JAKARTA ? He?s often on the cover of a lot of Indonesian sports and fitness magazines. He endorses a slew of products, particularly a local energy drink. He?s a symbolic version of Manny Pacquiao ? not as acclaimed globally but a national hero just the same in a sport that?s not as widely popular as soccer or badminton.
Chris John, 29, is Indonesia?s only reigning world boxing champion today. He?s only the fifth world titleholder the country has produced after Ellyas Pical in 1985, Nico Thomas in 1989, Suwito Lagola in 1995 and Muhammad Rachman in 2004.
John won the WBA interim featherweight title in 2003 then was promoted to permanent status when Juan Manuel Marquez defeated Derrick Gainer to become the WBA and IBF unified champion a year later. The WBA has a strange rule where a champion is elevated to a ?super? category if he enjoys unified recognition, meaning he is also a titleholder with another governing body like the WBC or IBF.
Since his elevation, John has made 10 successful title defenses, including decisions over Gainer and Marquez. He is booked to defend the crown against shifty Rocky Juarez in Houston on Feb. 28.
To prepare for his US debut against Juarez, John trained a month in Australia during the holidays. Then he returned here for a week and left for Houston last Tuesday.
The night before John departed for the US, I had a chance to speak with him at the parking lot of the National Stadium in Senayan. How I got to meet John was a story in itself.
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Before going to Jakarta, I phoned ALA Boxing Gym owner Tony Aldeguer to ask if he knew anyone I could speak with about the fight game in Indonesia. He referred me to Temuzin Rambing, a matchmaker and promoter from Semarang City about an hour?s plane ride away from the capital.
Rambing was Aldeguer?s contact to bring in former IBF minimumweight champion Muhammad Rachman for a 10-round bout against unbeaten prospect Milan Melindo in Cebu on Feb. 28.
Aldeguer texted Rambing and requested if he could make time for me. Rambing didn?t only fly in from Semarang but he also checked in at the same hotel, the Atlet Century Park, so it wouldn?t be difficult to meet up.
I met with Rambing for several hours at the Century Park lobby Monday last week. Then he phoned Rachman?s manager Martinez dos Santos to join us.
I asked Rambing if he could set up a meeting with John but he explained why he couldn?t. His father Sutan used to be John?s trainer until he was bumped off by Australian Craig Christian before the Gainer defense, supposedly because of a ?financial riff,? according to writer Scott Mallon.
?I used to train with Chris when we were amateurs starting out together,? recalled Rambing. ?He lived in our home. His father was a farmer and his family was poor. My father spotted him when he was fighting as a junior amateur in Central Java. He joined our gym when he was 15. My father made him a world champion. He was hurt when John decided to get another trainer. Now, my father?s dream is to make another world champion. In our family, I take care of promoting and matchmaking while my father takes care of training our fighters.?
The Rambing stable lists nine pros and seven amateurs. The standouts among the pros are WBC International superfeatherweight champion Roy Mukhlis and featherweight Wajib Suswanto. Mukhlis, 22, has a 21-2-2 record, with 16 KOs. Last Jan. 30, he outpointed Simson Butar-Butar (who has knocked out Czar Amonsot twice) to claim the vacant WBC International 130-pound title. Mukhlis is ranked No. 7 by the WBO, No. 11 by the WBA and No. 23 by the WBC. Suswanto, 26, is rated No. 10 by the WBO. His record is 18-2-4, with eight KOs.
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When Dos Santos joined our meeting, he offered to hook me up with John. It was about 7 p.m. and Dos Santos said John should just be finishing his gymwork at the National Stadium, just across the street from the hotel where we all met.
Rambing excused himself from joining us to meet with John.
Dos Santos and I walked over to the National Stadium and as we reached the parking lot, John and Christian were about to ride their bicycles. John was done with his training.
Dos Santos introduced me as a boxing writer from the Philippines. Christian invited me to chat in their hotel which was just a few minutes bike ride away. But I couldn?t go because of a previous family commitment. I asked if I could speak with John for a few minutes at the parking lot.
?If it?s okay with Chris, it?s okay with me,? said Christian, owner of Harry?s Gym in Perth, Australia. John nodded his head.
I asked John about his iconic image, his defense against Juarez, his take on Pacquiao-Hatton, the pressure of being Indonesia?s only world boxing champion, his US debut and his future plans. I also asked for Christian?s comments on the same issues. Their comments were the basis of a Star story published last week.
I found John to be extremely gracious and accommodating with absolutely no airs. He posed for pictures willingly and didn?t make it seem he was bothered, if at all. He answered my questions in perfect English and didn?t mind being interviewed in a parking lot.
No question, John is a national celebrity and hero.
?TV stars, singers, models, politicians and other boxers regularly turn up at John?s press conferences and attend his fights,? wrote Mallon in Boxing 2007 magazine. ?From housewives to factory workers to government officials, 250 million Indonesians know Chris John. What is perhaps even more startling is that in a predominantly Muslim nation, a Catholic boxer is the most popular sports figure in the country.?
Not too many fans know that John won a gold medal in wushu at the 1997 Southeast Asian Games and a bronze in the 2001 edition. His father Johan Cahyadi introduced him to the sport when he was six.
John has fought only four bouts outside of Indonesia, thrice in Japan and once in Australia. He realizes that to become an international marquee star in boxing, he?s got to invade the US market, like Pacquiao did. The Juarez fight is his first step to achieve global status. Christian said if he loses, it?s back to the doghouse but if he wins, he can look forward to big money matches against Israel Vazquez, Rafael Marquez, Juan Manuel Marquez in a rematch and perhaps, even Pacquiao.
John, nicknamed the Dragon, has a 42-0-1 record, with 22 KOs.
?John could have very easily followed the same path as the majority of Indonesian boxers, fighting for next to nothing in relative obscurity,? wrote Mallon. ?But he has capitalized on his opportunities and risen to unprecedented heights. He?s not on Pacquiao?s level yet but who would have ever imagined a boxer becoming a national icon in a country where badminton is king.?
