Hard work pays off for Chrisjon

Hard work pays off for Chrisjon

Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Semarang

The 23-year-old fighter Christian John, or Chrisjon, recently won
an interim World Boxing Association (WBA) title.

Although he has yet to attain a full championship, Chrisjon
deserves the praise of Indonesia's boxing community for the job
he did in Bali on Sept. 26.

He has yet to match the achievement of Ellyas Pical, who in
1985 captured the International Boxing Federation (IBF) belt.

However, the Bali bout, where Chrisjon scraped out a victory
over Colombian Oscar Leon on a split decision, was the payoff for
all of his hard work in fighting his way out of the wilderness.

Chrisjon caught the boxing bug from his father Christian
Tjahjadi, who was an amateur fighter in the 1970s.

"I got into boxing when I was five," Chrisjon told The Jakarta
Post at the Bank Buana Boxing Camp, which is also his trainer
Muchlis Sutan Rambing's home in Kampong Lasipin, Semarang,
Central Java.

Chrisjon has a brother and a sister. His brother, Andrian
John, is also a professional boxer.

Chrisjon never fought in the amateur ranks like most
Indonesian fighters, instead jumping directly into the
professional ranks.

Feeling that boxing was destined to be his life, Chrisjon, who
was born on Sept. 14, 1980, took up the sport seriously as a
youth in Belang village in Banjarnegara regency, Central Java.

"I'm a rural boy. Look, my mother's name is Warsini. 'Warsini'
is a common name for villagers, right?" he said with a laugh.

Chrisjon had his first matches while still in junior high
school, fighting at local fairs in Banjarnegara.

"Don't ask how much I got paid for that. The point was that I
was able to box, plus I got a little money for food and stuff.
That's all. No more. I really enjoyed the routine at the time,"
he said.

With no equipment available, Chrisjon did anything he could to
build up his body, including helping to push full carts up a hill
in his village. He got money for the work, but what he really
cared about was building up his strength.

"The money wasn't really worth it. Only Rp 500. But I was
happy given that while I was trying to build my strength, I was
getting paid at the same time," he said.

On discovering his son's boxing talent, his father brought
Chrisjon to the boxing camp managed by Sutan Rambing in Semarang.

"I went to school as well as trained in boxing," Chrisjon said
about the early months of his partnership with Sutan Rambing.

Chrisjon began to make his name in 1997 when Indosiar began to
broadcast pro boxing bouts.

"I got paid Rp 350,000 a bout, and that had to be split with
the boxing camp and the boxing association," said Chrisjon, who
said he first fought in the junior featherweight (55.3 kilograms)
division.

His star was soon rising. After winning the national
featherweight championship, Chrisjon took the Pan Asian Boxing
Association (PABA) crown from Park Dae-kyung of South Korea with
a first-round KO in Jakarta last year.

This success in the ring has brought with it economic rewards.
"I bought a house on 66 square meters of land behind the training
camp. I bought it for Rp 65 million," he said.

His boxing prowess has also earned him a place on the national
wushu squad for the Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam this
December.

"I will compete in the 56 to 60 kilogram division. It's not
difficult to compete in wushu. I just have to work on my kicks
and takedowns. Competing in wushu will not harm my boxing
career," he said.

His Bali triumph on Sept. 25, which earned him Rp 100 million,
gave him a perfect 33 wins in 33 fights, 19 wins by way of
knockout.

The 12-round fight was a tense affair, with American judge
Ruben Garcia scoring it 116-111 and South Korean Kwan Ho-jang
116-113 for Chrisjon, while Guillermo Perez Pineda of Panama gave
the fight to Leon with a 116-112 score.

And the next step will be no less tough for the Indonesian,
with WBA champion Derrick Gainer of the United States being his
next hurdle.

Gainer, who is currently looking to unify the WBA and IBF
titles, has six months to give Chrisjon a mandatory fight.

If Gainer fails to fight Chrisjon, he will have to relinquish
his WBA title to Chrisjon. But the Indonesian will, within a
month, have to face a mandatory fight against number one
challenger and former champion Marco Antonio Barrera of Mexico.

Looking ahead to his next challenge, Chrisjon, who idolizes
Oscar De La Hoya, said: "De La Hoya is a boxer with complete
skills. I'm not by any means a match for him. Every boxer has
different characteristics. One thing worth emulating from La Hoya
is that he never loses his wits against opponents, no matter how
strong they are. And my next opponents will be very strong."