A new day began.
After a night's sleep, the swelling on Jason Luo's face had gone down a lot. Though still a little puffy, it no longer affected his vision. After putting on a mask, he continued with his morning workout, ate breakfast, and then jogged to the training gym.
His steady routine couldn't hide the excitement bubbling inside him.
Today might be the day he signed the contract—an extraordinary day for him.
Mr. Raúl had told him that once he signed, he would officially step into the amateur boxing world.
The gym would handle his meals, training, promotion, and matches, and even arrange for him to work with a professional boxing coach. For some, signing a contract might mean losing much of their free time, but Jason Luo didn't care about that at all.
As long as he could receive professional guidance and structured training to steadily build his strength, he wasn't afraid of any hardship.
When he arrived at the gym, Mr. Raúl called him into the manager's office, pulled a thick file from a drawer, and said, "Jason, this is the draft of your contract, prepared specifically for you. Take a look. If you have any questions, raise them now and we can make revisions."
Seeing the heavy stack of papers on the desk, Jason Luo was stunned. "Mr. Raúl, are amateur boxing contracts really this detailed? I don't understand any of this, but I trust you. Why don't we just sign it directly?"
Raúl smiled and shook his head. "Jason, the laws in the United States are extremely thorough, especially for a high-risk sport like boxing. There are too many possible situations, so everything must be spelled out in the contract. Since you don't want to read it, I'll go over the main parts so you can think it through."
Jason Luo nodded uneasily and sat down.
Raúl knew how he was feeling. He poured him a glass of water before continuing. "The contract is divided into four main sections. The first section is your salary structure, which includes two parts: fixed income and competition earnings."
"Jason, since you're just entering boxing, your initial monthly salary will be relatively low—tentatively set at $3,000 per month. As your skill, reputation, and ranking in the amateur circuit rise, this income will adjust accordingly. The details are all written in the contract.
"As for competition earnings, that includes appearance fees, challenge bonuses, prize money, and other related earnings. These will be divided by percentage, with 40% going to you personally. Do you have any objections to that?"
Jason Luo shook his head, still a little dazed. "I have no objections, but Mr. Raúl… what about my sparring work?"
"Well, you don't need to worry about the physical training sparring with Reches. I'll handle that separately. As for practical sparring with Kamman, you can continue. His level is very high, and it will help you a lot. Of course, that income is considered personal, so it will all be yours."
Jason Luo was very satisfied with this. That alone meant nearly $4,000 more each month, and sparring with Kamman would let him learn a lot.
Raúl continued, "Since you're fine with that, let's move on to the second section.
"From the day you sign, the training gym will fully arrange your diet, training schedule, and rest time. You'll also receive regular health checkups. The rules are clear—you must quit smoking and drinking, and absolutely stay away from drugs! If you're ever caught using them, the punishment will be severe. Your lifestyle needs to stay as healthy and regular as possible. If anything unusual comes up, you should call me directly..."
"The third section is training. We're responsible for designing a professional training program for you, providing technical coaches, and supplying training equipment..."
"The fourth section covers handling unexpected situations and dividing responsibility..."
...
Jason Luo was relieved he hadn't tried to read the contract himself. Just listening to it once was enough to give him a headache. To him, it all boiled down to this: the gym had already prepared everything. All he needed to do was train hard. What else was there to think about?
Jason Luo stood up immediately. "Mr. Raúl, thank you for giving me this opportunity. I'll definitely train hard and bring back results to repay you."
Raúl followed. "Jason, don't say that. This contract is something you earned with your own effort. I just hope you'll keep pushing forward. Remember, you're still young, and there will be plenty of opportunities. But don't ever stop moving forward. Maybe one day, you'll stand at the very top of the Empire State Building!"
After the contract was signed, Raúl assigned him a private training room. It had punching bags, medicine balls, resistance machines, a boxing ring, as well as treadmills and cardio equipment. From today on, Jason Luo could train there on his own.
The whole thing felt almost unreal. By lunchtime, he was even more surprised—sashimi, milk, steak, turkey chunks, and two fresh eggs. The nutrition was incredible! Jason Luo, used to eating simple vegetarian meals at home, didn't waste a single bite—he finished everything.
With meals taken care of, he no longer had to run back and forth. The extra time could all go into training. Fueled by excitement, his training that day felt especially sharp.
"Ding! After rigorous training, your Boxing Technique has improved..."
Haha, Coach Pedro's methods really worked. In just one day, both his Footwork and Boxing Technique had improved. This was clearly the right path!
If only Coach Pedro could guide him long-term. But he worried the coach might not take him seriously.
That afternoon, full of energy, Jason Luo went to Kamman's gym for sparring practice.
As soon as they met, Kamman teased him, "Well, look who it is—our handsome guy. Free tonight? Want to grab a coffee? Haha!"
"Enough about that already. It's disgusting..."
Kamman grinned. "What a waste. You turned down a shortcut to riches. Instead of getting rich overnight, you came here to be my sparring partner. I'm flattered."
Jason Luo couldn't take it anymore. "Fine. If I see that woman again, I'll bring her to you. Maybe your taste is even heavier!"
"Oh no, I don't have abs like you do, hahaha..."
After some joking, Kamman grew serious in the ring. After a few rounds of offense and defense, he was surprised to notice that Jason Luo's movements and Footwork had become far more agile. It left him puzzled.
During a break, he asked directly, "That's strange. How did you improve so much after just one match? This is no small progress. Were you hiding your real ability before?"
Jason Luo wiped the sweat from his face, delighted by the praise. "Really? Yesterday, Coach Pedro taught me a new training method, and it's very effective! And this morning, I signed a contract with Mr. Raúl. Now I'm officially an amateur boxer."
...
(40 Chapters Ahead)
p@treon com / GhostParser