Katie Taylor and Chantelle Cameron clash for the Ring belt with their legacies at stake
The first encounter between Chantelle Cameron and Katie Taylor had the fabled, inaugural Ring junior welterweight championship in play.
This one has a considerably more important bragging right at stake.
On Saturday, Dublin’s 3Arena will host the rematch between Taylor, former Olympian and inaugural Ring lightweight champion among a dozen other accolades, and Cameron, boasting the same credentials that Taylor holds but with the 140-pound Ring belt instead. The fight will be shown on DAZN.
In their first clash, Cameron (18-0, 8 knockouts) held on to her Ring belt (aside from the belts of all four major organizations) with a very close but quite clear majority decision win.
Cameron piled up enough points in the early going to make it almost impossible for Taylor to recover, but the Irish legend did try and succeed in that endeavor, coming very close of turning the tide on her British foe but falling short for only a few points.
Taylor (22-1, 6 KOs) says that it will all be different on Saturday.
“I feel a lot better this time around,” said Taylor, 37, who lost her unbeaten status in her seven-year career after that fight. “I’m just ready to fight. I hate all the talk, I hate all these press conferences, there’s nothing to say, I am just excited and ready. I am always ready for whatever comes my way, ready to dig deep if I have to, that’s why I put my body through the trenches week in, week out to be ready for these situations.”
For Cameron, 32, the chance to repeat her performance and emerge victorious once more will not only allow her to keep her belts, but she will also lay the final brick on the tower in which she will defend her own legend from now on.
Katie Taylor (left) had her moments in their first encounter but her best shots couldn’t keep Chantelle Cameron off of her. Photo @DAZNBoxing
“I’ve had great preparation, I’m the fittest and strongest that I have ever been, I don’t have a torn tricep this time, so I am good to go,” said Cameron, who has now beaten two Top 5 pound-for-pound entrants in her last two bouts (she had defended her belts against inaugural Ring champion Jessica McCaskill in her previous outing). “I am not complacent whatsoever, that’s why I put the work in.”
Having already achieved so many, it is clear that for both fighters there is much more on the line than a few title belts. The chance to become the new No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world also hangs in the balance, and although knocking down all-time-great in the making Claressa Shields from her perch will prove difficult, it is not impossible given how highly-regarded these two fighters are.
Taylor, for one, feels confident that she will be able to succeed where she narrowly failed the first time around.
“I have a second chance and I just can’t wait to fight at this stage,” said Taylor during the final press conference before the event. “Whether I am seen as the underdog or the favorite, whoever walks first or second, it’s irrelevant, I am just hungry for the rematch, I can’t wait to step in there on Saturday and perform the way I know I can. I understand that this is a huge fight, I understand it is must-win for me, I know I am going to perform to the best of my ability on Saturday and it’s going to be a completely different fight to last time and I am just excited to showcase that.”
Having experienced Taylor’s late surge in the previous fight and emerging with enough facial lacerations to make it an even more memorable situation, Cameron still feels that she has learned her lesson and will do everything she needs to do to emerge an even clearer winner this time around.
“I know that I’m going to be up against a Katie Taylor seeking revenge, I’ve taken that in my stride and worked hard because I know that this is not going to be a walk in the park,” said Cameron. “I always set a hot pace every time I go in there, I have a high work rate but I can also adapt to any situation.
“I can get stuck in and have a fight, but I can also box. I feel really comfortable here, I’m embracing the week and enjoying it for once, usually I hate all this but I am taking it in my stride and enjoying it.”
A press release by Matchroom was used in this article.
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