Chapter 414: Money Matters (1/2)

Chapter 414: Money Matters

Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

”The War of the Century: Kevin Taylor Back to His Peak!”

The latest boxing magazine's cover was a picture of Taylor holding up his golden belt after he won the match.

”Good picture with a perfect angle from the bottom up. Like Taylor is a king on his throne.” Ayres put down the magazine and turned to Dai Li to ask, ”Did you think about what I told you last time?”

”What you said last time?” Li Dai was confused for a moment.

”Finding a full-time manager,” said Ayres.

”You mean that! I've thought it over. You're right. I really need a full-time manager here. In the future, I will expand the training center or open a few branches. I cannot manage it with only myself. ” Dai Li sighed and added, ”But there are few suitable candidates for this position. The manager must know both management and sports. So, it might take some time to find a suitable one. I'm not worrying about it.”

”If you want such a manager, I have a candidate for you,” Ayres said.

Dai Li was interested. Ayres was a legendary boxing instructor who knew a lot of people. His recommendation would be better than Steve's.

Seeing that Dai Li was interested, Ayres then said, ”I have a student, whose name is Randy Blake. I do not know if you know him.”

”Your student? A boxer?” Dai Li asked.

”He was a boxer twenty years ago.” Ayres added in nostalgia, ”In fact, he was my worst student. Most of my students won golden belts. But Randy-Blake won nothing in his entire career. When I think about it now, I feel pretty embarrassed.”

”Blake likes sports very much. His short legs stopped him from playing American football, and his short arms stopped him from playing basketball. And his near-sightedness limited his development as a baseball player. Finally, he chose to be a boxer. Unfortunately, he didn't have a great talent in boxing. Even I couldn't teach him to win golden belts.”

”Blake was my assistant coach for a while after his retirement. He wanted to be a boxing coach, which was a common choice for retired boxers. But he is not talented in coaching, so he returned to university to study for a degree in management.”

”Later, he became a sales agent for a brand of protein and healthcare products and did a good job. But he still could not give up sports. Right now he is working as an obscure sports commentator. His advantage is that he knows about many sports programs. Track and field, boxing, basketball, American football, baseball, tennis, and so on. He has many opportunities for sports commentary.”

”Personally, I think Blake is the right man for your training center. He knows about sales and sports. And he knows a lot of people in the field of sports. He is not an excellent athlete or coach, but I think he will become a successful manager.”

”Blake might not ask for a high salary. You know that professional boxers can make a lot of money. The fact that he did not earn any golden belt did not stop him from making big money through professional boxing, so salary is not important to him. What he wants the most is a stage to do something he is interested in, to use his advantages.”

Dai Li nodded. ”Sounds like a very good guy. If he has your recommendation, then I'm more than happy to let him try! But let's be clear; I will weed him out if he is unqualified.”

…

Steve was reading dozens of sports magazines, one by one. Almost every sports magazine had an article about Taylor, especially the boxing magazines.

”Kevin Taylor, 33 years old now. It's hard to imagine a 33-year-old boxer returning to his peak!” Steve sighed slightly and then opened another magazine.

The magazine had a full page report on Taylor with a different angle than other sports magazines. This article focused on the money Taylor earned from that ”War of the Century.”

Taylor was paid $20 million for the match. And that was not surprising. His appearance fee a decade ago had reached that level. The bonus of the game was $100 million. Traditionally, the winner receives 60% of it, and that's $60 million! And there are other sources of income. It's a lot of money... D*mn it! I almost became Taylor's agent not long ago. If I were Taylor's agent, I would be getting tens of millions of dollars! Not being Taylor's manager was one of the worst decisions I've ever made.

Steve suddenly felt that he had lost the biggest income in his life. He had been Phillip's agent for a long time, and had only earned several million dollars. That was less than what Taylor's agent earned from one of Taylor's matches.

Steve regretted his decision very much. He hadn't become Taylor's agent when he found out about Taylor's debts of more than twenty million dollars. Steve thought that an old boxing king at the end of his career life could never pay such debts with his limited remaining commercial value. But he hadn't foreseen that Taylor would come back to the top of the field of boxing to be the super boxing king who could make a billion dollars in a single fight again.

Maybe I still can do something. So far, I haven't heard that Taylor has found a new agent. I should try again!

…

Dai Li showed Randy Blake around the training center and then they came back to the office.

”What do you think of my business here, Blake?” Dai Li asked as he gave Blake a cup of coffee.

”Thank you.” Blake took the coffee cup and said, ”Honestly, I don't think you've done enough marketing. Your training center brought Kevin Taylor back to the top. Taylor is your sharpest weapon, but you have not made good use of the weapon.”

”I had a poster of Taylor on the door, and I had him on the leaflet,” Dai Li explained in a low voice.