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The Philadelphia Inquirer

WEDNESDAY 16 AUGUST 2006

FINAL ROUND KNOCKDOWN
SAVES CHANDLER'S SKIN

Story by Lenny Hayes

Philadelphia bantamweight Jeff Chandler extended his stay in the International Boxing League's Americas Championship tournament last night when his bout against Florida's Carmelo Aleman in Vancouver ended as a draw. Being the higher tournament seed Chandler progressed to the semi-finals but not before a dramatic final round allowed him to avoid elimination. The younger, less experienced Aleman had produced a fantastic effort through the first seven frames and appeared to be on his way to a second consecutive upset victory on the back of his stage one defeat of 3rd seed Manny Elias. The Palm Springs native held a two-point lead on two scorecards and, although he didn't know it, needed only to stay on his feet through the final round to secure a win. He'd cut a visibly perturbed Chandler over the right eyebrow early in the 7th, which resulted in the bout being stopped and the ringside doctor inspecting the wound. The doctor looked at it again early in the 8th.

Chandler was in control through the first two minutes of the 8th but as each second ticked away Aleman came closer to victory. But with just under a minute left in the contest the Philadelphian unleashed a brutal left hook to the body that sent Aleman to the canvas. He clutched at his ribs in pain but managed to get back to his feet at eight. Chandler came home with a wet sail, finding the target with a big uppercut and a straight right before the round was over. When the verdicts were announced the importance of the knockdown was clear to see. Two judges had it all tied up at 76-76 while the third favoured Chandler 77-76. Even though Chandler had been the busier, more aggressive and more accurate fighter he would have been out of the tournament without that final stanza finish. He landed 220 of 686 punches (32.1%), Aleman 158 of 548 (28.8%).

The 6th seed celebrated triumphantly when the verdict was revealed, shouting and high-fiving his corner crew. Chandler's record is now 14-1-2(9), Aleman's 5-0-1(4). Chandler takes on Ohio's Greg Richardson in the semi-finals. The Youngstown native scored an upset victory over crowd favourite and tournament 2nd seed Vic Foley in the main event, winning by TKO in round seven. Foley suffered a cut in round four that became progressively worse until the contest was stopped early in the 7th, much to the disappointment of the parochial General Motors Place audience. The other semi sees Texas native Orlando Canizales take on Puerto Rico's Julian Solis. Canizales dropped Roberto Rubaldino twice on the way to a convincing unanimous decision win while Solis prevailed in a thriller over the Cuban Luis Galvani. He also took a unanimous decision verdict, but only by a single point on all three cards.

It's been said for quite some time now that America's stocks in the bantamweight division are very thin but this tournament has certainly proven otherwise. There's a number of US bantamweights who could very well become world title contenders some day. Three of them have made their way into the semi-finals, which was certainly unexpected. Meanwhile, in just his sixth pro bout Carmelo Aleman showed that he's a real talent and certainly one to watch in the months and years to come. Philadelphia will be cheering for more success for Chandler when he steps in the ring again in eight weeks from now.