Jeff Chandler

Class of 2000
Modern Category
Hall of Fame bio:click

World Boxing Hall of Fame Inductee

Name: Jeff Chandler
Alias: Joltin
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 170cm
Reach: 182cm
Pro Boxer: Record

Promoter: J. Russell Peltz
Managers: Arnold Giovanetti (1976-1977), Becky O'Neill (1977-1984)
Trainers: Pat Patterson (1976-1977), Nick Belfiore (1977-1981), Willie O'Neill (1977-1984)

Jeff Chandler Gallery

Career Overview

• Chandler first entered a boxing gym in October 1975 at age 19. Two months later, he had his first amateur bout, which he won by a second-round knockout. Chandler had his second amateur bout several days later against a boxer with 75 bouts and lost by a split decision. "I thought I'd won," Chandler recalled years later. "I figured if I was already as good as a guy with that much experience, I'd just be wasting my time fighting amateur."
• In February 1976, just four months after he first entered a boxing gym, Chandler turned professional.
• At the beginning of his career, Chandler was trained by Pat Patterson and managed by Arnold Giovanetti. In August 1977, two months after his eighth professional fight, Giovanetti, who had ties to organized crime, mysteriously disappeared. His Cadillac was found at the Philadelphia airport, but he was never seen or heard from again.
• After Giovanetti disappeared, Chandler asked Willie O'Neill to manage him. O'Neill declined and suggested that Chandler hire his wife, Becky O'Neill, for the job. Becky became Chandler's manager, Nick Belfiore replaced Patterson as trainer, and Willie became assistant trainer.
• Chandler knocked out Julian Solis in 14 rounds to win the WBA Bantamweight Championship on November 14, 1980. He became the first American to hold a world title at bantamweight since Manuel Ortiz 30 years earlier.
• Willie O'Neill replaced Belfiore as head trainer in 1981.
• In October 1984, six months after he lost the WBA Bantamweight Championship to Richie Sandoval by a 15th-round knockout, Chandler underwent surgery to remove a traumatic cataract from his left eye. He retired shortly afterward.
• Chandler was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2000.

Regional Titles

• USBA Bantamweight Title(1979-1980)
• NABF Bantamweight Title (1980)

Record

• 7 opponents (5 by KO) beaten in world title fights.
• 9-1-1 (7 KOs) in world title fights.
• 4-1 (2 KOs) against former, current and future world titlists.
  • Won against Julian Solis (twice), Jorge Lujan, Gaby Canizales.
  • Lost against Richie Sandoval.

External Links

• "Smaller Boxer Reaches Big Time" By Michael Katz, New York Times, January 31, 1981
• "Precisely The Right Touch" By E.M. Swift, Sports Illustrated, August 2, 1981
• "Chandler to decide" Spokane Chronicle, October 26, 1984
• "Joltin' Jeff enters Hall" By Tim Graham, ESPN.com, June 7, 2000

Preceded by: Julian Solis

WBA Bantamweight Champion 1980 Nov 14 – 1984 Apr 7

Succeeded by: Richie Sandoval