Chapter 392: A Has-Been Boxing Champion

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Dai Li did his best to control his fear and panic, and tried to calm down as he stared at the scary looking police officers from the back of the police cruiser.

They must have caught the wrong person. I need to make things clear to them; if that doesn’t work, I can still seek help from the Chinese embassy, Dai Li thought.

The police cruiser brought Dai Li to the police station, and he was placed inside an interrogation room.

“Name?”

“Dai Li.”

“Job?”

“Coach.”

“Why were you in the restaurant?”

“To eat lunch!”

“What’s your relationship with Chris Payton?”

“I’m his boss. I’ve opened a physical fitness training center. I’m the owner, and Chris is a coach.”

After a few bouts of questioning and answering, things seemed to have cleared up. A boss was eating lunch with his staff, and then he was unfortunately dragged into the police station.

The officer took the recorded statement and went to Tucker.

“Boss, we might have caught the wrong person. According to the Chinese guy, he has no connection with the triad of Chinatown, he is just a fitness coach. He opened a physical fitness training center in Los Angeles. He’s not even an American citizen, he’s just holding an investment visa,” the officer stated.

Caught the wrong person? Tucker scratched his head, but his heart felt a little depressed. Catching the wrong person was considered a mistake for any police officer, so it wasn’t a good feeling.

“Go and check out the Chinese guy’s story. We can’t rule out the possibility that he’s related to the underworld,” Sergeant Tucker commanded.

“What about the man himself? He is currently in the interrogation room, do we lock him up?” the officer asked.

“Put him in the holding cell first.” Sergeant Tucker thought for a second and commanded, “That’s right, don’t put him in the same cell as that bastard, give him the other room. He’s not an American after all; if we can’t find any proof of him committing a crime, we should let him go. I want him to leave the police station in one piece, I have no intention of dealing with the people from the embassy.”

…

Dai Li was put in a single room. A Chinese officer even gave Dai Li an old magazine to help him pass the time.

From this, it could be said that Dai Li was treated decently. At least in a single room holding cell, he was not locked up with other criminals.

The one thing large cities in the US didn’t lack was criminals. Safety was an issue in most large cities in the US, as there were a lot of slums and vagrants in large cities, which were all sources of unease. In contrast, rural areas tended to be much safer.

It was especially apparent in a large city like Los Angeles, where it was rare that there was an empty holding cell at the police station. The crime rate was high, and many suspects were brought in for theft, fights, or vandalism; however, in truth, their real identities might be that of desperados such as murderers, arms dealers, or drug dealers. If one were locked together with these people, even if it were only for a few hours, it would be extremely rough, and one might also get violated sexually if he had terrible luck.

So, Dai Li staying in a single holding cell was more like protection, saving him from the harassment of the other criminals.

On the other side, Sergeant Tucker was questioning Chris Payton.

“You better tell me where your father and your two brothers are right now.” Tucker glared dangerously at Payton.

Payton nodded his head and said his address.

“Are you messing with me? If we could find your father and two brothers at your home, do you think we would come to catch you?” Tucker lashed at Payton in a deep voice.

Payton however, looked very calm. He grew up in a family of gangsters, so he was used to situations like this. It wasn’t his first time at a police station.

Payton shrugged his shoulders and said, “If you can’t find them at our home, then I don’t know where they are. The last time I saw them was during Christmas last year. Even if we met, they wouldn’t tell me what they were doing.”

“You don’t know what the infamous Payton family of Los Angeles is doing?” Sergeant Tucker obviously did not believe this answer.

“I don’t know.” Payton shook his head seriously. “I rent my own place, and I don’t go home. You can investigate this.”

Just as Tucker was about to speak, a subordinate police officer of his knocked on the door before barging in.

“Boss, we’ve just caught a person, you should go check it out!” the officer said.

“We catch people every day. You should follow procedure and process it yourself. I’m here questioning a suspect,” Tucker said impatiently.

“Boss, this person is special, you better come and personally have a look,” the officer said.

“Fine.” Tucker sighed weakly and left the interrogation room.

A well-built black man lay on a bench outside. His face couldn’t be seen as he lay there, but he smelled of alcohol, and he seemed only semiconscious as fresh blood dripped from his dangling arms.

“Is this man injured? Help him stop his bleeding first. Don’t dirty our floor,” Sergeant Tucker said.

