Chrisjon hires Aussie trainer

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.