JAKARTA, Indonesia – It’s a muggy Sunday afternoon with the temperature close to 103 degrees Fahrenheit after the ninth successful defense Saturday evening by Indonesian World Boxing Association (WBA) featherweight champion Chris “The Dragon” John since he won the title in November 2003 in Bali against Oscar Leon in split decision. It’s also about three hours after ousted President Soeharto died at the age of 86 at the Pertamina hospital in this city of two million.
John won his 12-round defense in impressive style against his Panamanian challenger, the game but outclassed Roinet Caballero whose corner, led by Orlando Soto, threw in the towel before the start of the eighth round to signal that their fighter was unable to continue the fight. The victory goes into the record books as an eight-round technical knock out (TKO).
This writer scored the fight, held at the Bung Karno Indoor Stadium in Senayan, Central Jakarta, 70 – 64, after seven rounds with the Indonesian boxing idol winning all but one of the seven rounds. I scored the second a draw. John had Caballero on the verge of a knockout twice, in the third and sixth rounds.
The well-attended fight which was delayed by almost two hours because of some adjustments to the ring started around 10:45 p.m. and was the main event of a Ballroom- Boxing cum Dinner-Concert that featured entertainment numbers by some of Indonesia’s top performers. Earlier in the evening, Filipino junior flyweight Pingping Teoura lost a four round unanimous decision to local boy Angky Angkotta whose tattoos practically covered his entire upper torso and his knees and legs.
Angkotta and another Indonesian fighter who fought in the undercard, lightweight Alex Bajawa, are among the many Indonesian pugilists who sport tattoos making them the 21st century versions of the heavily tattooed character played by American actor Bruce Dern (opposite Maude Adams) in the movie “The Illustrated Man.”
John, who turns 29 on Sept. 9, completely dominated the 24-year old Panamanian who came into the ring weighing 56.9 kilograms (around 125 pounds or one pound shy of the super featherweight limit of 126 pounds). Caballero, whose natural division seems to be super bantamweight with a weight limit of 122 pounds, went to John’s body early in the fight. John, however, put up an impregnable defense and thwarted Caballero’s efforts with his stiff left jab.
At the end of the bout, the English language Sunday Jakarta Post, which had the fight story on its front page, above the fold, quoted John, who finished junior high school at Santo Borromeus Catholic school in Banjarnegara, Central Java, as having said, “I want to thank Jesus Christ and Mother Mary as it’s because of their blessings my hard training bore fruit.”
With the victory, the methodical John improved his record to 47 wins, no defeat and one draw, with 21 KOs and one TKO. Caballero received about $65,000 (P2.6 million) for his losing stand while John pocketed $215,000 (P8.8 million). Pundits believe that John should be in for the big money if he fights in the US and is exposed to American ring audiences and Pay-Per-View.
While not as exciting as Manny Pacquiao, John, who won a gold medal as a wushu athlete in the 1997 Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in Jakarta, bronze in the 2001 SEA Games, gold in the 1996 Indonesian National Games, and gold in the Indonesian wushu championships, could be, with proper handling and lots of luck, another attraction in the star studded lighter divisions. John, who joined Harry’s Gym Management in Perth, Australia under trainer Craig Christian, has had management problems before he linked up with the Aussies.
One of John’s wishes is to have more fights overseas to get the attention and money he deserves. After his victory, John told the Jakarta Post, “For my next bout, I leave it up to my management to plan. Hopefully, I can have the next bout overseas.”
For some uneasy moments, the fight was in danger of being aborted because of the failure of the Panamanian camp to submit blood samples Thursday before the fight. Ring doctor Jimmy Tambunan said that Caballero still had to submit a certificate that he is HIV-AIDS negative. Tambunan claimed that all he had was a letter from the Panamanian ambassador dated Jan. 24 guaranteeing that Caballero was free of HIV-AIDS and other contagious diseases. WBA supervisor Yangsup Shim of South Korea, however, intervened and allowed the fight to continue.
