Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion

Chapter 156: Critical Hit

ABC’s talk show "The View" is a midday talk show.

It started airing in 2007 and, like the Oprah Winfrey Show, primarily features celebrity interviews and discusses some of the more popular recent topics.

The difference is that the program has five female hosts of different skin colors—black, white, red, yellow, brown—making race issues crystal clear.

All five female hosts are middle-aged women over 30, who often talk about gender topics.

"The View" has more than ten million regular viewers in America, mostly women, which is the main reason why Ivanka arranged for him to participate in this show.

Just the thought of the upcoming onslaught from five middle-aged women gave Link a bit of a headache.

"Good afternoon, Link, and welcome to ’The View.’"

The host, and Academy Award-winning actress Whoopi Goldberg, 54 this year, once won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her outstanding performance in "Ghost."

She also got an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for "The Color Purple," and has a Grammy Award to her name—a very famous black female celebrity.

Link smiled, hugged the eldest Whoopi Goldberg, and then greeted the other four hosts, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Sunny Hostin, and others.

"Wow, Link is so handsome, even more than in his photos."

The thirty-something blonde host Elisabeth Hasselbeck looked Link over and exaggeratedly praised, "It’s really hard to imagine that a handsome guy like him could be such a strong boxer and sing so well. Most importantly, he’s only 20 years and 8 months old. Does anyone want to date this cool guy?"

"Yes!"

The hundreds of female audience members responded enthusiastically.

Link smiled lightly and waved to the audience.

"I would, too, Link. Could you sit next to me?"

Ms. Elisabeth warmly invited him.

"Elisabeth, stop being flirty. You should get married soon; your kids are older than Link."

Whoopi Goldberg scolded with a laugh.

"Link, do you think I’m old?" Experience tales with empire

Ms. Elisabeth asked.

Link replied with a smile, "Ms. Elisabeth possesses the wisdom and charm of an older woman; I think it has something to do with age."

"Haha, Link, you’ve answered so well, but next time you can just tell her she’s old, no need to be so polite."

Another host, Sunny Hostin, laughed.

Everyone else applauded for Link’s response.

Link sat down with the five hosts, his seat between Whoopi Goldberg and Elisabeth.

"Link, I heard you’ve just taken the SAT?" Goldberg asked.

"Yes!"

"How did it go? Oh, I remember asking my son Johnson the same question over twenty years ago, and now asking Link, it feels very heartwarming."

Goldberg laughed heartily.

"I felt pretty good about it, I did all the questions I could."

"Were there many you couldn’t do?"

Ms. Elisabeth asked.

Link replied with a small smile to the camera, "I can only say that I did my best."

Everyone laughed.

"Yes, Link’s been very busy. We all know his schedule last year—in August, he participated in the Olympics and won a gold medal, in September and October he competed in the WBA championship and won the World Champion’s Golden Belt, he beat Tyson in Atlantic City, and in January he released an album and had concerts and signing events across the United States. He’s been non-stop all year.

Link, with you being so busy, do you have time to read and study?"

Ms. Goldberg asked.

Link spread his hands, "Time is squeezed out, like before the match with Tyson, I would do some seventh-grade math problems in the dressing room."

Pfft!

Hahahaha!

The whole room burst into laughter.

The thought of a World Champion boxer doing math problems before a fight kept the laughter going.

"Link, which do you find harder, solving math problems or beating Tyson?"

Ms. Elisabeth asked, barely holding back her laughter.

Link thought for a moment and sighed, "I beat Tyson, but there are some seventh-grade geometry problems that I still don’t understand."

Many in the audience could relate and burst into applause and laughter again.

"Link, you’re an Olympic champion, world boxer, and a popular singer; you are quite successful. Why did you decide to take the SAT? Some media think it’s a publicity stunt; how do you address such skepticism?"

Ms. Goldberg asked.

Link said, "I’ve faced a lot of skepticism. Taking the SAT, I also faced skepticism; this I did not expect. My reason for taking the SAT is pretty simple. I believe the SAT, ACT tests are among the significant experiences most Americans will go through, a milestone in life.

I had a less than pleasant childhood, a rather chaotic adolescence, nearly veering off the main path of life, and that is one of my regrets. Now that I’m successful and still young, I have the opportunity to make up for this regret, so I did it."

Clap, clap, clap!

Ladies like Goldberg and the others led the applause.

Link smiled and added, "I think taking the SAT is a form of socializing, too. Before, when I chatted with Paul Walker and James Franco, they would talk about taking the SATs or going to college. Each time they talked about it, I could only be an audience, but now I have the chance to join the conversation."

The crowd burst into an approving laughter.

After discussing the SAT, the interview moved into the official question segment.

