Chapter 211: Self-contradiction
Zhang Haolong has always been following fighting events, and he sneered:
"What do you mean by most likely? This is most likely arranged by the organizers!"

"why?"

Liu Shishi's pure and elegant little face was full of confusion.

"It's simple. It's to protect the local players in Japan."

Zhang Haolong is a loyal fan of the comic book "Young and Dangerous". He has been hanging around in society since he was a teenager. Although his fighting ability is not very good, he is a fanatic of K1 events and knows a lot about some gossips. He sneered:

"To put it simply, they are picking on the weak!"

Du Sheng also understood it instantly and just shook his head and smiled.

On the other hand, isn't this Asian boxer also a soft persimmon to him?
Yang Mi is still a little confused:

"Doesn't the K1 organization claim to be fair and just? Isn't this contradicting itself?"

"Fairness and justice are relative."

Wang Yaoyang spread his hands, laughed and said:

“Among the 14 contestants in the semi-finals, more than 9 of them are monsters weighing more than 95 kilograms.

If you were the organizer, would you do something to ensure that your people would not be eliminated in the first round? "

Yang Mi and Liu Shishi finally understood and looked at each other in surprise.

I couldn't help but think, "Shame on you!"
Zhang Haolong chuckled and handed over a Japanese foreign media newspaper:
"That's not the worst part. What's outrageous is that Masato still feels insulted by facing Brother Sheng."

Everyone turned their heads and were speechless.

The newspaper recorded Masato's post-match interview, in which he mentioned the situation in the first match of the semi-finals.

What he meant was that he felt the organizers were making a big deal out of nothing, which would make him be looked down upon by foreign players.

This chain of contempt has really been escalated to the extreme.

As expected, the bottom level consists of boxers from weak fighting countries like those in the East.

I feel there is no honor in defeating them, and the benefits will be much lower.

If one is defeated or defeated by the opponent, it will be a devastating blow to one's own reputation.

Therefore, even local boxers who are given various preferential treatments by the organizers would rather fight with opponents of equal fame than with those of lower ranks.

Du Sheng was not angry about this, but smiled meaningfully:
"Not bad, at least it has generated enough hype and heat."

Talking nonsense before the game is an alternative form of promotion for fighting.

Maybe this was deliberately arranged by the organizer.

This wave of opposing cards will invisibly increase publicity and exposure.

As the most popular fighting idol star in Japan, Masato will receive unprecedented attention no matter who his opponent is.

In a sense, Du Sheng also made a profit.

After all, he voluntarily gave up his appearance fee and instead participated in a profit-sharing agreement for box office, advertising sponsorship and PPV.

The other party's verbal attack this time has invisibly increased the number of audience members and box office guarantees.

In fact, as soon as this report came out, it immediately triggered a wave of heated discussions in Beijing.

Many fighting fans expressed their desire to buy tickets on the spot to witness with their own eyes the scene where Du Sheng, the oriental pig specially invited by the organizer, was severely punished by the Silver Wolf.

This situation does have more advantages than disadvantages for Du Sheng.

Not to mention the reputation he gained, such heated discussions also invisibly increased the attention paid to his game.

Just like in the entertainment industry, celebrities are always at the center of controversy, even if these discussions are mixed with criticism and doubt.

But as the old saying goes, controversy brings popularity, and the worst thing is that no one cares.

However, controversy alone is not enough.

Faced with many doubts and challenges, Du Sheng needs to win more support from his compatriots.

This is not only to expand one's own influence, but also to ensure the smooth progress of the competition and personal economic benefits.

After all, in addition to ticket sales and unknown PPV revenue, he also needs more sponsorships to secure income.

Because according to the betting agreement, if the profit of the event is less than 200 million RMB, he will not get any share.

We can't rely on the organizers for this kind of thing, so trying to do it ourselves is one way to go.

Therefore, Du Sheng had already asked Ye Jingzhi, who had arrived earlier, to contact the Dongfang Embassy in Neon and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce.

When he got on the plane, Ye Jingzhi made an appointment with Consul Xu, who was in charge of relevant affairs of the embassy, ​​in the name of sports and cultural exchanges between the two countries.

As long as there are no unexpected events in the future, everything should be implemented smoothly.

"Those journalists and media can also make use of it..."

The last "Wulin" finals made Yangshi Channel 5 taste the sweetness. This time, there was no need for outsiders to remind them. They accepted the olive branch thrown by K1 Asia director Matsushima Fujisawa early on and agreed to broadcast Du Sheng's K1 competition.

He even agreed with Bi Shi'an's suggestion and sent reporters to Neon to record and film at any time.

In view of this, dozens of media outlets that received the news have already come to Japan to report on the event and interview Du Sheng.

In addition to the dozens of media arranged by Ye Jingzhi and Bi Shi'an, there are also many media in Hong Kong.

The scale of Du Sheng's competition in Neon this time is no less than the finals of "Wulin".

However, in order to further expand his influence, Du Sheng accepted media interviews that night after he and his team arrived at the hotel in Jingjing.

However, due to various factors, although major media outlets asked questions enthusiastically, they did not dare to easily assert what ranking Du Sheng would achieve.

In fact, there are many Chinese players in the K1 arena, but their records are not satisfactory.

Last year, the K1 Max World Championships also had a civilian representative from the East, but he lost to the national boxing champion in the first round. These failures have made the media more cautious when writing articles, fearing that the other party's failure will make the newspaper lose credibility.

Du Sheng himself was fearless.

In order to gain fame and popularity, he bluntly said in an interview that his only goal was to win the championship.

As soon as this statement was made, it immediately caused quite a stir and uproar.

k1 GP gathers top players from all over the world, and it is easy to imagine how difficult it is to stand out from them.

Many people thought Du Sheng's words were a bit arrogant.

Some even think that he should burn incense and thank the gods for making it to the semi-finals.

As for reaching the finals, no one had any expectations at all.

Du Sheng didn't pay much attention to these voices.

He knows very well that in the arena, strength is the most powerful response.

Whether it is arrogance or self-confidence, it ultimately needs to be proven by results.

As expected, Ye Jingzhi succeeded in negotiating the deal.

With the endorsement of the embassy and the support of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Du Sheng's influence grew.

As long as he can win this game and spread the news back home, the huge impact it will bring is obvious.

Just like the achievements made by Liu Xiang, Zou Shimin and others in their respective fields, Du Sheng is also on a road of breakthrough starting from scratch.

"You can only win, otherwise there will be no next time!"

After meeting, Ye Jingzhi reminded Du Sheng.

Most of the elites of the Beijing Chinese Chamber of Commerce maintain international trade relations with the East.

For them, whether it is the endorsement of the embassy or Du Sheng's potential commercial value in the East, sponsoring his events does have great benefits.

What's more, this match is not flashy, but a pinnacle showdown of Asian fighting with significant influence.

Masato has a very high level of popularity in Japan, and his advertising value cannot be underestimated.

After careful consideration, several major companies of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce joined forces to provide RMB 300 million in advertising sponsorship for the stadium.

Combined with K1's TV advertising sponsorship, the total sponsorship revenue for this fighting event reached a staggering 500 million RMB.

Even without considering the PPV (pay-per-view) revenue, Du Sheng has already exceeded the minimum expected profit target of 200 million based on ticket and sponsorship fees alone.

If the profit reaches 300 million, it is very likely that both parties will split the profits -.

The next day, when Ye Jingzhi told Ma Yaowei, Zhang Haolong and others the good news, everyone looked at Du Sheng in surprise.

It was as if I saw an impossible task being accomplished easily.

"Brother Sheng, as far as I know, there are only a few fighters in the fighting world who truly have business acumen in the past hundred years."

Zhang Haolong said excitedly:

“Even if there are a few, they only used their fame to gain commercial value after they became famous, such as Franco Duva.

But you are a genius who has perfectly combined business and fighting!"

Although Yang Mi didn't say anything, her beautiful eyes never left Du Sheng.

She sincerely admired the business talent demonstrated by this idol.

"Business genius? I prefer to call myself a business wizard."

Du Sheng responded calmly, because in the process of soliciting sponsorship, he used the influence of the embassy.

If he loses the game in the end, he will not only offend the embassy and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, but may also lose his status as a bridge for sports exchanges between the two countries.

By then, not only will it be difficult for him to gain a foothold in K1, but even participating in UFC will be criticized.

This is indeed a tightrope walk, but he chooses to move forward bravely.

Although Liu Shishi found it difficult to understand the deeper meaning of Du Sheng's words, she was still full of admiration for Du Sheng's series of actions.

But the two girls came this time just to join in the fun, and went out to have fun that day.

For safety reasons, Du Sheng asked Ye Jingzhi's assistant to accompany her and told them to come back when the game started in the evening.

And he himself still has to deal with many things today.

According to the information collected by Ma Yaowei, the full list of K1 GP semi-finals has been released.

They are 1 champions, runners-up and third-place winners from the K3 local competition, 5 continental champions, 3 foreign special guests and 3 returning heavyweights from the previous session.

The semi-finals are the main event of K1, with a total of 7 matches, an average of one match per week, which will take more than a month.

During this period, there will be minor matches such as warm-up matches and exhibition matches.

The biggest reason why the fight lasted so long was to pave the way for the next round of confrontation.

After the K1 Affairs Bureau drew lots, three pairs of matching opponents were also announced.

The match between [Masato VS Du Sheng] was scheduled as the first game of the first week.

This shows how much importance the K1 organization attaches to this.

As the heat of this heavyweight showdown continues to rise, in order to maximize publicity, the K1 organization and operating company will also plan a grand pre-match weigh-in ceremony at noon.

It is intended to deepen the audience's impression of the battle and intensify the tension between Du Sheng and Yin Lang.

.........

(End of this chapter)