Something that has occured to me about Chris John.

[FinitoElDinamita]

In his defense, JOhn was willing to face Gamboa this past March but scumbag Arum fucked it up as always.

Late last year, Gamboa and Co made a verbal agreement with John that the fight would take place in March 11' but TR had a change of heart and chose to fight that bum Solis instead.. And i know for a fact that it wasn't JOhn's fault.. John agreed to all the terms and wanted Gamboa badly but he got left hanging at the last minute..

He's not exactly jumping to fight all the top guys but at the same time, fighters aren't eager to face him either.. They know what he's about..

Chris John is wasting his time fighting obscure fighters in Indonesia any way you look at it. He is good, but we'll never know if he is great because he hasn't really challenged himself in years. If he wanted Gamboa that badly he would have already fought him. It's not like Gamboa has ducked anybody and considering he is risking moving up to lightweight to challenge Rios, I'd say he is considerably more ambitious than John. Gamboa isn't the only name at featherweight either.

I find him at this stage in his career very comparable to Felix Sturm although I rank the Knife higher than most of John's recent opponents (not that Daud Yordan is that bad, but he was coming off a bad loss to Caballero). Both are longstanding champions that are willing to ride out their career in their home country.

IT's more complicated than that bro. He agreed to the purse and even the venue but TR viewed him as a high risk/low reward opponent so they backed out for a soft touch in Solis.. If Arum doesnt want it, then the fight isn't going to happen regardless of how badly the fighter wants it..

Gamboa has avoided a few fighters... For a guy who has been holding a title for as long as he has, his resume should look alot better than that. He's yet to be in a 50-50 fight but im not surprised cuz that's how Arum handles his fighters.. He babies them until that perfect fight comes up..

Gamboa is like Lucian Bute right now.. BOth held titles for awhile but they aren't fighting real threats..

Rios fight is just that right now.. talks... until he actually faces rios in the ring, i view him as a protected fighter.

Can you point me to a link that Arum didn't want Gamboa facing John?

I guess I probably overrate Gamboa in your estimation, but in my opinion the Lopez fight didn't happen because Top Rank thought of Lopez as the bigger attraction and knew he would be blasted out. The thought backfired when Lopez was blasted out by Salido. The same thing is happening here with Rios, I think Top Rank sees Rios as more marketable and is feeding Gamboa to him. That said, I don't see why Top Rank would avoid John. That doesn't make any sense at all to me. He didn't look invincible against Jaurez by any means especially in comparison with Gamboa.

I also don't understand why John hasn't faced anyone real in a while. That's my main issue with him. There are much better fights out there than Stanyslav Merdov.

Difference with Bute is that there isn't one available competitor that he hasn't faced that he should have faced. Do you get what I mean? There was a point where John, Gamboa, Lopez, and Caballero were all credible threats in the same division at the same time and not one fought each other. I understand there is more to it than that, but there are even more credible opponents for John besides Gamboa. Say what you want to say about Bute, but it's not like he has ducked anyone. He just hasn't had the chance to fight Andre Ward or Carl Froch yet. If the super six finishes and Bute fights Pavlik or something, what you say about him may be true.

I can't do it right now but Ill look for that article later.. But i do remember, clearly.. Arum said John wasnt worth the risk..

I totally agree about Lopez and Rios though.. They are more marketable with a growing fan base so Arum sees them as a bigger asset.. Gamboa is more talented than both these guys combined but he doesn't put asses in the seats so arum is willing to take more chances with him..

I think we had this chat before, Rant, but I stand by the comparison i made with Gamboa/Bute..

Yea the Super6 kept Bute from getting a meaningful fight but what was he doing before the the tourney started? He won his title at the end of 07 and the tourney started at the end of 09 so why didnt he attempt to fight a live body or unify in those 2 years??

I know a few of those bouts could have been mandatories but c'mon now. As a titleholder, he had no business wasting two years fighting a bunch of gimmie fights..

There's not one prime, elite fighter on Bute's resume and that's ridiculous. IT's easy to use super6 as an excuse but he had two years to make a meaningful fight yet he didnt.. He was content on milking his title in his backyard against inferior opposition and i dont see him fighting out of his comfort zone anytime soon..