BECOMING the very best at what you do can mean making decisions that won’t always make you popular.
Between 2020 and 2022 Chantelle Cameron showed she had what it takes to get to the top of her discipline winning five consecutive world title fights which culminated in her becoming the undisputed female super-lightweight champion. Adriana Dos Santos Araujo, Melissa Hernandez, Mary McGee, Victoria Noella Bustos and Jessica McCaskill couldn’t match Cameron whose intensity and determination backed by a superior skillset made “Il Capo” the best in her division and by some margin.
There was one name, however, that Cameron wanted on her record – Katie Taylor. In May 2023 the super-fight arrived in Dublin where a partisan crowd celebrated a homecoming for the Irish icon and believed she would dethrone her English opponent to become undisputed in a second weight class. It was not to be, however. Cameron raised her game to another level and had all the answers to the questions posed to her by Taylor on what was a career defining night at the 3Arena.
A rematch clause allowed Taylor to bring the champion back to the Irish capital where she levelled their rivalry at 1-1 taking with her all the belts that Cameron never dreamed of losing.
Cameron then made two decisions which she believes will greatly advance and improve her career. One was unsurprising – parting ways with Matchroom in May – the other – leaving trainer Jamie Moore and his right hand man Nigel Travis was a shock to many. Cameron chose to be ruthless and prioritise herself and while she admitted to Boxing News it didn’t reflect well on her she made it clear there are two sides to every story.
“I got loads of backlash and when I did leave [Jamie Moore],” she said.
“But people don’t know the ins and outs. The thing is, I was actually going to leave after the [second Taylor] fight regardless if I won or not. I knew that I needed something new and I was getting sick of Manchester (where she trained). I knew that I wasn’t the same and not enjoying boxing anymore because I achieved what I wanted to achieve and it was a case of where do I go from here?”
“It felt like I wasn’t learning. I’m a good boxer, but you can always keep learning. I felt like I lost my spark. But during my second fight camp – it looks like I’m making excuses, but there’s no excuses at all – I knew, my family knew, everyone around me was saying, I think after this it’s time for a change because I just wasn’t the same. I wasn’t enjoying it as much. Everyone needs change.”
“It was a very tough decision,” she added.
“Everyone was in my head saying, I think you should look elsewhere for a new coach. And obviously, I had a very good relationship with Jamie and Nigel. It was about loyalty to them. It was like everyone around me was saying, do you want to be friends with your coaches and not make the most out of your career and look at your future? Or do you want to be professional and do the best thing for your career?”
“You can’t be friends with everyone,” she said.
“It’s nice to have a good relationship. But if my career wasn’t going anywhere or was going stagnant, I had to make a business decision. And that’s what I’ve done. And it was very sad. It was very, very sad. But I also don’t have no regrets.
“It was ruthless. And it did look bad. But at the same time, it’s my career. Of course, it was a massive, massive decision. It was right for me and I’d do it all over again.”
Cameron now trains at the Steel City Gym under Grant Smith who has built a stable full of talent and champions. And on Saturday night (July 20) she makes her Queensberry Promotions debut, having signed with them in May, in a WBC Interim super-lightweight title bout against Frenchwoman Elhem Mekhaled. Cameron calls it a fresh start and spoke highly of her time training in Sheffield with Smith sharpening her tools.
“It’s been very different. Very different and enjoyable. It’s more one-to-one training which suits me a lot better because I like learning and I like making sure that any bad habits get picked up on. So one-on-one has definitely been the best factor of training with Grant Smith, and he definitely does make sure that you’re doing everything right as a perfectionist, which again I like and it reminds me of my amateur coach.
“So yeah, I’ve really enjoyed it, and being around other great fighters in the gym as well has been good for me because it’s also given me that hunger and new look to boxing being a bit more professional and seeing how hungry all the guys are in the gym. It’s also given me that, wow, I really want to do this now, so I need to cop on.”
Cameron’s career has stalled somewhat since the defeat to Taylor and the disappointment of not landing a third fight against her rival has left a bitter taster in her mouth. Anger and frustration set in. The red mist may have gone but the long-term target remains the same and the 33-year-old won’t be completely satisfied until she closes the door on a hugely important chapter in her career.
“I always say I never look beyond what’s in front of me. I always say it, but the fact that it’s about Katie Taylor, I make it clear to everyone there’s only one reason that trilogy didn’t happen and that was because of her.
“She didn’t beat me convincingly, it was all on her terms. I want the fight, but she won’t ever take it.”
Handling that first career lost didn’t come easy to Cameron. Her biggest fear had become a reality but she eventually realised that one defeat is not the end of the world.
“I don’t have the pressure now as I don’t have that undefeated record,” she said.
“I’ve got nothing to fear now because it’s gone. I feel like my mentality has changed because I was a bit angry. I feel like I’ve got a bigger point to prove and show everyone that I am the best 140 pounder and make everyone watch and sit and talk about it and know that I’m coming from the belts again.”
Which is bad news for her next opponent. Mekhaled is a well-schooled 33-year-old whose two losses came against world-class opposition in Delfine Persoon and Alyica Baumgardner. Cameron has had eight months to wait on getting back into the ring and has experienced a 14-month rollercoaster which has been thrilling and disappointing in equal measures but on Saturday night she is eager to unleash hell on Mekhaled.
“You’re going to see a demon in there because of all that frustration,” Cameron said.
“I’m coming in there to make a massive, massive statement. I’ve not had to make one of them for a long time because it got to a point where no matter what I’d done, I wasn’t getting the recognition anyway. So now it’s about a new promotion, new corner team. I’m just completely different now. I want to make a massive statement and let the 140 division know that I’m coming for them belts.”