Chrisjon hires Aussie trainer

Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Semarang

After splitting with trainer Sutan Rambing, world featherweight champion Chrisjon of Indonesia has hired new trainer Greg Christian of Perth, Australia.

Christian will guide the boxer through his training for his mandatory fight against Derrick Gainer of the U.S.

"I signed the contract with Christian's right-hand man on Tuesday. Christian will become my coach and manager," Chrisjon said here on Wednesday.

The match against Gainer has been scheduled for March 3, or 90 days after Chrisjon retained his belt after a draw with Jose Rojas of Venezuela in Tenggarong, East Kalimantan.

However, the Gainer fight could be in jeopardy following an appeal by Sutan for the World Boxing Association (WBA) not to sanction the fight until after he and Chrisjon settled their differences.

Claiming that Chrisjon was tied to a contract until 2007, Sutan threatened a lawsuit for any breach in the contract.

However, on Wednesday Chrisjon did not appear to be bothered by the threat.

He said that he would undergo his preparation for the Gainer fight with Christian in Australia.

Chrisjon said his decision to choose Christian as his coach and manager was because he knew that Christian was a reputable coach.

"Christian also has a broad network with the World Boxing Association (WBA) officials," he said, adding that Christian was a friend of promoter Daniel Bahari.

Daniel has been promoting Chrisjon fights.

Chrisjon, who is going to marry Anna Maria Megawati in February, said he would first solve his dispute with his former coach Sutan Rambing before moving to train at Christian's camp.

He said he was ready if Sutan brought the case to court.

After his defense against Rojas, Chrisjon decided to leave Sutan's Bank Buana Semarang training camp in late December, at the time he said he wanted to become his own manager.