[bigMatt]

Soldier Field fight fans witnessed a tremendous bout tonight between top contenders Tommy Chandler and John Morrissey. Round 1 started off at a blistering pace, with Morrissey having Chandler in trouble almost from the beginning. Morrissey gave every indication that tonight was his night., pinning Chandler to the ropes early and firing away. Chandler, however, was not to be vanquished easily. He escaped the first round shaken but not stirred, and brought the fight even with a solid second round effort. From this point, the tide turned solidly to Chandler, who chased Morrissey in rounds 3-5, dropping bombs that would easily fell a lesser man. Morrissey kept his feet, however wobbly, but trailed badly on all scorecards at the end of round 5.

In round 6, Morrissey caught his second wind and began displaying the mettle of a champion, staggering Chandler with a flurry of punches. The onslaught continued in the 7th, leading to the first knockdown of the fight when Chandler found himself on the receiving end of a wicked right cross that dropped him to the mat. Chandler regained his footing at a 2-count and went on to weather the round.

Chandler was the much more active fighter over the next four rounds, beating a curiously sluggish Morrissey to the punch time and again. While he failed to pack enough steam to topple his opponent, Chandler worked Morrissey’s eye to a purple mass by the end of round 11. At the beginning of round 12, Chandler looked to be clearly leading the fight, and Morrissey looked like he’d gotten far the worst of things.

Round 12 begins with Morrissey clearly showing an urgency that he lacked in the previous rounds, and Chandler displaying a defensive posture. Chandler works an overhand right to Morrissey’s damaged eye, which seems to wake Morrissey up more than it hurts him. Morrissey bulls Chandler into a corner and unloads a tremendous left that buckles Chandler’s knees. He then takes full advantage of Chandler’s condition and buries him in a flurry of punches. The barrage is too much for Chandler, who drops to the canvas. But Chandler’s heart has not abandoned him, and the American pulls himself up at the count of one, awaits the standing eight count, and continues. Morrissey looks to end the fight against a stunned opponent, and chases Chandler around the ring, winging shots from every angle. But Chandler manages to keep his feet to the final bell, ending the contest.

Many in the crowd thought Chandler had done enough to win the fight, while others felt that Morrissey’s two knockdowns clearly showed him to be the better man. The judges saw it as an incredibly close affair, the first judge scoring it 113-113, the second 114-114 and the 3rd, 114 to 112 for Chandler. Had Chandler kept his feet in round 12, he would have won the fight outright. As it turned out, Morrissey’s efforts in the 12th round kept him undefeated and branded the contest a majority draw.

On the undercard, John Dwyer decisioned John Donaldson to maintain his undefeated record and further cement his claim to a berth in the upcoming tourney.; James Dalton came back from a surprise knockdown in the 6th to escape with a draw against Charles Lange; Toxie Hall lost a majority decision to Roy Clark; and Al Greenfield collected a unanimous decision over Henry Higgins.