Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion

In mid-October, Link’s debut tour kicked off, with the first stop being in Miami, at the Hard Rock Stadium which had hosted the WBA boxing championship matches.

That inaugural concert drew a crowd of 87,000 Miami spectators.

It was even more lively than Lady Gaga’s concert scene in Miami back then.

The opening song of the concert was "See You Again," performed with Wiz Khalifa, and in the latter half, it led to tens of thousands of people in the audience joining in for a massive sing-along.

The finale was the Spanish song "Despacito," with special guests, including the chubby James, Michael, Daniel, and over thirty beach neighbors, along with fifty professional dancers, all doing Latin dance on stage.

While they performed, the audience below danced along.

The atmosphere on site was explosive.

"It’s awesome, Link, do you see that? Tens of thousands of people dancing with us down there, it’s like an earthquake," James said, his excitement making him jump around, his face flushed with a glow.

He still had his baseball cap on, with his reddish-brown curly hair cascading under the brim like a cape, he wore an oversized Heat jersey, and a gold chain hung around his neck, dressed like a hip-hop youth.

"It’s like a dream. I never thought I’d dance in front of so many people," said Daniel, the hot dog shop owner, and Michael from the surfboard shop, both chattering excitedly.

Sitting in the nanny van, Link looked at the three of them with a smile. Deciding to invite them and the neighbors on stage to dance during his concert in Miami had been a spontaneous idea.

After consulting with Director Ortega and choreographer Micaram, the two thought it was worth considering, so they asked everyone to give it a try to see how it worked out.

After the trial, it was pretty good.

Most residents of the beach knew Latin dance as they regularly threw parties on the beach, singing and dancing together. The only consideration was their courage, as performing in front of tens of thousands on stage could be intimidating, leading the timid to freeze up or make mistakes.

James had initially been reluctant to go up, but after being persuaded by the others, he braved it out and ended up having the most fun of all.

"Hey, Link, you’re a big star now, how does it feel?" Michael asked with wild gestures.

"It feels pretty good," Link responded with a light smile, pouring champagne for the three of them.

"Just pretty good? I think it must be incredibly cool. When you stepped on stage, over eighty thousand people cheered together. Wow, that sight, as I watched from below, my heart was pounding so hard. If I were up there, facing eighty or ninety thousand cheering people, I’d probably have a heart attack," Michael said, panting as if he were experiencing that moment.

"You know, this isn’t the first time I’ve been in a situation like this. I’ve been on the boxing ring, at other concerts, on MTV, and the Grammy stages. Those events weren’t any smaller than this, and I’ve been through so much that I’m accustomed to it," Link explained.

"Link, I thought you were boxing, how did you suddenly become a superstar singer? That’s amazing," Daniel inquired, holding his champagne.

"I got lucky. Originally releasing an album was just testing the waters, but the first one was a huge hit, and from there I became a singer," Link said, chuckling.

And that was the truth.

If the first album had poor sales and the market didn’t accept him as a singer, he would have focused on boxing to make money. As it turned out, both his albums did well.

"Being a singer is that easy? Look at me, Link. Do you think I could become famous if I tried singing?" Michael inquired eagerly.

Link eyed Michael. His image would fit somewhere above average in the music industry, but singing required a high level of vocal and creative talent. Whether a person could become a singer wasn’t something you could just see.

"Why don’t you sing something for us to hear?"

"Here? Forget it, I’d be too nervous to sing in front of you," Michael said with a shrugging laugh.

"Michael, stop dreaming. It’s not that easy to become a singer," James said, blowing the air conditioning in the van.

Link shook his head. He knew Michael harbored a dream of stardom and didn’t want to be just an ordinary surfboard shop owner. Having such an aspiration was good, better than chubby James who only ever thought about sticking to the Baker shop all day.

"It’s not that difficult either. Michael, if you really want to be a singer, you could try filming cover videos and posting them on YouTube. Many talent scouts from record companies pick people from there now. You could give it a shot," Link suggested.

"Alright, I’ll keep that in mind," Michael nodded.

"Link, can you stay in Miami for a few days after the concert?" James asked, turning around.

"Everything is ready in Houston. I’ll go there to rehearse tomorrow, and then perform the day after tomorrow," Link replied.

"That soon? You’re too busy. We were planning to throw a beach party to celebrate your successful performance," James said, frowning.

"Next time! I’m too busy right now, no time for fun. Next year should be a bit more relaxed," Link said with an easy smile.

Reaching Palm Beach Ocean Avenue, the van came to a slow stop, and James and the others got out. Link watched from the window as they left and his gaze lingered on Baker’s little shop by the sea. Then he told Bob to drive away.

