By Cliff Rold

28-year old Indonesian Featherweight Chris John (41-0-1, 22 KO) needs to get out of Indonesia sooner than later.  That doesn’t mean he has to come to the United States, but it couldn’t hurt and his talent deserves the potential wealth that comes with an American audience. 

Garnering his ninth defense of the WBA 126 lb. belt on Saturday, reports out of Indonesia indicated a dominant performance in a seventh round stoppage of Roinet Caballero (22-8-1, 16 KO).  Hardcore followers of the sport weren’t surprised by that result; John has already proven that fighters at the level of Roinet Caballero aren’t going to defeat him.

It’s time to find out for sure just what level of fighter might.

I say for sure because many pundits and fans, myself included, felt that John deserved to lose a March 2006 bout with Juan Manuel Marquez.  Without digging up the politics and lack of business savvy that led Team Marquez to Indonesia, the final result of that bout has been hotly argued by the small island of people that saw it, an indication that John proved he belonged in the ring with Marquez at the very least. 

One would hope that John and his team will use the rest of 2008 to prove more than that.  With Marquez (and Manny Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera) long gone from the division, John stands out as the consensus choice for best fighter in the division.  Along with the Marquez victory, he also has posted strong wins against veterans Derrick Gainer, Oscar Leon and Osamu Sato.  He’s also wise enough to throw himself out there as a potential foe for Manny Pacquiao.  Realistic option for Manny or not, it has at least gotten John an extra line or two of ink. 

John can make big waves without a Manny Pacquiao.  If taken advantage of, the pieces are in place to make his career look like what it should be: the warm-up to a serious main event.

The best fight that can be made at Featherweight right now is a bout between John and 22-year old potential phenom Jorge Linares (25-0, 16 KO, WBC titlist) of Venezuela.  ‘Best fight’ is not the same as most profitable so that is not a fight anyone is likely to see outside of their minds eye until each appreciates in bigger boxing market value.

To the credit of John and his team, they have been willing to travel.  He has fought twice in Japan and once in Australia since 2004.  Linares has been no stranger to Japan, having fought the majority of his career in the land of the rising sun before exploding into the American boxing consciousness last summer with a stoppage victory against veteran Oscar Larios.  There isn’t a fan that saw him who hasn’t wanted to see him again.

For the best fight in the Featherweight division to come closer to reality, John needs only to make his own impression on those same fans.  Then boxing has a fight with some interest in two of the sports biggest markets (Japan and the US) as well as with fervent hometown support in Indonesia and Venezuela.  Not all of that is up to John of course; his people would have to get the right offer to appear on the right card to make American exposure a useful endeavor.  Let’s hope it happens.

The old guard is getting older at and around the Featherweight division.  It’s unlikely that John will get another chance at one of their ilk, and it was his misfortune that so few saw his lone endeavor against Marquez.  Moved appropriately, a future bout with Linares could more than make up for that.

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com