Chantelle Cameron puts her undisputed super lightweight title on the line next weekend where she will face one of boxing’s biggest stars. She will go up against Katie Taylor in Dublin, her opponent's hometown.
The show itself marks a huge occasion for Ireland, one of their own returning home to put Irish boxing shows back on the map. The events have returned to the Republic of late, Kieran Molloy and Jason Quigley both returned home to headline shows in Galway and Dublin last month.
Taylor returning to her people next Saturday signifies an historic moment for the country as the star looks to claim undisputed status in two weight classes, and on home soil. But quietly working away in the background, England’s Cameron has started to emerge as the favourite in many expert’s eyes.
ProBox TV News catches up with trainer Jamie Moore to get an exclusive update from Cameron’s camp in Manchester.
“Things are good mate, she was actually already training for a bout for the 1st of April.” Moore said. “She was meant to be on the AJ [Anthony Joshua] undercard, which hadn’t actually been announced. So she was already in camp and sort of in front of where she needed to be. She is in really good shape, you can tell [from training] that it is the biggest fight of her life. Sparring is going really well, she looks dynamite, she really does. I’m really excited about the fight now.
“Everybody in or around the weight division has always looked to Katie as a bit of a stalwart. That has always been the goal, to try and get yourself in the position to challenge someone like Katie Taylor. She’s there now and she’s at that position. Not only has she earned it, I think she is more than capable of beating Katie. I said it to her the day she walked into the gym, ‘you will 100 percent be a world champion and you have the style to beat someone like Katie Taylor.’ That’s not a swipe at Katie by any stretch of the imagination, it’s just my opinion on the way Chantelle fights.”
Pundits and fans appear split on who will be victorious in the Irish capital next weekend, Moore gave his take.
“What I have noticed when I’m going to shows and stuff, a lot of people are saying that they really fancy Chantelle to do this.” Moore explained. “I think we can all agree that the Delfine Persoon performance wasn’t the best by Katie, but I still think she won. I also think that with the [Amanda] Serrano fight, obviously I’ve watched it back a few times now doing a bit of homework for Chantelle. I think that in those two fights she has shown vulnerability. In both those fights when you see that little bit of vulnerability, those certain situations Chantelle is really good at. That’s why I feel so confident in Chantelle’s ability to beat Katie. For instance in the Serrano fight, when Katie was in trouble in the 4th and 5th round, I don’t believe Chantelle would let her off the hook. I think if she gets her in that situation, she has got that killer instinct and she will go through the gears. Serrano didn’t go through the gears and stayed very one paced. She nearly had her out of there, but relied too much on one shot.”
Confidence is clearly pouring from camp Cameron. However, a social-media feud that saw Ellie Scotney removed from the card twinned with the fact the Northampton woman goes into hostile away territory could have provided unwelcome distractions to preparations.
“That’s been and gone now.” Moore said of the Scotney situation. “The fact of the matter is we are going to fight Katie in her backyard, of course Chantelle is under pressure but she has been under pressure before and always performed. I think in all honesty, the person the pressure is on the most is Katie Taylor, It’s her homecoming. She is in the toughest fight of her professional career and fighting in front of her own fans, it is not an easy task at all.”
Taylor was initially due to rematch Amanda Serrano in Dublin. However, due to an injury the show was down an opponent for the hero’s homecoming. Cameron and Taylor wasted no time in getting it over the line though an instagram post.
“I saw Katie’s call out and called Chantelle straight away.” Moore went on. “She has seen it at the same time as me. We were shocked to be honest, that is the first time I’ve heard Katie Taylor call anybody out. She obviously wanted to make the fight. When you put it out to the public and call somebody out, it is very difficult to backtrack. Because Chantelle has always wanted that fight, from that point it was easy to make.”
