Those final lonely moments in the dressing room before a big fight can sometimes be where everything is won and lost.
All the build-up, bombast and hype is stripped away as a fighter slips on a gown and flicks out a few shots, the sort of shadow boxing they don’t have to think about. That frees up the mind to run wild, with rapid currents trying to tear composure and focus asunder as the dulled noise of the crowd thuds through a closed door.
For a trainer, this is the time for one or two well-chosen sentences and maybe a look into their boxer’s eyes. At this moment on Saturday night, before her showdown with Irish boxing icon Katie Taylor in Dublin, coach Jamie Moore liked what he saw and heard from undisputed super lightweight champion Chantelle Cameron.
“She never really buys into herself but literally two minutes before the ring walk we were in the changing rooms and I said ‘Are you okay? Are you ready for this now?’,” Moore explained. “And she said ‘I’m going to punch her f****** head in’.
“It was the first time she’s ever said anything like that. Yes! Now we’re in the right mindset. Let’s go!”
Cameron, now 18-0 and on top of the world after handing Taylor her first pro loss with a sensational performance, first walked into Moore’s Manchester gym at a low ebb in 2019, thoroughly disillusioned with the sport following her acrimonious split with Cyclone Promotions.
Moore described his star fighter as “shy and unassuming… she doesn’t believe in herself as much as she should”. However, a switch flicked at the weekend. Building upon her authoritative win over Jessica McCaskill to clean out the 140lbs division last November, Cameron boxed with total conviction to take Taylor to a place she has never been before in the paid ranks.
Cameron quickly established her thudding jab, boxing on the front foot from the opening bell. Hammering long rights to the body was a key part of the strategy but she was also happy to fearlessly exchange on the inside and punch with Taylor’s dazzling combinations, knowing her astute footwork would solve most problems her hands could not.
“From the first round Katie was getting frustrated,” a smiling Cameron said on Zoom from behind a hefty pair of post-combat sunglasses. “She was putting her head in a lot, she did a fair bit of damage with her headbutts and holding.
“It’s like Jamie said all week, there’s no respect. We respect her outside of the ring, a hell of a lot of respect and even now I’ve got so much respect for Katie Taylor, but as soon as the bell went all respect went out of the window and that’s why I jumped on her.
“From the off, I started attacking because I wasn’t showing her any respect. I wanted her to realise that as well. I wanted her to know. Maybe other opponents have shown her too much respect but I’m not them.”
For Taylor and promoter Eddie Hearn — who represents both fighters — Cameron vs Taylor 2 is the only show in town. The champion is up for that challenge, but this time on her own terms having signed up for all the bells and whistles of The Katie Taylor Show.
Taylor has been a transformative presence in women’s boxing for over a decade and, for her first professional outing in her home country, Cameron was cast in a very specific role.
“What champion signs a fight of that magnitude and just accepts everything and doesn’t question anything?” she said. “I didn’t ask for any changes, I just agreed to everything.
“I wasn’t treated like I was the champion, I was just treated like I was there to turn up and be part of the occasion. I knew, my team knew that I was there to win. I was there to ruin the homecoming. If there’s going to be a rematch I’m definitely going to make a few things be in my favour.”
Her name being second on the fight poster bothered Cameron less than waiting for Taylor’s long, emotionally-charged ringwalk to conclude. She also wants a rematch to be at 135lbs, with Taylor’s unified titles on the line.
“After beating McCaskill, she was holding all the belts at 147 and immediately I said I’d go up to 147 and take her belts. That didn’t come about and it’s the same with Katie Taylor. If the rematch happens I’ll come down to 135 and take her belts.
“I’m kind of sick of defending my belts now, It’s time that one of these undisputed world champions took the risk and put their belts on the line. I think I will go down to 135 but it will have to make sense for me.
“Financially it will have to make sense and I think I’d still have the advantages. I’ll make lightweight but I’d still be the bigger, stronger opponent.”
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The elite fighters in women’s boxing frequently shrug off the limitations of weight divisions, hopping around to ensure the best fight the best.
Dropping back down to 135lbs, where Cameron began her career and believes she can be even quicker and sharper, would also bring the likes of Amanda Serrano, Alycia Baumgardner and Mikaela Mayer into view. But Moore has an alternative plan in his mind — chasing titles a couple of weight classes north at super welterweight.
“I love domestic fights so I’d love (WBA champion) Terri Harper next and then Chantelle versus (WBC, WBO and IBF champion) Tasha Jonas for undisputed at 154. That’d be amazing for British boxing,” he said.
“Everyone is surprised that Chantelle beat Katie. I’m not. I said it four-and-a-half years ago when she first came to me, that she had the style to beat Katie. I never thought it’d happen. Chantelle was only really at super lightweight because we never expected to get the fight at lightweight.
“The plan was this, let’s grab a world title at super lightweight and then it might make sense to do the fight then because the risk/reward balances. I absolutely love Katie Taylor, I’m a huge fan of her and at this stage of her career especially she never beats Chantelle.
“I don’t ideally want to go and do that. I’m not really thinking about Katie. I understand she’ll probably want the rematch to try and get revenge but I’m thinking of Chantelle. She’s probably only got another two years at the most. I know she wants to crack on and enjoy life after boxing as well when the time’s right.”
When the time comes, Cameron wants to set up her own gym and give back to the community in her hometown of Northampton, where she still has ambitions to headline show at either Sixfields Stadium or Franklin Gardens. Apparently travelling to face Taylor in Dublin and successfully managing to “punch her f****** head in” hasn’t put her off the idea of homecomings.
