Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion-Chapter 819 - 592: Boxing King Finals

In mid-October, Lionsgate Films released its fourth movie of the fall season, "The Big Short".

The film is adapted from the book of the same name by Michael Lewis, set against the backdrop of the 2008 US subprime mortgage crisis, telling the story of several Wall Street investment wizards who profited greatly by shorting CDS of subprime loans and becoming one of the few who made a fortune in the financial disaster.

Starring Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, among others, with Link making a cameo appearance.

"The Big Short" was released on the third weekend of October and garnered a box office of 10.92 million US dollars in 1583 cinemas, and exceeded 60 million US dollars after 21 days of release, which is a decent box office performance for a documentary-style movie. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

Internationally, it earned 50.3 million US dollars in over 80 countries and regions within three weeks of release.

The total box office broke 100 million.

The production cost was 28 million US dollars, making it a popular movie project.

Mainstream media also gave the film favorable reviews, giving it a good chance of securing several nominations or awards at the next year's Academy Awards.

By the end of October, on the eve of Halloween, Lionsgate Films' fifth movie of the fall season, "Split", was released.

"Split" is a horror-thriller, directed by famous director M. Night Shyamalan. After making a significant loss on the 2013 project "After Earth", Shyamalan took a two-year break, and last year partnered with Lionsgate Films to shoot this low-budget film.

"Split" had a production budget of just 9 million US dollars and tells the story of a person with dissociative identity disorder who is diagnosed by a psychiatrist with 23 multiple personalities.

The movie stars James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, and others.

During its first three days, it achieved a box office of 40.01 million US dollars in 3038 North American cinemas, becoming the box office champion of the week.

Halloween fell on a Sunday that year, and "Split" brought in a box office of 34.63 million US dollars in 3299 cinemas. Although it didn't set a new record, it ranked in the top ten among Halloween releases.

It is also considered one of the best horror movies of the year in the North American film market.

After 14 days of release, "Split" reached a North American box office of 101 million US dollars.

It became the tenth movie of Lionsgate Films to break 100 million dollars in the North American Region.

Simultaneously with its North American release, the film was also released in over fifty countries and regions abroad, accumulating a box office of 120 million US dollars in three weeks.

The total box office is expected to be around 300 million US dollars.

Relative to its 9 million production cost, the return on investment is over thirty times, making it considered the most profitable dark horse of the year.

Shyamalan, who had 'dug pitfalls for all the Big Six Studios' in Hollywood, through this film, regained the attention of major Hollywood movie companies.

Following the success of "The Big Short" and "Split", Lionsgate Films' total box office for the year's releases has already surpassed 2.12 billion US dollars, over 300 million more than Disney, which ranks second.

This figure has exceeded Warner Bros. Pictures' 2009 record of 2.105 billion US dollars in North American total box office, making it the highest annual total box office record for a North American film distributor, with Lionsgate Films becoming the second company in history to exceed 2 billion dollars in annual revenue.

Considering that Lionsgate Films still has movies like "The Hunger Games 4" and "The Revenant" yet to be released, media predicts that the total box office revenue from this year's releases could surpass 2.5 billion, setting a new and unprecedented record.

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Coming to November, Link continued his boxing training, and on the 5th, led his team to MGM Grand Las Vegas to participate in a title unification fight against Young Klitschko for the Heavyweight Boxing Champion.

Before this match, over a hundred businesses worldwide wanted to secure the rights to host this event, with major companies from Berlin, London, Tokyo, Warsaw, and other places participating in the bidding.

After three rounds of bidding, the hosting rights were snatched by multiple American sporting companies and a hotel alliance.

Link's appearance fee for this match reached an unprecedented 250 million US dollars, which he would receive just for participating, even if he lost, while his opponent's appearance fee was 15 million.

This was the base purse, in addition to earnings from PPV revenue share, ticket sales, advertising sponsorships, etc. If Link won this match, his total prize money was expected to reach 400 million US dollars.

Due to the significant impact of this match and the considerable attention it attracted, Link and Young Klitschko arrived in Las Vegas three days before the match to promote it, generate buzz, and increase the heat for the event.

After several days of promotion, the hype for the match was no less than that of the NBA Finals.

On Sunday the 8th, the Heavyweight Championship unification match between the four major organizations kicked off.

That day, hundreds of celebrities were in attendance, including actors, singers, politicians, socialites, and sports stars, even the old father-in-law came to support the event.

Under the lens of HBO's camera, the front row of the audience is filled with familiar public figures. HBO live reporter Steve Mandanda points to the audience and says, the seating area looks like the Academy Awards or the Golden Globes ceremony, sweeping past are all celebrities.

"With so many stars here, it would be quite awkward if Link loses the match."

In the audience, Hoyle turns his head to look around; almost all seats are occupied by stars, with over a hundred media reporters below, all equipped with their cameras and gears, far more than the media present at the 'Fight of the Century' in May.

"Hoyle, is it possible for Link to lose?"

O'Neal, wide-eyed, asks anxiously.

"Everyone can lose. If Link performs abnormally in the ring, he can lose as well."

"That's as good as saying nothing."

O'Neal rolls his eyes in exasperation and then turns to look at Tyson, Holyfield, Chris Byrd, George Foreman, Hasim Rahman, and others nearby. The reason he is seated here, instead of with fellow athletes like LeBron James, Wade, and Chris Paul, is to conveniently listen to Tyson and the others' commentary on the match.

"Mike, Evander, do you think Link will lose? The media says that Little Klitschko has a high chance of winning with his brother as a sparring partner."

O'Neal inquires.

Tyson and others shake their heads, not intending to say much. The last time when Link fought Big Klitschko, they saw Link being forced back repeatedly and thought he would lose.

But it all turned out to be a tactic; Link had fooled everyone.

This time, they've decided to stay silent until the match is over to avoid being embarrassed again.

Seeing them not speaking, O'Neal discontentedly purses his thick lips.

Not far from O'Neal's seat, in another section of the audience, Frank Duvall watches Link in the ring and sighs, "It really wasn't easy; Link has finally gotten this far."

"Indeed, seven years ago, I personally went to Miami Beach to talk to Link. If I knew he would reach this point today, I would have signed him no matter the cost."

His wife, Nora Duwa, also looks at Link and says.

Compared to seven years ago, Link has become taller, stronger, more handsome, and carries a powerful aura around him; he has changed so much, as if he's become a different person.

"Haha, Link's asking price was very high back then; you all were scared away, but I was the only one who dared to sign him."

Frank says, arms folded across his chest, smiling proudly.

"Yes, you did very well in signing Link, very insightful."

Nora Duwa says with a smile.

"Thanks!"

Frank says, shrugging his shoulders with a smile.

Nearby, Eddie Hearn, the president of Matchroom Sport, top promotion company's Greg Cohen, Queensberry Promotions' Frank Warren, and premier championship promotion company's Al Haymon, overhear Frank Duvall and his wife's conversation and silently lament Frank Duvall's good fortune.

The reason they attributed it to luck rather than good judgment is that over the past seven or eight years, Frank Duvall had signed more than a dozen boxers, but only Link became a Boxing King, and the others were very mediocre; meeting Link was entirely a matter of luck for Frank.

However, this kind of luck is enviable. Originally just an ordinary second-generation boxing promoter, Frank's performance was mediocre in every aspect.

But after meeting Link, Frank's fortunes took a turn for the better. He founded Dynasty Promotion and has been earning hundreds of millions of US Dollars annually from Link. In the past two years, the company successfully went public and is currently valued at 1.6 billion US Dollars, surpassing top promotions and major events, becoming the strongest promotion company in the boxing industry.

And all of this is because of Link.

Greg Cohen and others look at Link in the ring, wishing they could turn back time to the summer seven years ago. Faced with Link's demand for a 100 million US Dollar signing bonus and 70% of the fight earnings, they would have agreed without hesitation.

Regretfully, there's no going back.

Ding Ding Ding!

The match is about to begin.