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CHRIS JOHN : AN INVISIBLE CHAMPION

posted by Kathleen Holland on September 4, 2008, in Jim's Corner - Features by Jim Amato

By Jim Amato

Indonesia's Chris John is an undefeated world champion. He has held that status since 2003. Still he is hardly ever mentioned in boxing columns or wire reports. I've never seen him on anybody's pound for pound rating lists. He has boxed professionally for a decade now but he has become an invisible champion.

On October 24th John will meet Japan's unbeaten ( 27-0-2, 19 KO's ) Hiroyuki Enoki, the OPBF featherweight champion. Chris will carry a 41-0-1 ledger into the ring with him to defend his WBA title. This will cause some excitement in Tokyo where it will be held but it will get little if any press in North, Central or South America. It is doubtful that it will cause much of a stir in Europe, Africa or the United Kingdom for that matter This is hard to understand because John has won a couple of major fights at the international level. His signature win was a decision over the highly regarded Juan Manuel Marquez in 2006. Marquez had two points deducted in that bout for low blows but if he was given those points back he still would have lost the verdict.John won in convincing fashion Nevertheless most boxing experts considered the loss a fluke. In the meantime Marquez went on to have high profile fights with Marco Antonio Barrera, Rocky Juarez and Manny Pacquiao. Next up is a PPV battle with Joel Casamayor. Chris John has received very little reward or respect for that victory. Somehow that just does not seem quite fair.

The only mar on John's record is a 2004 technical draw with Jose Rojas due to a clash of heads. John outpointed Rojas in a 2007 rematch. In 2005 John got off the floor in the first round and then went on to win a comfortable decision over Derrick Gainer. Later that year John was impressive in halting Australia's talented Tommy Browne. I've seen some footage of Chris John and I must say that I was highly impressed. He is 5' 7-1/2 " with a 65 " reach. He is very quick with his hands and feet. He can be aggressive too. Sometimes actually swarming over his opponents. He can also bang a bit. He has 22 knockouts. In some of the footage I watched he just wasted a couple of his foes.

If John beats Enoki which does not appear to be an easy task, I hope he lands a major fight. I'd like to see him appear in the US and get some long overdue recognition. He deserves a chance to earn some of those Yankee dollars. I firmly believe the fans that do get an opportunity to watch Chris John in action will not be disappointed.

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