Chris John stands tall in ring amid outside distractions
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Overshadowed by regional rivals Thailand and Philippines at the recent Southeast Asian Games, Indonesia has Chris John to thank as its savior in the professional scene.
The 26 year old from a small town in Central Java has put his homeland back on the world boxing map for the first time since Ellyas Pical became a world beater in the 1980s (the only other Indonesian world champion is current IBF mini flyweight titleholder M. Rachman).
Although his bout against Juan Manuel Marquez was pushed back from December to the 2006 timetable, Chris John had rounded off his remarkable run of the year with a win over little-known Tommy Browne in Sydney in August to book his 20th KO win in 37 fights with only one draw.
Chris' win was expected, but it showed the fighter's mental resolve amid a difficult legal wrangle with his former trainer.
That drama also overshadowed his April bout in Jakarta against wily veteran and former titleholder Derrick Gainer of the United States, with the Indonesian letting his light footwork and speedy punching doing the talking to win on a judges' decision.
Chris John, whose previous wins during Pan Asia Boxing Association (PABA) fights came at the expense of a host of Thai boxers, had beaten Oscar Leon in an interim title bout in Bali in September 2003, held in conjunction with a WBA convention organized by the Indonesian Boxing Commission (KTI).
The Indonesian took the full title in June 2004 with an upset win over Osamu Sato away in Japan. He defended the title against Jose Rojas in Kutai Kartanegara, East Kalimantan, in November.
Less than a month after the Rojas fight, Chris John, citing an unfair allocation of match fees, decided to part with longtime trainer Sutan Rambing and signed up with Craig Christian of Australia.
So began a prolonged dispute with Sutan, who threatened to sue his former fighter for breach of contract. Although the two eventually settled out of court, former boxing promoter Tourino Tidar, who is the WBA representative in Indonesia, also lamented the boxer's decision to train with Christian in Perth, accusing him of lacking nationalism.
"The Indonesian people must be disappointed by the decision," he said.
Haryo Juniarto, a legal chief at the Monitoring and Supervisory Body for Indonesian Professional Sports (BP2OPI), also said Chris John's decision was a bad precedent for Indonesian professional boxing, stating that his contract with Sutan was legally binding.
KTI was also in a snit, saying the boxer did not inform it of the Browne fight and calling Chris "big-headed".
"Chris John has forgotten his roots. He doesn't see KTI as the boxing authority anymore," KTI chairman Anton Sihombing said.
Encouragement about Chris John's boxing talent came from other quarters.
Former champion Syamsul Anwar, now a respected columnist on the sport, wrote that Chris executed a perfectly thought out game plan against Gainer. He abandoned his orthodox style of counterpunching by using a flurry of hooks and straight jabs.
Chris' mettle will be put to the test again when he faces Mexico's Marquez. The air has been cleared from the disputes with Sutan and the KTI, but he will have to fight through an ankle injury that has already led to the fight being delayed from December to its present Feb. 4 date.