Liam Cameron: “I want to be a British champion. I am a healthy guy now, and there is no reason why I shouldn’t have longevity in boxing.”

Liam Cameron: “I want to be a British champion. I am a healthy guy now, and there is no reason why I shouldn’t have longevity in boxing.”

By Matt Elliott

When Liam Cameron steps back inside a professional ring on the 6th of October it will mark the end of a 1,988-day absence from boxing and signals a remarkable turnaround for a man who readily admits he thought his boxing days were long behind him following a positive drugs test in 2018, which resulted in a four-year ban and triggered a downward spiral that saw Cameron reach rock bottom.

Cameron was arguably in the best form of his nine-year professional career when he entered the ring against Nicky Jenman in April 2018. A couple of failed attempts to capture the Commonwealth super-middleweight title had seen Cameron drop down a weight division and in his first attempt at 160lbs, he achieved what had alluded him at the higher weight, taking apart Sam Sheedy inside eight rounds to lift the Commonwealth strap. The fight with Jenman was his first defence of the title, and it appeared to be a job well done, as Cameron landed a huge right hand at the end of round two to secure a TKO victory. Optimism was building around what Cameron could achieve in the sport. He was more comfortable at the lower weight, and that was showing in his performances.

It was only a few weeks later, however, that his world would be turned upside down. A drug test taken in the immediate aftermath of the Jenman fight returned a positive sample for benzoylecgonine, a compound that can be found in drinking water, but which is most commonly known as the main metabolite of cocaine. Cameron explained to me how he first heard about the test results.

“It was the fifth of May, and I was in bed. This huge letter arrived in the post, and it said I had failed the test. The thing I was accused of taking I had never even heard of, and I was thinking what the hell is that, so I googled it. It said it could have come from seven things. It could be a kidney infection. It can even be found in drinking water, but the worst-case scenario is cocaine, which is crazy. So, I thought, how has that got into my system? The amount found was 25 nanograms, so it wasn’t a huge level. The test was done in a public toilet in an ice-skating rink, so it could have even come from the surfaces in there. The amount was nothing, but obviously, I had to accept responsibility as it was in my body.”

As a result of the positive test, UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) handed Cameron the maximum punishment they could, a four-year ban. He appealed, maintaining his innocence throughout and even brushing off any suggestion of taking a lesser punishment for admitting liability. When the original decision was upheld, Cameron decided to walk away from the sport. It was at this point that life got really tough for the Sheffield-born fighter, as he explains.

“It got really bad. I was drinking a bottle of vodka every day. It ended up with me being taken to the hospital one night. I thought I was going to die. I was having a panic attack, and my resting heart rate was 168 beats per minute. Anything over 100 is considered dangerous. I also lost my stepdaughter during that period in a road traffic accident, so it was tough going through all of that. When I ended up in the hospital, I thought to myself, right that’s it, I want to stop now.”

Deciding you want to make a change is the first step, but in situations such as Cameron found himself, you look to those around you for support and guidance. Cameron points to his good friend Hassan Karim as someone who was there to give him the extra push when he needed it most.

“Nine months ago, my mate Hassan came around my house because I didn’t like where I was in life. I was fat and miserable and stressed to death. I went to the doctors and got some help, and ever since then, Hassan has pushed me and inspired me. Everyone was saying I wouldn’t come back and that I’m finished, and I thought to myself, I am going to show them, and it just kind of snowballed from there.” 

Cameron readily admits that the thought of returning to the ring was merely a pipe dream at that point and that getting his life back on track was the only priority. However, as he began to regain his fitness, a visit to the gym proved to be the catalyst for the dream becoming reality.

“I never thought I would box again, but one day I went into my old amateur gym, the Steel City gym, and within five weeks, I was sparring with Lerrone Richards and Junaid Bostan. You can’t get harder sparring than that. Lerrone is a six-foot undefeated southpaw who has held British, European, and World titles, and I did great with him. It just kind of propelled from there, and here I am now, with a fight date, medicals cleared, and boxing board approved, and that’s great. I’m excited, I can’t wait for it. I’ve been training hard, and it just feels good to be back.”

For most people, simply being able to get back into the ring would be enough, especially considering where Cameron has come from, but he insists that he will not be satisfied with simply fighting again, he is determined to make up for lost time.

“I want to be a British champion. I am a healthy guy now, and there is no reason why I shouldn’t have longevity in boxing. I want to push on and win that British title. There is a guy who lost recently, Zak Chelli, I’d like to have a mix-up with him because he’s coming off a loss and he needs a nice name to get back on track, so maybe me and him can lock horns at some point. He’s got that platform I need, with TV behind him. I feel like I am a lot better fighter than him, but he’s got something that I need. Beating him brings me a deal.” 

As well as getting his boxing career back on track, Cameron wants to use his experiences to help others who may be going through a difficult period in their life. Recently, he has started a podcast alongside his friend Hassan, which he hopes can inspire others to make a change.

“We have started the Realsteel_podcast, and we have Dalton Smith coming on shortly, which is great, and we also have another fourteen really good fighters that we are going to talk to. I needed help during my lowest moments, but I didn’t know how to go about it. I would watch David Goggins videos and by doing this podcast I am now getting loads of messages saying how inspiring it is to listen to me and I’m like, I am just a normal lad and if I can use this platform to help people stop drinking, smoking or to lose weight, well it’s tried and tested with me, I’ve done it so I am not going to feed you lies or anything. It’s still early days with it, but I want to help people for free, I don’t want anything out of it.”  

The ban Cameron served is now firmly behind him, but with an increasing number of positive samples being reported across the sport, the most recent of which was announced in the aftermath of our conversation, as Robert Helenius returned an adverse analytical finding, I was keen to understand how Cameron felt when he saw arguably more high-profile names suffer less severe punishments, especially when their findings related to performance-enhancing substances.

“It’s just not fair, is it? It’s inconsistent. Listen, ban us all. If you are going to ban me for that length, ban us all equally. I have no personal issues with those accused of late, and I don’t wish any bad on them, but let’s have a bit of consistency. What I was accused of wasn’t performance-enhancing. You know it’s not, everyone knows it’s not, it can only hurt you.” 

Another area where Cameron feels progress can be made is support from within the boxing community for those who suffer the severity of the punishment he did. Recently, we have seen evidence of unwavering support for certain fighters who have returned positive samples. Whether that public backing is genuine or that people are merely seeking to protect an investment, only they know. Further down the food chain, where a boxer’s commercial worth is considerably less, that support can quickly be extinguished in times of hardship. Cameron is thankful, though, for the team he now has around him and the assistance they have provided.

“I’ve got a really good team. I’m working with Pearce Gudgeon, who I used to help, and Dalton, who used to be in and around my changing rooms before fights. I gave help to everyone I could coming up, and it’s now helping me, being a nice person, that they are returning the favour and helping me. In life, be nice to people on your way up because you will never know when you might need their help.”

The opponent for Cameron in October is yet to be named, but one thing that is certain is the song that will be played as he makes his first ring walk in over five years. It’s a song that carries mixed emotions for Cameron but is also a reminder as to why he has endured the hard work, and the tough sparring sessions and has made the sacrifices needed to get back to professional boxing.

“I am coming out to the song, The World’s Greatest. It was the song that we played when we buried my stepdaughter. I am doing this one for Tiegan, she’s been guiding me through it all, and I am coming back stronger.”    

Photo Credit: Sheffield Star