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Former bantamweight champion, Joltin' Jeff Chandler, 60, entered the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame on Thursday night (Nov. 3, 2016), along with fifteen other sports standouts from the Philly area.
Chandler's eight-year professional boxing career included nearly four years as the 118-pound world champion. Chandler took the crown from Julian Solis by 14th round TKO and went on to make nine successful title defenses. The south Philadelphian was unbeaten for the first seven years of his career and finished in 1984 with an overall record of 33-2-2, 18 KOs.
"My name is Jeff Chandler," he said. "I was the bantamweight champion of the world. 118 pounds. I had to beat all the best guys to get there. I enjoyed myself. I tried to do the best I could do. I tried as hard as I could, but that was the easy part. What's been hard is living life afterwards. I'm just trying to keep enjoying life the best way I can, but the best thing that I had going for me was boxing. I had to retire because of my bad eyes. It was a bit much for me. I really left behind a whole lot, but life's not over yet. I still have love in my heart." Chandler is just the seventh boxer to enter this Hall of Fame (Joe Frazier, Tommy Loughran, Joey Giardello, Jersey Joe Walcott, Harold Johnson, Meldrick Taylor, Bob Montgomery, and Chandler).
Joining Chandler in the PSHOF was legendary Philadelphia boxing promoter Herman Taylor who was inducted posthumously. Taylor was involved in the sport of boxing for decades and brought fans some of the most memorable fights in Philadelphia's storied history. Herman Taylor joins Joe Hand Sr. (2013) as the second boxing promoter inducted into the Philly Sports Hall of Fame. Other honorees in the 13th annual class of the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame included Brian Dawkins (Eagles), Charlie Manuel (Phillies manager), Jim Watson (Flyers), Goose Goslin (baseball), Steve Fredericks (media), Chris Short (Phillies), Bruce Harlan (Diving), George Orton (track & field), Sylvia Wene Martin (bowling), Al Serverance (Villanova basketball coach), Dick "Hoops" Weiss (writer), Marilyn Stephens (Temple basketball), Vonnie Gros (field hockey), and the 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers team. |
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Chandler
accepted his induction plaque and said that if he could, he
would do it all over again. 