Jeff Chandler vs Carlos Zarate

true but without the ref's help Taylor wouldve won by a wide margin

 

Yes darn that referee for stopping a fight when one guy was getting beaten up.

 

I'm just glad that he didn't get to hit him one more time.

 

Meldrick was a mess before he was dropped, people forget that! That's what happens when you shoeshine in front of the iron chinned best combination puncher of the era for 12 rounds. You get battered, whilst looking beautiful and winning rounds. But you have to sustain it.

 

Chandler's opposition is consistently better, but Zarate has the best single win of the two (over Zamora).

That said, Joltin' Jeff has the toughness and versatility to make Zarate's life miserable in a hypothetical match-up. He was pretty complete as an outboxer and infighter, and though he didn't have a ton of one punch power, he hit hard enough to keep anyone from stalking him.

I rate Zarate higher, and he might be able to find Chandler at some point. But if he doesn't, and that's a possibility, then Jeff can do enough work to pull out a close but clear decision.

 

Who really beat Zarate anywhere near his best? Wilfredo Gomez that's who. Fenech had hassle with Zimmerman Frame Zarate and he didn't just fold straight away against Zaragoza either. These were quality fighters in their prime. I do not see a big distinction between them and Chandler at his best.

Zarate at his best? He done ****ed up Rodolfo Martinez and Alfonso Zamora. The former, also better than Chandler. The latter, likely outlasted and beat up by Jeff.

Why isn't everyone going wild for Davila? Macias? Veeraphol? Why is Chandler seen as this exception, why do people keep ranking him amongst the best the ultra stacked bantamweight division has ever seen?! This is madness!

 

with two seconds left in the fight, he wouldnt have had the chance

 

He should've had more time since Taylor got a standing eight which was not in the rules.

 

Because he was ****ing good, Flea. He beat underrated Jorge Lujan, inflicted two (and depending on who you ask, three) victories over Murata. He schooled Canizales, destroyed Johnny Dancing Machine Carter, and chopped up Oscar Muniz in the rematch. When the guy was on, he was really on, and based on those performances there's no reason why he doesn't hang with the best at 118lbs.

And I beg to differ with the assertion that someone like Zamora was better than Changler. Why? Because he took out a green Pedroza at a lower weight years before he hit prime? Or his victory over the Thai Ali Sukhothai? Or a solid but not incredibly spectacular Hong? I'd be willing to wager any amount of money that Chandler runs the same group that Zamora does up until Zarate and gives Carlos a better fight than Alfonso did...addiction issues or no.

Yes, bantamweight is stacked and there have been a lot of good fighters. But Joltin' Jeff, at his best, was definitely one of the better ones to come out of the bunch.

 

I go with "Joltin" Jeff Chandler in this one over Carlos Zarate, by a close 15 round split decision or by a possble dramatic late rounds knockout.

I'll admit that Chandler would have had his hands more full in this one against Zarate than he would've against Lupe Pintor in their never to be highly anticipated unification Bantamweight showdown of the early to mid 80's. And maybe Zarate doesn't freeze against Chandler like he did against Wilfredo Gomez but at the same time and even at 118 lbs I honestly don't see how most people have Zarate overwhelming Chandler in the same manner that he was overwhelmed in by Gomez!

 

True, supposedly he would've or should've gotten the decision had it gone that way but keep in mind also that Julio Ceasar Chavez Sr. was a Don King promoted fighter while Meldrick Taylor at the time was promoted by Main Events, the Duva family.

Who's to say that had the fight not been prematurely stopped by referee Richard Steel and had gone to the score cards that Taylor would've actually gotten the decision anyways as opposed to being a victim on a long, long list of fighters to get robbed in high profiled matchups that should've gone their way, no matter who the promoter was, be it King or Bob Arum. And this fight in particular, Chavez vs Taylor I, took place on March 17, 1990 one month after both Don King and the WBC, along with the WBA, tried to overturn Mike Tyson's knockout loss to James "Buster" Douglas in Tokyo. Does anybody remember Chavez vs Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whittaker, September of 1993?

 

Zarate would stop Chandler inside 8 rounds, in my view.....I think Zarate was considerably stronger...... and Chandler wouldn´t be able to outbox him, so I can´t see how Chandler would survive....

 

Good post but re-read mine; I gave Jeff the nod over Zamora :good

 

Why is the Gomez fight relevant? Not only is Chandler completely different stylistically from Gomez, at that point 'Bazooka' was one of the most talented fighters we've ever seen.

Chandler just isn't in that class. He isn't in Zarate's either.

What next, Chandler Vs Jofre? Olivares? I'll take him over Chamroen Songkitrat though.

 

So you did...and rightfully so. :bart