Chris John returns downunder

Chris Returns Down Under

by Wimbo Satwiko - Jakarta Globe - October 26th 2011


Six months after defending his belt for the 14th time, World Boxing Association featherweight super champion Chris John will return to the ring, but not here.

Mahkota Promotion, Chris’s management company, confirmed on Wednesday that “The Dragon” would next fight against unheralded Ukrainian Stanyslav Merdov on Nov. 30 at Challenge Stadium in Perth, Australia.

“We’ve got the green light from the WBA to stage the bout there,” Mahkota Promotion chief executive Raja Sapta Oktohari said on Wednesday. “Chris has been training [in Perth] since mid-August and he’s ready to defend his title.”

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After winning a unanimous decision over fellow Indonesian Daud Yordan on April 17, the promoter has struggled to set up Chris’s next fight.

Attempts to hold a much-anticipated bout against Cuba’s Yuriorkis Gamboa, the former WBA featherweight champion, have stalled. Gamboa’s camp insists on fighting in the US.

Zaenal Thayeb, a senior member of Chris’s management team, said in August that a New Year’s Eve bout against Satoshi Hosono of Japan was possible.

On August, Zaenal Thayeb, a senior member of Chris’s management team, told the Jakarta Globe on possible bout against Satoshi Hosono in Japan on New Year’s Eve.

“We’ve been in talks with boxers from Japan and Australia, but this is the one that came through,” Oktohari said.

Australia is familiar territory for Chris, 32. He has trained in Perth at Harry’s Gym, which is owned by his coach and manager Craig Christian, since first taking the featherweight crown from Oscar Leon of Colombia in 2003.

This will be the Indonesian’s second fight Down Under after scoring a victory by technical knockout over Tommy Browne in Penrith, New South Wales, in August 2005.

“We want Chris to go global, so we decided against staging his bouts only in Indonesia. There are lots of Indonesians in Australia, so Chris won’t lack support there,” Oktohari said.

Chris — who has 45 wins, 22 by knockout, and two draws in 47 bouts — last fought abroad when he beat Rocky Juarez in Las Vegas in September 2009.

He appears to have the edge against Merdov, 35, who is 32-7-0 (24 KOs). The Ukrainian will make his first attempt for a world title since losing the World Boxing Organization featherweight belt to Oleh Yefimovych in 2007.

Merdov is currently the European Boxing Association featherweight champion after knocking out Nikoloz Berkatsashvili on Jan. 14 in Donetsk, Ukraine.

Oktohari said the Ukrainian would provide a stern test for Chris, though he believed the Indonesian would defend his title.

“[Merdov] is taller and has a longer reach than Chris, so we’ll see Chris fight in a different style. It will be a good bout,” he said.

Organizers have yet to announce when the fight will start, though it will be broadcast live on RCTI.

It will be part of the undercard leading up to Australia’s Danny Greene taking on World Boxing Council cruiserweight champion Krzysztof Wlodarczyk of Poland. Also on the card is Sydney native Will Tomlinson facing Ricardo Castillo of Mexico for the vacant International Boxing Organization super featherweight title.

The date could be a problem for Indonesian viewers. David Beckham and the Los Angeles Galaxy will visit Indonesia and play a friendly against an Indonesian Premier League selection on Nov. 30, and with Perth just one hour ahead of Jakarta time, the TV audience could be split.

“I don’t think that will be a problem. Chris’s fights have always attracted huge TV audiences,” Oktohari said.

If Chris wins in Perth, Mahkota Promotion will prepare an even bigger fight for Indonesia’s super champion. “We’ve been thinking about a unification fight. We want Chris to be the real featherweight champion of the world,” Oktohari said.
Chris John could end up in a title unification fight if he wins against Stanyslav Merdov of Ukraine on Nov. 30. Reuters Photo/Supri