Promoter returns to Chrisjon for match

Promoter returns to Chrisjon for match

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Boxing promoter Daniel Bahari, who previously had parted
company with WBA featherweight champion Chrisjon, has recently
got back involved by offering to put together a US$75,000 fight
with Derrick Gainer in November, according to WBA coordinator for
Indonesia Tourino Tidar.

Daniel played a key role in Chrisjon's rise to the world
championship. He brought his 25-year-old protege along on a trip
to Japan and returned home triumphantly after defeating Osamu
Sato in his first title defense in Tokyo.

However, plans to fight either world No. 7 Spend Abazi of
Denmark or No. 14 Jose Cheo Rojas of Venezuela fell through after
Daniel and Chrisjon's trainer could not agree on the payment.

The disagreement resulted in the departure of Daniel at the
time. His offer came one week after little-known promoter M.
Arsyad from East Kalimantan had offered the match fee at $70,000.

While confirming Daniel's offer, Tourino said he did not
understand the move made by Daniel.

"I have no explanation about Daniel's move. Arsyad made his
own to avoid Chrisjon's match from being put on a bid," Tourino
said.

Apart from Daniel's abrupt turnaround, Tourino said that
bidding, which could have drawn foreign promoters to take the
match option, had now been avoided.

The WBA had formerly scheduled the bidding for Oct. 12-13.

Gainer's side, in their faxed letter to Tourino, appear to be
in favor of accepting Daniel's offer.

Meanwhile, the involved Indonesians -- Arsyad, Daniel, Sutan
Rambing and officials from Indosiar TV -- will be seeking to
resolve the problem on Thursday.

Tourino said that payment for Chrisjon had already been
resolved by Sutan in the form of sponsorships.

"Sutan has told me that they had secured a total of Rp 2.25
billion from a sponsor, Rp 1.5 billion (US$160,000) of which will
go to Chrisjon."

The bout, according to Tourino, is likely to take place in
Kutai, East Kalimantan, at the end of November.

Chrisjon, with a perfect 34-0-0 record, became the WBA
featherweight champion after defeating Oscar Leon of Colombia in
September last year in Bali before retaining the title with a win
over Osamu Sato.