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Champion Chris is looking ahead to unification fight
RI’s Unbeatable Dragon: WBA super featherweight champion Chris John (right) throws a punch at his Thai rival Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo during his title defense at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore on Friday
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span class="caption" style="width: 558px;">RI’s Unbeatable Dragon: WBA super featherweight champion Chris John (right) throws a punch at his Thai rival Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo during his title defense at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore on Friday. Chris retained his title by defeating Chonlatarn over 12 tough rounds of fighting. (Antara/Yudhi Mahatma)
Chris John’s success in defense of his WBA featherweight belt on Friday is likely to pave the way for a unification bout with fellow champions from other associations that will bring more, bigger purses to the Indonesian 33-year-old.
Among the champions in this category are Daniel Ponce de Leon (WBC), Billy Dib (IBF) and Orlando Salido (WBO). The list includes fellow Indonesians Daud Yordan (IBO) and Celestino Caballero (WBA), who exceeded Chris John’s championship status after the Indonesian was elevated to “super” champion.
“For sure, I will not put Chris against Daud,” promoter Raja Sapta Oktohari said.
Daud retained the IBO featherweight belt fighting against Choijiljavyn “Choi” Tseveenpuver in the show, promoted as the Dragon Fire World Boxing Championship, at the Marina Bay Sands Convention Center, Singapore.
When asked about future fights by ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr., Chris turned to trainer Craig Christian, seemingly querying what plans the Australian had for the boxer’s future. “Let’s see,” he said.
Chris dominated Thai Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo to emerge the winner by a unanimous points decision with the three judges scoring 117-111, 119-109, 119-109 as he defended his belt for the 17th time.
“I tried hard to throw punches to the head and the body, but he kept moving,” said Chris, who built his fight record to 47 wins and 2 draws. Piriyapinyo dropped to 44-1-0.
In the undercard bout, Daud defeated Choi also on a unanimous points win, 117-111, 119-110, 118-110 in his title bout as champion.
Daud dominated the fight and knocked Choi down in the last round but the England-based Mongolian survived the onslaught up to the bell.
“Thank God, because God gave me opportunity to bring back the belt to Indonesia,” Daud said. “I was surprised that he was very strong. It’s hard for me to knock him out but it’s OK. I give the win to my country.”
The victories were welcomed by Indonesian fans at ringside and millions back home.
Among the fans at the ringside was Youth and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng. He stopped over from Macau en route attending the Asian Olympic Committee convention, where Indonesia failed to impress in its bid to host the 2019 Asian Games.
