Chantelle Cameron warned a rematch with Katie Taylor would need to be on her terms after she secured victory in a gruelling bout between the two undisputed fighters.
Taylor stepped up to 140lbs for the first fight in Ireland of her professional career, taking on an undefeated fighter in Cameron who holds the full set of belts at light-welterweight and showed exactly why.
She forced the pace throughout, regularly pushing Taylor back onto the ropes, and while Cameron’s face was marked up by the end of the bout, she showed no signs of being hurt during it.
One judged scored it 95-95 but the other two gave it to Cameron 96-94 for a thoroughly deserved majority decision as she became the first fighter to beat Taylor in a professional bout.
Promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed there was a rematch clause in place, with that likely to take place later this year, though he stated it would take place in Dublin and Cameron’s comments after the fight suggested she would be pushing for more to be in her favour next time.
“If I’m honest, I wasn’t expecting the decision to go my way,” Cameron told BBC Radio 5 Live. “I’m over the moon it went my way and the right woman got her arm raised.
“I need to speak to my team because everything was in Katie’s favour in this fight. I walked to the ring first and also came to Ireland so we need to speak about how it’s going to play out with the rematch.
“I’ve always wanted the Katie fight so I knew I had to bite the bullet on everything. Katie challenged me on Instagram and I have all the respect for her but it’s my turn now.”
Taylor had initially planned to fight Amanda Serrano in Dublin, though injury forced a change of opponents and the defeat to Cameron will now necessitate a change in plans again, with any talk of that Serrano rematch being the next fight on the agenda swiftly ended.
“I was expecting a gruelling fight and that’s what it was,” Taylor said.
“I obviously came up short. I always love a challenge and I’m looking forward to the rematch. This isn’t how I wanted the homecoming to go but I’m grateful that this event could sell out in a couple of minutes.”