Since the show’s five hosts were all married women and the main audience was also female, the interviews often touched on topics like gender relations, family, child education, growth, career, etc.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Before the interview, the "The View" team gave Link a program outline, including the interview outline, main questions, and the theme of this episode—gender relations and family violence.

Upon seeing the theme, Link could guess some of the questions and had prepared accordingly, but then the host opened with:

"Link, last time Miss Amber visited our show, she talked about some private matters between you two. She said you are quite impressive in that department, claiming every time is measured in hours—is that true?"

Ms. Elisabeth asked with a smile.

Link paused for a moment, looked at the camera, and asked, "Can we discuss this kind of topic on the show?"

Ms. Goldberg laughed and said, "You must not watch our show very often. In the last episode, Elisabeth said that she often fakes orgasms to avoid hurting her husband’s ego."

"Last year, Whoopi revealed on one of the shows how she and her boyfriend made love in the ocean, and it was a very bad experience," Ms. Elisabeth shot back.

The remaining three female hosts also started sharing many bold topics they had discussed on the show. In any case, what happened between him and Amber wasn’t considered very scandalous for The View.

Listening to five middle-aged women talk about dirty jokes.

Link couldn’t help but feel his face grow hot; the show’s standards were too much for him to handle with his level of embarrassment.

"Ladies, pause for a moment. Link’s getting embarrassed."

Ms. Goldberg intervened with a laugh.

"Wow, can the World Boxing Champion also be shy?"

"Haha, I almost forgot, Link is still a young man who just became an adult."

"Link, welcome to the adult world," the women laughed.

"Link, if you’re feeling uncomfortable, we can move on to the next question," Ms. Goldberg offered.

Link wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Talking about it is no problem, I’m a boxer, everyone knows that boxers train frequently, and our bodies are stronger than ordinary people, in terms of strength, stamina, and rhythm. So, boxers generally perform better in that area, and I am even stronger than all other boxers."

"Oh, are you saying you are the best in the world in that respect?" Ms. Elisabeth laughed.

Link shrugged and said, "Even if I’m not the very best, I’m among the best."

Clap, clap, clap!

The female hosts led the applause, and the audience clapped and cheered. Just when Link thought he had answered well, Ms. Goldberg asked:

"Link, this episode’s theme is about gender relations and family violence. Amber claimed that she often faints during intimate acts with you, just like being KO’d by you. I think this could be considered a form of domestic violence, don’t you agree?"

The atmosphere on set suddenly turned quiet, everyone looked at Link—it was a difficult question to answer. If he admitted it was domestic violence, he’d be labeled as an abuser. If he didn’t, but Amber claimed she had fainted.

Link glanced at her, this question wasn’t in the interview outline and he started to suspect they were giving him a hard time for that comment he made about ’America not being only for the African-American community.’

"Link, if you don’t want to respond, there’s no need to answer this," Ms. Goldberg added.

Link said, "No, I’m just pondering the fainting issue. Last year at the Han Jing Olympics, when I won the championship and was about to receive the Gold medal, I almost fainted from the excitement, too.

If I could score above 1500 points on the SAT, I’d probably faint from happiness as well.

Ms. Goldberg, back when you were at the Oscars and heard the presenter announce—Academy Award-winning Actress, Whoopi Goldberg—did you feel so excited that you almost swooned?"

Ms. Goldberg thought for a moment and laughed, "I did feel something like that."

Link laughed and said, "I think the kind of fainting Amber was talking about must be that sensation, which doesn’t seem to be anything bad, let alone violent. If it’s violence, then it must be a blissful strike."

"Wow, Link put it so nicely, a blissful strike—I want to experience that too,"

Ms. Elisabeth exclaimed dramatically.

The audience below also clapped and cheered.

"Wow! I also want to experience Link’s mighty blow,"

Ms. Katy Perry leaned on the sofa in front of the television, watching Link on the screen and pressing her legs tightly together.

"Men are never any good."

On the opposite sofa sat a beautiful black woman, none other than the pop singer Rihanna, her face bearing bruises and a look of grievance.

Rihanna and Katy Perry, both singers and both with Mexican heritage, had a closer relationship in the industry.

"Just because your boyfriend hit you, you think all men are bad. Link is absolutely a good man, so handsome, so strong, his voice so sexy. Ah, I can’t take it any longer. I don’t know why, but whenever I see him or hear his voice, my body itches all over," Katy Perry said while rubbing her legs.

"Stop being horny,"

Rihanna gave her a look and said, "He’s Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, and you’re too thirsty to get a taste."

"So, what? Couples in the entertainment industry never last long, especially when they’re so young—they’re bound to break up sooner or later. By then, I may very well have a chance. Wait for me, darling,"

Katy Perry looked at Link on the television, kissed her fingers, and blew the kiss towards him.