Chantelle Cameron: The Queensberry Gambit

Chantelle Cameron: The Queensberry Gambit

The original Magnificent Seven, admittedly born out of the 1954 film The Seven Samurai with a similar narrative, was by some distance the best incarnation of a Western franchise that spawned many inferior sequels.

The quality dropped further with each passing offering. The Yul Brynner original had soul and meaning that all the pale imitations that followed sadly lacked.

Frank Warren has adopted ‘The Magnificent Seven’ label with far more success over the years. In 2010, Warren launched his version with names such as Enzo Maccarinelli, Kell Brook, Derek Chisora, and others on a show he called at the time the most competitive card he had promoted in thirty years.

After many years in the wilderness, Warren relaunched the brand in Manchester last year. Nathan Heaney and his incredibly vocal faithful boomed out Delilah in the main event. A stacked card. A successful relaunch. On the back of that success, The Magnificent Seven rode again in Birmingham in March. And they will ride once more in July with another visit to Birmingham. Unlike the films of the same name, Warren has maintained the quality.

“I have been paid a lot for my work. But never everything.” The words of Chris Adams, the hired gun Brynner, played so wonderfully in that iconic 1960 original.

Those words could quite easily be attributed to one of the supporting acts when Warren unleashes the third act of the modern era in July.

Chantelle Cameron will return on that Birmingham card. A new Queensberry signing that will give Cameron a new beginning, and hopefully, a little more of a priority status, something that has seemingly been missing of late.

Cameron, in her previous promotional home, was undoubtedly paid a lot for her work. But not quite everything. The feeling always was that they could have done more with her.

There was undoubtedly much success in the Matchroom bubble. Cameron earned undisputed status at super-lightweight during her time with Eddie Hearn and co. The two fights with Katie Taylor in 2023 would unquestionably have greatly enhanced her bank balance. But there was always lingering resentment in how Cameron was treated during those two fights with Taylor.

In truth, Cameron should have got the Taylor fight much sooner. It only came when Taylor needed an opponent for her long-awaited homecoming last May when Amanda Serrano pulled out of their scheduled rematch. Without the Taylor online call-out, would Cameron have ever got the Taylor fight? Highly unlikely in this observer’s humble opinion. Taylor most definitely forced the hand of the moneymen.

Cameron always felt she was treated as an afterthought for both of those fights in Ireland. She was fighting many things during those two history-making fights. Even Brynner and his six guns for hire, who turned back the thirty-plus rebels in that Mexican village, would have been impressed with what Cameron had to overcome. The initial homecoming was all about Taylor. Understandable to a point. But incredibly insulting to Cameron nevertheless. Remember, the Northampton fighter was the reigning undisputed super-lightweight champion of the world. Many seemed to forget that crucial point in the Katie Taylor homecoming party. When Cameron ruined that party, nothing much changed. Cameron should have been the hero. The star of any future show. But even then, after that seismic victory, she was largely forgotten. It was still the Katie Taylor show.

The rematch in November was a nightmare experience for Cameron. Everything went wrong for her. A clear opening-round knockdown was inexplicably missed. Soon after, blood was oozing down her features courtesy of a reckless headbutt from her opponent. Cameron admitted that she lost her head a little after she started to taste her own blood, but she wasn’t helped either in those closing rounds by the man in the middle. Taylor admittedly was inspired in the return meeting, but she certainly held on for dear life down the stretch. A far too lenient referee helped her cause. Cameron left Ireland as an ex-champion. The resentment grew.

Cameron spoke from the heart and no little frustration in the months that followed. She chased the trilogy. It seemed a natural fight to make. Unfinished business. Smart business. But it takes two. Where there is a will, there is usually a way. But the will needs to come from all sides. When that didn’t materialise, and Amanda Serrano then resurfaced, Cameron knew her chase would end without reward. From that point, the split from Matchroom always seemed likely.

The formal announcement that came in early May was hardly a surprise. An earlier call to leave Jamie Moore and train with Grant Smith in Sheffield raised a few more eyebrows. But Cameron needed a new start in many ways.

There was competition for her signature, but Cameron signed with Frank Warren a week or so after her departure from Matchroom. Warren and Cameron have the potential to be the perfect partnership.

Cameron starts her new beginning on July 20th against the French fighter Elhem Mekhaled with the Interim world super-lightweight bauble on the line. The Northampton fighter still wants Taylor again. The recent moves in her career have changed nothing on that score. A win over Mekhaled will keep the pressure on the sanctioning bodies to force the trilogy fight home. The alignment with Warren, now at the best buddy stage with Eddie Hearn, thanks of course to the Saudi millions, can only help Cameron in her quest for a third meeting with the Irish superstar. Elhem Mekhaled is part of the opening gambit for Cameron. A more than sensible initial move that will serve its purpose. It’s no secret who the primary target is. Cameron spoiled a party once before. There is little doubt that she wants to do so again.

But you suspect Taylor isn’t the only option for Cameron. Nobody will know better than her, how the sport works and the curse that is boxing politics. Taylor will be hard to catch. Amanda Serrano might even make it impossible. At least for 2024. Taylor and Serrano could dance again in the fall if the Puerto Rican gets her revenge. But Cameron has options.

The American Mikaela Mayer will be announcing her next fight in the coming days and weeks. A potential July date awaits Mayer also. A win could very easily push Cameron and Mayer together towards the end of the year. The timeline couldn’t be any better, it seems. Does that fight really need a belt on the line? It would sell and deliver regardless.

Mayer was chasing a rematch with the IBF world welterweight champion Natasha Jonas until very recently. But the insanely frustrating politics appear to have scuppered that particular fight. The American then turned her attention to Sandy Ryan, the WBO champion. But with Ryan appearing to show little interest in an immediate fight, Mayer may need to look elsewhere for her next big-time dance partner. Cameron could easily be next.

But Jonas is in exactly the same position as Mayer. If Lauren Price and Ivana Habazin unify later this year as expected, Jonas could again be left out in the cold. Chantelle Cameron could very easily enter her world.

Cameron and Jonas are friends. But they have openly talked about fighting each other in the past. There is every chance those talks could be reignited if Cameron gets past Mekhaled in July, and Jonas still hasn’t found a willing dance partner. If Taylor can’t be tempted. Jonas or Mayer are unlikely to say no. The partnership with Warren will only help and not hinder Cameron in those potential fights down the road.

Cameron, at 33, has found new life of late. All the frustrations of recent times have given way to hopes of a bright new start under Frank Warren. Cameron will hope Warren will deliver what she craves. The signs are very good that he will.

Chantelle Cameron has sacrificed one promotional base to take control of her career by signing with a rival promoter. Warren will play his part, with strategic chess-like moves that will enhance his fighter’s future. Cameron still retains that hunger. That desire to settle the score with Katie Taylor will always burn. But Cameron, like Natasha Jonas before her, just wants to be treated as the A-side for the remainder of her career. Something which Matchroom and Hearn probably couldn’t offer her any longer. If they ever did. Others you feel would always have been more of a priority. At this stage of her career, Cameron can’t afford to be lost in the mix. The recent changes to her inner circle should give Cameron the best possible chance of avoiding exactly that.

Photo Credit: Dave Thompson/Matchroom Boxing & Queensberry Promotions