Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion-Chapter 653 - 470 Seoul Competition
Link received a call from Bob as he was preparing to head to Seoul for the competition.
Weinstein Company agreed to have "The Line of Happiness" distributed by Lionsgate Films and also agreed to help with the Oscars campaign, on the condition that they receive an additional 10% of the North American box office on top of the original terms.
Link did not agree.
The production cost for "The Line of Happiness" was 22 million, with Palm Beach Films and Weinstein Company each originally investing 11 million.
According to the original contract, after the movie's release, the North American box office proceeds would be split equally between the production parties, while for the international box office, Weinstein Company would take an additional 10%.
To give another 10% of the North American box office to Weinstein Company, with "The Line of Happiness" breaking 100 million in North America, that 10% could amount to several million or even tens of millions of US dollars.
Link bargained down to 5%, or three million US dollars in cash, to secure the North American distribution rights for "The Line of Happiness" and have Weinstein Company assist with the Oscars PR after the film's release.
He originally thought Bob would refuse, but after more than ten minutes, Bob agreed.
This came as a surprise to him.
As far as he knew, Weinstein Company's film distribution was led by Harvey, and Bob's agreement meant Harvey's as well. Knowing Harvey's personality, how could he readily agree to compromise?
Not understanding it and not bothering to dwell on it, he called Catherine and Goldsmith and Ms. Stacy Schneider from Lionsgate Films, responsible for the movie's distribution, instructing them to get in touch with Weinstein Company to prepare for taking over the distribution of "The Line of Happiness".
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After more than ten days of training, the WBA-WBC Light Heavyweight Championship match approached.
Link led his logistics team to South Korea's Seoul for the competition. This was not his first time in Seoul; he had been there twice last year for a world tour and once for a signing event in August, so he was fairly familiar with the place.
The championship match was held at Jamsil Arena, with all of the approximately 38,000 seats filled on the day of the event.
According to a pre-match report by KBS Television, all the tickets were sold out within three hours of going on sale.
A portion of the fans who couldn't buy tickets went to the Ministry of Culture and Sports official website to petition, requesting that the arena increase seating.
Considering safety issues, the ministry did not agree, stating that on the day of the match, the event would be broadcast live on a large screen at Seoul Square, and the public was welcomed to watch it there.
The popularity of this match wasn't solely due to Link's reputation and the numerous fans he had in South Korea, but also because of the effective promotion and pre-match hype.
In promoting the match, the organizers focused on publicizing the personal backgrounds of Link and Hopkins.
Firstly, in terms of life experiences, the two shared many similarities.
Hopkins was born in the slums of Philadelphia, losing his father at a young age, getting into fights and muggings on the streets of Philadelphia in his teens, and being stabbed in the back twice, once missing his heart by just a few centimeters. Hopkins spent over two months in the hospital before he recovered.
Link's background was quite similar, coming from the streets of Miami, getting into fights, and once being stabbed in the back, nearly dying.
Hopkins served five years in Pennsylvania prisons for his crimes.
Link also served nearly a year in Miami detention centers and prisons.
The South Korean media hinted that both were "thugs".
Secondly, in terms of professional achievements, Hopkins became the IBF Middleweight World Champion in 1994, holding that title for ten years.
In 2004, he successfully challenged champions from the other three major organizations, becoming the Middleweight supreme champion, and dominated the Middleweight rank from 2004 to 2006, before moving up to Super Middleweight and Light Heavyweight.
He defeated world champions like Trinidad, Hoyle, Roy Jones Jr., Antonio Tarver, and Glenn Johnson.
Meanwhile, Link was the 2008 Olympic champion, and since then, he has been the WBA Super Middleweight champion, and from 2009, he sequentially claimed the WBA-WBC-IBF-WBO World Boxing Golden Belts, dominating the Super Middleweight rank for more than two years.
In the more than three years since he entered the professional boxing ring, he had defeated numerous world champions, including Tyson, Roy Jones Jr., Hoyle, Mikkel Kessler, Andre Ward, Carl Froch, Arthur Abraham, Belrut Shumenov, and many others.
He had become the undisputed king of the Super Middleweight division, as not a single challenger could stand against him. He frightened all his opponents, and for two consecutive years, he topped the Pound for Pound (P4P) combined strength rankings published by "Boxing Ring" magazine, earning the nickname King of P4P.
The former Middleweight champion vs. the former Super Middleweight champion.
The KBS broadcasting network described this match as the most thrilling, the most attention-grabbing, and the highest-level boxing event of the past decade, comparable to last year's match between Link and Roy Jones Jr. in Miami.
Who would win and who would lose, that would be decided today at the Jamsil Arena boxing ring.
"Is that even a question? Of course, Link oppa is the strongest. He's definitely going to win."
"Bernard Hopkins looks pretty fierce too. Yoona, who do you think will win?"
"Link oppa! I will always support Link oppa."
"There goes Yoona, swooning again."
"Can't I? Link oppa is so handsome, he sings so well, and his acting is amazing too. He's the perfect man in my eyes. Go Link oppa!"
In the VIP seats of Section B, nine girls sat in a row, all wearing masks and baseball caps. They were the members of South Korea's hottest female pop group, Girls' Generation, and they were also among Link's acquaintances in South Korea.
Last year, when Link held a concert in Seoul, he had collaborated with Girls' Generation's leader Kim Taeyeon, even visiting their dormitory at their invitation, which sparked quite a scandal.
"Yoona, Link oppa is a playboy; he's not faithful in love. He can't be considered the perfect man because of that."
The maknae of Girls' Generation, Seohyun, spoke up seriously.
"Yes, our Seohyun's idol is Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. In Seohyun's eyes, the Secretary-General is the most perfect man in the world, right, Seohyun?"
Sunny Lee Soon-kyu teased Seohyun while wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
Seohyun nodded and then shook her head repeatedly, looking puzzled about how to respond to the question.
"Seohyun, you yourself said it's just a rumor about being his girlfriend. Rumors aren't necessarily true. The newspapers say that Jun Ji-hyun is also a rumored girlfriend of Link oppa. Do you think that's possible? They have a more than ten-year age difference."
Yoona said.
Seohyun blinked thoughtfully for a while. Almost all the media labeled Link oppa as a playboy, which probably meant it was true, but seeing as she had never personally witnessed Link dating many girls, dubbing him a playboy without solid evidence didn't seem entirely fair.
"Jessica unnie, are the rumors about Link in the newspaper true?"
Seohyun turned to Jessica Jung, the group's oldest member and the only one with American nationality.
"They are true, but for someone as exceptional as Link oppa, having a few girlfriends is quite normal."
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Jessica shrugged nonchalantly.
"Having a few girlfriends is quite normal?"
Seohyun looked at her fellow members in disbelief, feeling her values shaken.
"Seohyun, stop thinking about it. We are here to watch the boxing match, not to worry about how many girlfriends Link oppa has."
Leader Kim Taeyeon advised.
Seohyun thought for a moment but couldn't figure it out, so she took Taeyeon's advice, putting those thoughts aside to focus solely on the match on the boxing stage.