"Link’s a big star now; I feel like he might never return to the beach," Daniel said, watching the van disappear into the distance.

"Yes, he’s a billionaire now, worth several hundred million US dollars. I heard he has mansions in both New York and Los Angeles, so why bother coming back to the beach?"

Michael said enviously.

"He’ll come back, he said if he ever got rich, he’d buy a big mansion in Miami Gardens. I believe what he said."

James said nonchalantly.

The three walked side by side to the beachside shop as the setting sun cast their long shadows. Suddenly, Michael let out a sigh and said, "Don’t you guys think life is so boring right now?"

James shook his head, "No!"

Daniel said it was a little but felt okay.

Michael spread his hands, "I think living like Link is the real deal—staying in luxury hotels, driving fancy cars, dating a pop star girlfriend, and doing whatever you want every day. He gets so much attention everywhere he goes, living like that must be so thrilling."

"Stop kidding, flying around all day without any time to rest—I couldn’t handle that."

James said, shaking his chubby face.

"Isn’t it good to be a bit busy? I’d like to be as busy as Link."

Michael waved his hands and returned to his surfboard shop, and a short while later, the sound of a guitar filled the shop.

"We’re going to be one playmate short again."

Daniel said, eating his ice cream.

James scratched his cheek and pushed the door into Baker’s shop.

The second stop of Link’s concert tour was in Houston, the biggest city in Texas.

The concert was held at NRG Stadium, with 65,000 tickets sold, all of which were sold out within three hours of going live. Due to the limited number of tickets, they sold even faster than in Miami.

The guest of the concert that day was Selena Gomez. She was a native Texan and had moved to New York at age ten. She was about to release her first album soon, and being a guest at his concert was also a great platform for publicity.

During the concert, Link sang "Let it go," "Rainbow," and "Unstoppable" with her.

The atmosphere on-site was also very enthusiastic.

"Link, how was my performance?"

After singing "Unstoppable" and coming offstage, Selena held his hand, batting her eyes at him with a ’quick, praise me’ look written all over her small round face.

"Wow~ Unbelievable! Selena, you almost stole the show from me on stage. You’re only seventeen, how can you be so amazing? Are you a genius?"

Link said, feigning shock as he praised her.

"Haha, you’re right, I, Selena Gomez, am indeed a genius."

Selena patted her modest chest and smirked triumphantly, and if she had a tail, it would be wagging to the sky.

Ding!

Ms. Mandy tapped her on the forehead and said, "Genius Miss, could you please score all A’s in your next exam?"

Selena immediately puffed up her cheeks, holding her forehead and complaining:

"Mom, everyone is so happy, why say something so disappointing? And, Ms. Mandy, I’m a guest you invited here, not your daughter. You better be a little more polite to me, or I’ll complain about you."

"What?"

Ms. Mandy stared with wide eyes, feeling the urge to hit someone again.

Link smiled gently and stopped Mandy, saying, "Selena is right, she’s our guest today, and we should be nicer to her."

Selena tilted her proud little face, sticking out her tongue at Mandy, then heard Link say, "But we can always beat her after the concert."

Selena’s expression fell in an instant, and she gave him a big eye roll, feeling dissatisfied, she slapped him again.

Link had more performances to do and couldn’t spend more time chatting backstage.

After changing costumes, he came out wearing a glittering leather armor, showing off his muscular arms. He rode the elevator lift, and amidst dazzling fireworks, appeared again on stage.

There was also a rock band beside him, a famous underground band from Texas, invited to join the concert.

"Link! Link! Link!"

Over fifty thousand fans below waved their glow sticks and chanted loudly, their voices like tidal waves.

Dang dang dang dang!

The band started to play the prelude to "Give me reason," the sound high-pitched and intense.

The shouting from the audience was like the waves at the sea, one after another.

It wasn’t until Link, with a guitar slung over his shoulders, walked up to the microphone and began to sing that the audience’s shouting gradually subsided.

I remembered black skies, the lightning all around me

Experience tales with

I remembered each flash as time began to blur

Like a startling sign that fate had finally found me

From mid-October to the end of November, Link held 17 concerts in major cities across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The concert with the largest audience was in Miami, with attendance numbers in other cities also exceeding thirty thousand.

According to the plans of Universal Records and Atlantic Records, there were expected to be seventy-three concerts in the United States and the Americas, fifty-five in Europe, and over fifty in Asia and Oceania.

The concerts were to take place in several phases, and after each phase, Link and his tour team would have some time to rest and do other things.

So, at the end of November, after finishing his performance in Vancouver, he flew back to Los Angeles to prepare for the early December WBA-WBC-WBO-IBF Super Middleweight Golden Belt unification bout.

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