“I hate all the talk,” Katie Taylor says as she sets aside her usual polite patience and shows how much she needs to win her world title rematch against Chantelle Cameron in Dublin on Saturday night. Taylor lost her long unbeaten record as the dominant force in women’s boxing when she was outpointed by Cameron six months ago. The pain she has been through can be heard in her blunt dismissal of the fripperies surrounding a fight which could have stark consequences for her career.
“I hate all these press conferences, there’s nothing to say,” Taylor says. “The only people I listen to are my team, my family, the people I trust.”
The 37-year-old bristles when asked if she would consider retirement if she lost again to Cameron. “Don’t insult me,” Taylor says with a quiet smile. She shows more of that edge when, hearing again that Cameron is an overwhelming favourite, she says: “Whether I’m seen as the underdog is irrelevant. I can’t wait to step in there and perform the way I can. I feel a lot better this time around.”
Taylor, the pioneer who has transformed women’s boxing since her professional debut seven years ago, remains the undisputed world lightweight champion. She moved up in weight in May to challenge Cameron, who holds all the belts in the super-lightweight division. Taylor had won all 22 of her previous pro contests and her bout against Cameron marked the first occasion she had fought professionally in Ireland.
The Olympic gold medallist is the most revered sporting figure in Ireland but she had been unable to box at home because of security concerns around professional boxing after a shootout between rival gangs at the weigh-in to a bout in Dublin in 2016.
Taylor was forced to fight abroad and so her belated homecoming was fraught with emotion. Cameron, a tough and accomplished world champion from Northampton, spoilt the Irish party as she recorded her 18th straight victory and outpointed Taylor in a bruising but decisive win.
Before she left the arena on that disappointing night, Taylor instructed her promoter, Eddie Hearn, to trigger the rematch clause. Cameron was equally ready to dance again and she asked to meet Taylor at lightweight in a bid to become a simultaneous undisputed world champion in two divisions. Taylor resisted. She wants to avenge her defeat at super-lightweight.
That decision should suit Cameron, who is naturally bigger and stronger. She is also five years younger than Taylor and so the Englishwoman seems unfazed by being back in Dublin. “The first time I was very nervous, coming to Dublin, fighting Katie in her homecoming,” Cameron says. “I have confidence now because I have done it. Now I’ve got to make sure I do the job again but in better fashion. I’d rather it wasn’t in Dublin. I wanted it to be on neutral ground. So I’ve got a bit more spite in me. It’s lit a fire in me.”
Cameron sounds even more confident when she adds: “I always knew I was wrong for Katie Taylor. That’s why I always wanted the fight. All that changes is that Katie is going to come in desperate for revenge and I’m coming in knowing I’m too much for Katie Taylor. I’m too stubborn, my work rate is too high, I’m too strong and too big.”
Taylor looks pained as she sits through the talk. She has been a great champion – but even the most magnificent fighters eventually run out of road. Taylor has seemed battle-worn the past few years, while still rousing herself when it matters most as she did in Madison Square Garden 18 months ago when coming back from the brink of defeat against Amanda Serrano to win perhaps the best fight ever seen in women’s boxing. But she has not seemed the same since.
She will now have to draw on the depths of her desire and resolve. The odds are stacked against her but, in one last burst of talk, Taylor speaks with renewed urgency: “I’m ready to dig deep and that’s why I put my body through the trenches week in, week out. I understand this is a must-win fight for me. It’s going to be completely different to last time. I’m like a woman possessed for this rematch.”
Silence soon returns. Taylor understands that such talk won’t matter in the ring where, apart from fighting the formidable Cameron, she also needs to roll back the years one more time to preserve her remarkable career.
