Incredibly good. He stands as Indonesia's clear p4p GOAT, for what that's worth, and is a top fifteen all-time featherweight.
He was a very good fighter, you don't amass a record, resumé and title reign like his if you're not top class.
Let me tell you something about Christopher J. John. I went to South Lamptonshire Blvd trying to catch myself a deal on a good Oakland Wonder Tip, under the Wilkes-Menschley Bridge, one night, back in 2009. I was tripping on billies and in no mood to be messed with... er-with which to be messed. Anyway, I ran into a crusty old sailor we used to call Limps McGavin. He didn't have a limp, but we had our reasons. Limps used to attack people like me and any Asians who frequented the area. Probably because of the war. When he saw me, there was an evil look in his eye. The look of a mean rattlesnake, but twice as cunning. He was armed, and extremely dangerous. Not only armed, but he had an arm on each side, like most men, but most men aren't out to get people like me. And that is what made him so dangerous. He tugged on my denim jacket, told me one of the buttons was missing and he'd "find it" for me. I knew what that meant. The stubble on his face, the whiskey on his breath, the guano on his shoes, it all added up to the same thing. My beating...and worse. I was 5 foot nothing, a hundred and nothing and all I wanted was to get out of there and go play touch football with my friend, Yelena. Fast forward through the longest 27 seconds of my life, and I'm about to suffer immeasurably from a pair of iron brass knuckles and some banana oil. The Youngstown Folly, we called it, back then. A maneuver, it is no shock to say, which never caught on quite like Doctor Heimlich's. But it did bear some similarities. I was sweating like a stuffed pig and closing my eyes like an Oliver McCall, praying to any god who would listen, the lesser ones, the strange ones, the triune ones, any one. In a sudden, a feline wail was in the air but it was like no tom I'd ever heard. It was Chris John, like Bruce Lee on acid. He'd leapt from o'er the hood of my Mercury Tracer and while holding an indeterminate amount of roses trussed in a bouquet, dropped a Holmesian dropkick on Limp so hard it was like a young man who's just figured out how to buy cheap Mexican Viagra. I don't want to go into detail or make a short story long, but what happened to Limps that day was enough to make Gaddafi's corpse turn away in shock, then turn back in awe, and away, yet again, in red alert horror and soporific dismay. After that, Limps became a literally fitting nickname, and so did Waddles, which we also called him. He never came to the bridge again but lived out the rest of his life in a facility for the irreparably disarmed, where he darned socks for imaginary penguins in a corner in between non-solid meals and sponge baths. As for me, I always supported John thereafter and his hooking and jabbing and other things. He was a hero of mine and one of the few protectors I've ever needed, wanted or requested in my life. Some of whom have gone, and some of whom remain, better or worse. He still calls. I still write. Limps' family still, sometimes, renews petulant and fragmentary lawsuits. But the world keeps turning and the sky is still often blue and CST still makes his lists and IB still remembers the commercials that would play on Indonesian television, and their innocence. Let this be a lesson to you. Chris John was one of the greats.
My favorite boxer of all-time. Definitely one of the most intelligent boxer and best technician I've ever seen. He is undoubtly my country, Indonesia, greatest boxer. As pure outboxer, John's specialty is his accuracy (especially his left jab) and setting traps. Loma reminds me a lot to him.
He was a very good technician, absolutely solid in application. Didn't have the best physical gifts, but he damn sure knew how to win. Had a great boxing brain and a wealth of experience. Had good, not great, opposition. He had a remarkable consistency for modern times though, which is where he stands out All Time. His performance against Marquez is a real black mark against Dinimita, H2H. Really showed the flaws in Juan's style - making him lead, lunging forward etc. John was adept at setting traps for his opponents to fall into. I can see him as a top 20 Feather. I can not see him any higher than 15 - the weight class is simply too deep. H2H all time, he would be lower. There have been a lot of monsters that have fought and passed through this weight.
Good enough to get he W over Marquez and fought well against Juarez. For me he is hard to rate given he had a lot of big fights around him that never got made.
On one night when they met in the ring, on level or better than Juan Manuel Marquez. But really though, underrated fighter. Not quite Pong-great, but right up there as far as unappreciated recently retired legends go.
Very overrated fighter. Remove the hometown decision he got over Marquez and nobody would be talking about him.
Weak resume and his best win, over Marquez, wasn't decisive enough. Surely Indonesia's best ever, but that's all.
Pretty much, and I'll add that John really lost clearly to JMM. Get real, the fight was in Indonesia where John is from. As one reporter put it, Indonesian boxing fans sitting ringside were walking up to Marquez telling him he was the real winner. The Rocky Juarez fights for John are an indicator of what his true level was, B level and not an ounce higher.