“That isn’t his blood, it’s the blood of the injured person. He broke his opponent’s nose bridge in one punch. That injured person fainted on the spot, and has already been sent to the hospital,” the officer explained.

“Then what’s his problem? He was knocked unconscious? Or is he drunk?” Tucker continued asking.

“He’s drunk,” the officer answered.

“It’s not even dark yet, and he’s already this drunk. He’s even punched someone,” Tucker said with a face full of disgust.

“Apart from that, he’s also smoked marijuana. When we caught him, he was in a state of confusion,” an officer on his other side added.

“It’s just marijuana, a lot of high school students use it. Our own state senators actually legalized the stuff for six billion dollars a year! Those idiots. Don’t they know that this will increase the rate of crime!”

Tucker was filled with anger. He took a deep breath to calm himself down before saying, “If we can’t charge him with a crime of possession, then deal with it as an assault case.”

“Boss, you should first see who this is,” the officer reminded him.

Tucker walked towards the person in disgust. It was apparent he did not like the stench of alcohol coming from the man.

However, when Tucker saw the face of the black man, his expression instantly became stiff, as if he had grabbed a hot yam.

“Damn it, why is it this guy! Why did you bring this troublesome person here?” Although Tucker sounded like he was blaming someone, his tone seemed to indicate that he was actually complaining.

When people fought, and someone got injured, the police were naturally required to do something. Bringing this man to the police station was also the responsibility of a police officer, so there was nothing to blame. It was only because this black man had a special status that Tucker was getting a headache.

“Boss, what should we do? His condition is… He can’t even finish a sentence, we definitely won’t be able to find his lawyer,” the officer asked.

“Lock him up first. Get him to contact and bring in his lawyer only after he is sober. As for his assault, I think that lawyer of his will think of something to get him out of it,” Tucker said in resignation.

“But the holding cells are all full,” the officer whispered.

Tucker frowned. “This fellow can’t be put together with the other bastards. There’s always a few troublemakers in those cells, and if they happen to mess with him, he will go crazy. Someone will die. Even if all the bastards in the holding cells ganged up on him, he would still win. Forget it, put him with that Chinese guy. The Chinese have always been an honest group, they won’t stir up any trouble.”

…

A sound came from the lock of the holding cell. Dai Li stood up immediately with a face full of joy.

American police sure are efficient. They finished the investigation so quickly, and they’re already letting me out, Dai Li thought.

However, after the door opened, a prominent and muscular black man was brought in by two police officers. They turned around and locked the door after leaving the black man on the bed.

They aren’t here to release me! Dai Li sighed with disappointment. Later, he took a cautious glance at the black man.

The black man was gigantic, his muscles so big that his shirt seemed too tight. There were also trails of blood on his hands.

If Dai Li met someone like this on the streets, he would stay as far away as possible, not to mention meeting one at the police station. Dai Li unconsciously moved towards the far corner of the room. He had no intention of being involved with this type of dangerous person.

The black man suddenly rolled over and laid face down on the bed, revealing one side of his face.

There was a tattoo on his face. It began on the right side of his forehead and went down the side of his face to his jaw, making his not so good looking face seem much more ferocious. However, Dai Li became less frightened after seeing his face. He widened his eyes and couldn’t help but get closer to the man. He wanted to view the man’s face more clearly.

Kevin Taylor! It’s really him! It’s really Kevin Taylor! How did he get himself locked up here? Dai Li thought.

If one asked who the most exceptional professional boxer was in the last 20 years, the answer was, without a doubt, Kevin Taylor. He was the youngest world heavyweight boxing champion, and he was also the world’s greatest in-boxer. If he maintained his form, he could have become the world’s greatest heavyweight champion; however, he personally destroyed his own professional career.

Kevin Taylor made his professional debut 13 years ago. He was only 19 years old then. He knocked his opponent down in the first round, and in the first year of his career, he fought in 15 matches. Among these, he managed to knock down his opponents in the first round of 14 of the matches. And among these 14 opponents, only three managed to get up and make it to the second round before getting knocked down again. The others were knocked out after just one punch.

For an apprentice boxer who had just entered the professional boxing field, the record was enough to cause a furor in the boxing world.

