KTI chief slams 'third party' in Chris John-Sutan dispute
KTI chief slams 'third party' in Chris John-Sutan dispute
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Chairman of the Indonesian Boxing Commission (KTI) Anton Sihombing has blamed third party meddling for the failure to resolve the contractual dispute between featherweight champion Chris John and his former trainer.
"The problem between Chris John and Sutan Rambing could have been settled in an amicable manner, if there hadn't been a third party who became involved who had their own interests in mind instead of the majority's," Anton was quoted as saying on Wednesday by Antara.
He said the commission reached an agreement with Chris John and Sutan shortly before the former's World Boxing Association (WBA) successful featherweight title defense against American Derrick Gainer on April 22.
The boxer agreed to pay a total of Rp 150 million in two equal installments, Anton added, after Sutan threatened to sue for breach of contract.
"My understanding was that the problem would not continue," he said. "But it turned out that an agreement was made, without the knowledge of KTI, for Rp 450 million, which was brokered by the third party of the controlling and supervisory body for professional sports (BPPOPI), under the auspices of the Office of the State Minister of Youth and Sports Affairs."
The matter was not within the supervisory body's jurisdiction, Anton said.
The agreement to pay Rp 450 million was mediated by BPPOPI, along with promoter Daniel Bahari. However, Anton said Chris John had not given permission to Daniel to agree on the amount of compensation.
He criticized those "would-be heroes" in the dispute, including former badminton player Icuk Sugiarto, now an expert staff to the state minister.
"With all due respect to Icuk Sugiarto ... can he grasp the problems of professional boxing as a former badminton players? ..." Anton said.
Sutan is threatening to sue Chris John for resigning from his Semarang-based Bank Buana training camp in December 2004. The boxer's contract ran through 2007.
Meanwhile, Chris John said on Thursday that he would retain Australian Craig Christian as his manager and trainer, including training at the latter's Harry's Gym in Perth.
Chris John confirmed that he received US$90,000 for the Gainer bout, with Christian paid $22,500 and $7,000 provided to the WBA and KTI in fight fees.
Although he has been criticized for moving to another training camp after Sutan coached him to his world title, Chris John said of Christian: "If it's already going well, why should I consider moving to the training camp of somebody else?"
The boxer plans to leave for Perth by the end of May.