Bantamweight Tournament Round 1: Rafeal Marquez vs Jeff Chandler

Marquez UD 15 Chandler.

Rafa uses his superb jab to land combinations upstairs and down while using his underrated footwork to corner Chandler long enough to do damage. Plenty of close rounds but Marquez wins enough decisively to ride home.

 

Close !

They both like to come forward, they´re both really fast and skilled...
Marquez was more busier (maybe), more dynamic......
But Jeff had a better jab in my opinion (Rafa had a very good jab too), and Jeff had better footwork.....
So, at long range I can see Chandler getting the better of it.....if he moves his feet well....At close range, Chandler was skilled enough (vs Carter) to land many short punches.....

Chandler by decision (close fight)

 

Gotta go with Jeff. His physical advantages would keep this fight at range, and on the end of some very hard shots. Marquez tough enough to keep it close. Jeff on a decision.

Scartissue

 

I have Chandler in this one. I have to credit someone else with comparing Chandler to B-Hop, and I think it's a pretty good analogy. Chandler was long and tough and had the abillity to control distance. He was also much tougher on the inside than his frame should allow. I think he'd do some good work on the outside and shut down Marquez's offense for good stretches of the fight.

 

Chandler KO 13

Better boxer on the outside than Marquez, by virtue of having a better jab and superior footwork. Tougher to find with a clean punch than Marquez ever was. Plus, he was tough enough to hold his own in the trenches with pretty much anybody in the division, even against a hard-hitting fighter like Rafa. Marquez has his moments, but I think Chandler weathers them, fights back and drops Marquez in the later rounds before overwhelming him for the stoppage.