197 World Boxing Championships 2

\"Your next opponent Luke Jackson, is a strong contender for this year's World Boxing Championship medal. Do you have the confidence to defeat such an opponent?\" Sabina asked.

Tang Yan nodded and said, \"Of course, my goal is the Olympic ticket. I aim to defeat all my opponents regardless of who they are.\"

Hearing Tang Yan's self-confident answer, Sabina showed a smile on her face, and then asked: \"We all know that you are an excellent swimmer, so many are wondering, why do you still want to participate in boxing after having achieved such outstanding results in swimming?\"

Having said that, Sabina worried that the issue was private, quickly added: \"I'm just curious, because no athlete has ever been able to achieve world-leading levels in both sports.\"

\"Don't forget he's also an archery champion.\" At this moment, Zhang Zhilei who had just finished his warmup added with a smile.

Sabina froze for a moment, looking at Tang Yan with surprise.

Tang Yan nodded and said, \"The Asian Games, it's just an intercontinental medal.\"

After seeing Tang Yan nodding, Sabina couldn't help looking surprised. In her view, participating in two projects at the same time and having achieved such results was shocking enough. She didn't expect Tang Yan to be an intercontinental champion of archery as well!

\"As for your question just now.\" Tang Yan said pulling Sabina from her daze as he said, \"Actually, I participated in boxing before I started swimming. For me, as long as time allows it, I plan to participate in as many projects as possible, because I enjoy the feeling of competing. \"

\"Of course, I also hope to win more glory for my country.\" Tang Yan added.

\"Of course, I think that's what every athlete strives for.\" Sabina acknowledged.

After this, she asked a few questions about his preparations. Tang Yan had nothing to hide, and answered.

As the interview progressed, Sabina became more and more impressed. Although Tang Yan wasn't breathtakingly handsome, he was by no means ugly and he gave off unspeakable charm as he discussed his training.

When the interview ended and her cameraman put down the camera, she courageously took a step forward, blushing and said: \"Urr....Are you free by any chance tonight? I know a nearby restaurant and I can show you around the city. \"

Hearing Sabina's invitation, and seeing the blushing face of the girl, he realised her thoughts and with a trace of apology he said: \"The team still has training tonight, sorry, thank you though for the invitation.\"

Hearing Tang Yan's answer, Sabina's face showed a touch of disappointment, but when she heard that Tang Yan was training, she couldn't feel frustrated: \"Well, good luck with your afternoon match. I look forward to seeing you go further in the World Boxing Championships.\"

\"Thank you.\" Tang Yan nodded to Sabina with a smile.

When Sabina left, the interview ended.

\"Why did you reject her, you should have accepted.\" Zhang Zhilei spoke up after Sabina left.

\"What do you mean?\"

\"Hmm, you're young, you should take your opportunities when they come.  You need to learn to grasp them!\" Zhang Zhilei said with a smirk.

\"Jeez, I'm not that casual.\"

\"Not casual my ass, I've seen the photos on your Weibo, you with a bunch of girls\"

\"Cough, they are my teammates from the swimming team. I'm still pure plus I'm only 18.\"

\"Okay, okay, keep claiming your innocence. Let's go and eat.\" Zhang Zhilei teased as he pulled Tang Yan away to the cafeteria.

.....

After waiting for the 56kg preliminaries to finish, the 63kg preliminaries followed.

With the start of the 63kg class competition, the number of spectators in the stadium improved a lot. This was the case with boxing matches, with the increase in weight class the amount of spectators increased as well.

Tang Yan was in the stands watching the fights before his, a boxer named Estchenko had just successfully caught his attention.

He was from Ukraine, his overall strength was quite good, his punches were fierce, and his reaction speed quick, in the end he only took 2 rounds to TKO his opponent.

And it just happened that he was the No. 5 pick from the draw, so that is to say, if Tang Yan won his match, this would be his next opponent.

With the top ten qualifying for the Olympic Games, if Tang Yan wanted to qualify, he would have to defeat Eschenko.

Most would feel anxious when they saw that their opponent for the next round was so powerful, but Tang Yan was excited.

That was a fight he wanted.

But before that, he had to beat Jackson.

When there was one fight left in front of him, Tang Yan got up and headed to the dressing room to change.

It took a bit over ten minutes to complete a match, so he had to go get ready now. This was the speed of amateur boxing with only four rounds in total, it was quite fast paced.

.....

As the boxers entered, the commentators on the sidelines also started to follow up on commentary.

The appearance of Tang Yan and Luke Jackson made the atmosphere on scene more intense.

As the final match, combined with the good strength of both sides, it was one of the most anticipated fights of the first day preliminaries.

\"Tang Yan and Luke Jackson, are both boxers with reputation. Tang Yan's been gaining popularity with his performance in the swimming arena, winning multiple gold medals, he'll be hoping to transfer this success to the boxing arena as well. Whilst Jackson is the silver medalist of this year's World Youth Boxing Championships, a strong contender for this year's World Boxing Championships.\" - Guest Commentator

\"To be honest, this fight is such an odd match up. I couldn't imagine Tang Yan's chances beforehand but watching back some of his old fights before he transitioned to swimming and made a name for himself. He can certainly box and hold his own. I'm interested to see he can rank up against Jackson.\" - Main Commentator

\"Really, he's a world-renowned swimmer. I can give you that. And clearly he can box if he got this far  but as for how much of a threat he can really pose to Jackson. I don't think it's much, but hey maybe I'm wrong.\" - Guest Commentato