Boxing Preview: Chris John – Jose Rojas

One of the top boxers in the world, although largely unknown in the west, Chris John, will put his WBA Featherweight title on the line for the sixth time as he meet Jose Rojas in a rematch tonight at the Indoor Tennis Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia.

John, 38-0-1 (20), first faced the Venezuelan Rojas, 23-5-1 (15), in December, 2004 when original opponent Derrick Gainer pulled out of the fight. The first contest was very close on the scorecards when a head clash stopped the bout, which was ruled a technical draw, at 1:42 of the fourth round.

Since then, the lightning quick John, based in Semerang, Indonesia, has gone on to defeat Gainer, Tommy Browne, Juan Manuel Marquez and Renan Acosta.

35 year old Rojas has had a mixed career to date, handing Pastor Maurin a first defeat in 1997 before going on to lose a WBA Super Bantam title challenge to Antonio Cermeno just one month later. A victory over ex-WBA Bantam kingpin John Michael Johnson followed in 2000 and then Rojas was knocked out in the fourth for the vacant WBA Super Bantam belt by Yober Ortega in 2001.

Wins over Genaro Garcia, Richard Carillo and Celestino Caballero led up to the first John challenge for Rojas, who has since won four stay busy fights in his native Venezuela.

It will be a shocking result if Rojas is able to pull off the upset tonight in Jakarta and the South American would likely need to knockout the champion, who is one of the more difficult featherweights to hit flush.