the smallest odds ever offered by the bookmakers since Link entered professional boxing.
The main reason being that the bookmakers were also uncertain whether he could defeat Deontay.
Firstly, Link was originally a light heavyweight boxer and, after moving up to heavyweight, has only defeated two older boxers aged over 45.
While Deontay, since 2008, has consecutively defeated 30 heavyweight boxers, and in April of last year, he beat Malik Scott to become the WBA North American Boxing Champion.
Deontay has richer experience when facing heavyweight opponents.
Secondly, there is a considerable disparity in their physical stats.
Link is 186 cm tall, with a reach of 195 cm, and weighs 182 pounds, while Deontay Wilder is 201 cm tall, with a reach of 211 and weighs 224 pounds.
In terms of physique, Deontay has a significant advantage.
Some media compared this fight to the 1973 match between 'The Devil' George Foreman and 'Smokin'' Joe Frazier.
George Foreman stood at 191 cm with a reach of 199 cm, while Joe Frazier was 182 cm with a reach of 185 cm.
At that time, Joe Frazier had just defeated Ali, snatching the WBC-WBA Heavyweight Boxing Champion Golden Belt, and was considered the strongest and highest-paid boxer in the ring, with an undefeated professional record of 29 fights.
George Foreman, 5 years younger than Joe Frazier, also maintained an unbeaten record of 38 wins but hadn't beaten any particularly well-known boxers before that.
In the fight, despite Joe Frazier's aggressive style, his shorter height and reach meant he was constantly pushed away whenever he tried to get close to George Foreman, eventually being forced into a passive position and losing the match.
In this match, Link and Deontay have a height difference of over ten centimeters, with Deontay weighing more than forty pounds heavier than Link.
During the fight, Deontay only needs to adopt George Foreman's style to keep Link at bay, making it highly probable that he could defeat this legendary boxer.
The American media, in promoting this match, listed the physical differences between Link and Deontay and focused on hyping up the topic of 'Link is going to lose', predicting a high chance that Link could suffer defeat in this fight.
Amidst the relentless media publicity, the match became a sensation before it even started, trending on social media multiple times, and on the day of the fight itself, it trended for three continuous waves.
This led many people to pay close attention to the match, curious to see if Link would lose.
On the day, the Staples Arena was filled with 28,000 spectators, filling up all the seats.
"Frank, this match was arranged too hastily. Link should have fought a few more heavyweight matches and waited until he fully adapted to this class of competition before fighting Deontay. Aren't you worried about Link losing now?"
Up in the stands, Hoyle looked at Link and Deontay Wilder in the boxing ring and said.
"It's what Link requested; he wanted to face some tough opponents, figuring it would make for a more exhilarating fight. Besides, arranging a fight with Deontay brings more buzz. Just look at the stands; they weren't this packed at the last match."
Frank Duvall looked at the packed spectator stands behind him and said,
"Then have you ever thought about what happens if Link loses?"
"Even if he loses, it's not a big deal. In boxing, there are victories and defeats. With Link's current influence, losing one match won't matter much."
"No, no, it's not that simple. Link is considered the strongest man in the world, Superman. If he loses, he'll be labeled a loser, and that will definitely have a big impact on him."
Hoyle said.
"You make sense, but the fact that Link agreed to the match means he's confident he can beat Deontay. We should trust him."
Frank said, clutching his fist.
Hoyle shook his head, not very optimistic about Link's chances in this match.
If Link had fought over ten heavyweight bouts and beaten many boxers of his age, not old veterans like James Toney and Holyfield,
then Link might have had some chance of winning.
But he's only participated in two heavyweight matches and defeated two weakened elders.
Now, suddenly facing Deontay, a tall, young, undefeated boxer,
Hoyle doesn't believe Link has much of a chance of winning.
"George, based on your judgment, who could win this match?"
At the front row of the spectator seats, Tyson turned to George Foreman beside him and asked.
"It's hard to say, both fighters are strong and both have chances to win. As to who will win, we'll need to see them fight to decide."
George Foreman said, holding his arms and sizing up the two boxers on the stage.
"I heard that Deontay trained with you for a while before, did you teach him the trick of using a bigger size against a smaller opponent?"
Tyson said with a big gold-toothed grin.
"There's no secret technique, just some small tactics. If Deontay really wants to defeat Link, relying on these tactics won't be enough; he must show more strength, speed, and skill."
George Foreman said.
Tyson nodded, hearing Foreman admit that he had taught Deontay some fighting techniques, he felt that Deontay had a better chance of winning than Link.
George Foreman was a towering figure in heavyweight boxing in the seventies and eighties, once defeating Joe Frazier at his peak in 1973 and with a professional record of 40 wins before his defeat by Ali in 1974.
He started his career in 1969 and retired in 1997, with professional records of 81 fights, 76 wins, and 68 KOs, showing his immense strength.
Additionally, in the seventies and eighties, there weren't many tall professional boxers, and George Foreman was one of them; he was very good at fighting smaller opponents, using his long arms to break their attacks.
This was also why, from Tyson's debut in 1985 to Foreman's retirement in 1997, the two never fought each other.
In 1990, they almost clashed, but the match fell through before it was finalized.
The main reason was Tyson's lack of confidence in defeating Foreman; at a height of 178 cm and arm length of 180 cm, Tyson, who liked using upper hooks to hit his opponent's chin, was very similar to Joe Frazier.
At that time, the media believed that if Tyson faced Foreman, Tyson's chances of losing were greater.
Later, in '96/'97, Tyson fought Holyfield, who was 10 cm shorter than Foreman, and lost both matches, further confirming this point.
From these examples, when there is a difference of more than 10 cm in height and arm length between competitors, the taller boxer has a greater probability of winning.
Tyson touched his chin and took out his phone to message O'Neal, telling him to watch the live broadcast because Link might lose.
O'Neal messaged back, saying he was watching.
