Yohannes Christian John (born September 14, 1979 in Banjarnegara, East Java, Indonesia) is the current WBA featherweight boxing champion.Professional career
John started boxing in his early childhood and was trained by his father Johan Tjahjadi (aka Thjia Foek Sem), a former amateur boxer. John is the third Indonesian to win a boxing world title, following Ellyas Pical and Nico Thomas. John turned professional in 1997 and is known as "Thin Man" before he proclaimed his new nick name "The Dragon" that he uses until today.
In 2005 John split with trainer Sutan Rambing then joined Harry's Gym in Perth, Australia, where he is currently trained and managed by Craig Christian.
In the year 2008, Chris John was interviewed by ESPN and he stated that he will fight another 5 or 6 fights and will retire as the best featherweight that the world have ever seen.
On October 24, Chris reached and won his 10th milestone world title defense fight, which was also his 5th mandatory fight, against Japan boxer Hiroyuki Enoki in Tokyo, Japan.
On February 28, 2009, Chris John again staked his world title against Rocky Juarez in Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, which served as the main undercard for the Marquez-Diaz lightweight title bout. This is the very first time that he fought in the American soil. John seemed to take control of the fight in the middle rounds, but Juarez rallied to take the final two, resulting in a seemingly controversial draw.
Trainers
- 2005 - present: Craig Christian
- 1997 - 2004: Sutan Rambing
- 1984 - 1997: Johan Tjahjadi (John's father)
Important matches
- February 28, 2009: Draw PTS with Rocky Juarez in Houston, Texas - retains featherweight WBA title
- October 24, 2008: WUD12 over Hiroyuki Enoki in Tokyo, Japan - retains featherweight WBA title
- January 26, 2008: WTKO 7 over Roinet Caballero in Jakarta, Indonesia - retains featherweight WBA title
- August 19, 2007: WTKO 9 over Zaiki Takemoto in Rokko Island, Japan - retains featherweight WBA title
- March 3, 2007: WUD12 over Jose Cheo Rojas (second fight) in Jakarta, Indonesia - retains featherweight WBA title
- September 9, 2006: WUD12 over Renan Acosta in Jakarta, Indonesia - retains featherweight WBA title
- March 4, 2006: WUD12 over Juan Manuel Marquez in Kutai Kartanegara, Indonesia - retains featherweight WBA title
- August 7, 2005: WTKO 10 over Tommy Browne in Penrith, Australia - retains featherweight WBA title
- June 22, 2005: WUD12 over Derrick Gainer in Jakarta, Indonesia - retains featherweight WBA title
- December 3, 2004: TD4 with Jose Cheo Rojas due to incidental headclash in Kutai Kartanegara, Indonesia - retains featherweight WBA title
- June 4, 2004: WUD12 over Osamu Sato in Tokyo, Japan - retains featherweight WBA title
- September 26, 2003: WSD12 over Oscar Leon in Bali, Indonesia - wins featherweight WBA interim title (soon interim title was upgraded to definitive title by the WBA following to the loss of Derrick Gainer to Juan Manuel Marquez)
- September 9, 2001: WTKO7 over Soleh Sundava in Surabaya, Indonesia - wins featherweight PABA title.
- July 13, 1999: WKO12 over Muhammad Alfaridzi in Jakarta, Indonesia - wins Indonesian featherweight national title.
- June 4, 1998: Win decision 6 over Firman Kanda in Tangerang, Indonesia - professional debut.
Additional
In addition to being a professional boxer, Chris John is also a member of national wushu team. His successful achievements as a wu-shu athlete include:
- Gold Medalist, South East Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, 1997
- Bronze Medalist, South East Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2001
- Gold Medalist, Indonesian multi events games (National Olympic), Jakarta, 1996
- Gold Medalist, Indonesian wushu championship
Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_John_(boxer)