Chantelle Cameron: “I know I can and will beat Katie Taylor again.”

Chantelle Cameron: “I know I can and will beat Katie Taylor again.”

Chantelle Cameron has spent the last few weeks reflecting on many things. The undisputed world super-lightweight titles are gone. The unbeaten record went with them. Words have been said. They have been spoken from the heart and from a place of frustration. A little understanding of her situation and feelings shouldn’t be that hard to reach.

It’s been hard in many ways since Cameron lost her rematch to Katie Taylor late last year. It was another night in Dublin that brought us blood, guts, and another fight that would only enhance the current upward trajectory of women’s boxing. There was blood, guts, and sadly for Cameron, only glory for Taylor.

But Cameron has spent her time since that fateful night in reflection. The mind is now clear. The scars of battle have healed. Her words and thoughts have softened. Cameron now only wants her chance of revenge. And redemption.

There are no excuses from the Cameron camp. Only frustration with many things. The training camp went well. Very well. The former undisputed world super-lightweight champion was fit and healthy. The frustration comes from the performance of the referee and maybe her own performance as a result. A clear opening-round knockdown was missed. The constant holding of Taylor and the rather forceful use of her head at times drew criticism from the Cameron inner circle. But knowing the past can’t be changed, Cameron only wants to focus on what lies ahead and not what has already gone.

The rivalry between Chantelle Cameron and Katie Taylor is very much unfinished business. Their series is tied at one apiece. Both fighters deserve a final chapter. Their sport also. Two truly great fights require the trilogy fight. It really should be the only fight in consideration.

That period of reflection has brought Cameron to a place of balance. The blood that flowed freely from the cut high on her forehead, courtesy of Taylor’s head, threw her off the meticulously prepared game plan. Thoughts of the fight being prematurely stopped flowed through her mind as much as the blood flowed down her face.

“I remember as soon as I felt the head clash and saw the blood, I knew it was a bad cut even before I went back to the corner and I’ve never had that experience with a cut before. The doctor came to look at it, I was praying they wouldn’t stop the fight.”

Cameron lost her focus. The early moments of the fight dictated what then came. A knockdown missed. Her features a crimson mess. The momentum of the fight was against her.

“Kerry Kayes, my cutman was amazing he ensured the doctor wouldn’t stop it and was stopping the bleeding each time,” Cameron told FightPost. “I had so much trust in Kerry, and what a good cutman he was in there, but I was still so worried about how bad the cut actually was as blood was everywhere.”

Cameron bravely battled on. A desperate struggle to retain her world titles. It was a night where many a battle was raging. It was close, certainly a much closer fight than the first time around. Taylor edged it on the cards. But the Northampton fighter now wants to run it back. In truth, it’s the only fight she wants.

“I’d love to have the trilogy fight, especially as it is now 1-1, and Katie had the chance to redeem her loss, and she succeeded. Now it’s my turn to redeem my loss and get my belts back. Hopefully, I will get that chance.” A fighter hoping that common sense prevails in the coming months.

Back in May, when Taylor was defeated for the first time in her illustrious professional career, Cameron served up an exceptional performance. But it still wasn’t perfect, she told me a few weeks after her historic win last May. The words of a fighter who strives for perfection. The rematch was a night when Cameron felt the fight got away from her. But she vows to put that right in the third fight.

“I know I can and will beat Katie Taylor again, especially now as I’m the fighter coming off the loss, and now I am the one chasing revenge. I’ll be hungrier than ever. I’ll be more determined and more focused,” Cameron says. “Nobody likes losing. I certainly don’t, and I made it a close fight despite everything that happened in the fight. If I’m given the chance to put the wrongs right. I’ll be the undisputed champion once again.”

Preliminary talks are ongoing to secure the third fight. With money and plenty of it left on the table, any noise from elsewhere should be ignored. There is that feeling that no matter how good the first two fights were, there is a much better one still to come. Taylor felt that was the worst version of her in the first fight. Cameron could claim that also in the rematch. A third incarnation of their rivalry could be something even more special than what we have already seen. There will be an extra edge to the third fight. A little bit of spite and venom that wasn’t there before. Even the money men will know there is more to come. Unfinished business equals very good business. Why would anyone want to waste that?

Photo Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing