Former unified super-middleweight world champion and International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee Carl Froch has nailed his colours to the mast on who is expecting to win in this upcoming weekend’s undisputed super-lightweight title rematch between undisputed champion Chantelle Cameron (18-0, 8KOs) and Katie Taylor (22-1, 6KOs) in Dublin.
The undisputed pair (Taylor at 135lbs) originally came to blows in May of this year, with the contest acting as Taylor’s Irish homecoming, boxing for the first time in her native Ireland for the first time as a professional.
Taylor had been scheduled to fight Amanda Serrano on the 20th of May; however, the fight ultimately collapsed due to an injury that Serrano had picked up in preparation for the highly anticipated fight between the pair.
Cameron received and accepted the call to face Taylor, saving the day for Matchroom Boxing, who promote both fighters and had promoted the encounter as Taylor’s long-awaited return to Ireland.
Cameron and Taylor would produce a thrilling affair, ultimately seeing Cameron come out on top, claiming a deserved yet narrow majority decision with two score totals of 96-94 in her favour against a 95-95 even scorecard. The Dublin crowd had been expecting victory for Taylor. However, Taylor activated her contractually mandated rematch clause in her favour, which will see the pair re-run the contest this upcoming Saturday.
Froch, who spoke to Grosvenor Casinos, says that Taylor is now ‘on the slide’ and has seen ‘better days.’
“Katie Taylor is on the slide. I think she’s had a fantastic career, she’s done loads for women’s boxing. But her main attribute is her fitness and pace, and she’s tough as well.
But as you get older, you slow down, and all of those attributes start to diminish. If one of your main attributes is your toughness – like mine was – if you can’t do the training like you used to, and you’re picking up injuries and slowing down, then you’re losing half of your game. I think Katie Taylor has seen better days.”
Froch continues to add that despite his opinion, Taylor will still come to fight, citing her fitness, work rate, and ‘warrior’ mindset as a significant danger for Cameron. Ultimately, Froch concludes that the contest will see Cameron repeat the result she achieved in May and officially ‘be a changing of the guard.’
“She will turn up and try to put on a good show, and she’ll be as fit as she can be, and she’ll give it a right go because she’s a proper warrior in that ring – she doesn’t stop throwing punches.
“But I think Cameron is too fresh, and I think this fight will be the changing of the guard. Chantelle has already beaten her, and I think she will do it again. Chantelle Cameron is younger and fresher, and with the first win under her belt, I think it’s repeat, not revenge.”