In his second year, the 20-year-old Taylor made his first title challenge. He needed only two rounds to defeat his opponent, obtaining the WBC heavyweight title, and became the youngest heavyweight champion in history. Later, he began his undefeated run. Back then, matches were decided by points. No one could make it to the end of the match against Taylor; making it to the third round was considered an achievement. In those few years, the person who survived the longest in a match against Taylor lasted a total of seven rounds.

Without a doubt, the Taylor in his early twenties dominated the heavyweight division of the boxing world. The WBA championship belt, the IBF championship belt, the WBO championship belt, the WBC championship belt… If Taylor wanted it, then the ownership of the championship belt, regardless of its league, was already decided.

Boxing brought Taylor wealth and fame, but it also made his life chaotic. Like someone from the slums who became rich overnight, he pursued a luxurious and materialistic lifestyle with abandon. A mansion was a must, naturally. There were also hundreds of sports cars, huge gold chains and expensive watches, all kinds of luxury items. Rearing lions, tigers, crocodiles, and even sharks; gambling in Las Vegas; and finally, there was his pursuit of beautiful women, not only in terms of number but also in quality.

Taylor was destroyed by his indulgence in women. He was sentenced to a jail term after raping a Miss America. Although Taylor wasn’t the most handsome person out there, he had his demands.

A professional boxer’s career usually peaked between the age of 25 and 30. Taylor, however, was in jail for those years.

After five years in prison, Taylor was released on parole, and he returned to the boxing world. He quickly moved back into his seat as the heavyweight boxing champion.

But in a match not long after, he met a sly opponent. The opponent knew he was fighting a boxing champion, so he did not face Taylor directly. Instead, he kept dodging, and used a clinch when he couldn’t dodge. During the clinch, he used all kinds of dirty tricks, such as headbutting his opponent. Taylor became impatient and irritated during the match and bit the ear of his opponent.

In professional boxing, regardless of whether you could win or not, biting someone was considered dirty, maybe even against sports ethics. Taylor’s bite got him a two-year ban.

After that, news on Taylor disappeared from the media. The has-been boxing champion who bit people was faced with a ban; he couldn’t even fight in a match. It was clear that was the reason people lost interest and stopped paying attention.

If you count the time, Taylor’s two-year ban is almost up. I wonder if he will make a comeback. As Dai Li looked at Taylor lying on the bed, he couldn’t keep himself from using his detector.

Just as I thought, Taylor is indeed an athlete with S+ grade talent potential! But thinking about it, he did dominate the entire heavyweight boxing world, Dai Li thought.

At that moment, Taylor suddenly opened his mouth.

“Wa… Water…” Taylor said semi-consciously.

Dai Li didn’t want to bother, but after seeing Taylor’s state, he couldn’t help but walk towards the door and knock on the metal door of the holding cell with his hands.

“Is someone there? Someone!” Dai Li shouted outside.

After a short while, a police officer approached, looked at Dai Li, and asked through the iron railing with a blank expression, “What’s the problem?”

“Officer, can I get a cup of water?” Dai Li asked.

“No!” the officer replied bluntly and turned to leave.

“Wait!” Dai Li said quickly. He pointed behind him and said, “That guy needs water. He drank too much, he needs to drink water to replenish the water in his body. He might throw up in his current situation, and if his vomit is too dry, it might block his trachea and cause him to suffocate. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to have Kevin Taylor die of suffocation at your police station, would you?”

“Suffocate? Die? Heh…” The police officer had a look of “Who are you trying to scare?” written all over his face.

However, Dai Li continued speaking. “I know that the probability of that happening is low, maybe just 1%, but are you willing to put your job on the line for this 1%? If you were really that lucky, you wouldn’t be here in the first place. You should just buy a lottery ticket, and spend tomorrow counting your money at home!”

“Alright, just wait.” The officer understood the proverb, “Better safe than sorry” well. He went and brought Dai Li a bottle of water.

Dai Li took the water and walked towards the bedframe. He pulled Taylor up and poured water into his mouth.

After drinking some water, Taylor quieted down. He gradually opened his eyes and looked at Dai Li with his bloodshot eyes.

In the next second, Taylor got up from the bed and hugged Dai Li before saying passionately, “Angie, you’re back? You’re really back?”

Before Dai Li could say anything, Taylor suddenly began sobbing.

“Angie, I’ve missed you. I was wrong…”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep