Chantelle Cameron: A Brand New Start

Chantelle Cameron: A Brand New Start

Chantelle Cameron will begin a new chapter this weekend. A new beginning in many ways.

The unbeaten record is no more. The undisputed world super-lightweight baubles have gone. Katie Taylor took both last November in Dublin.

Jamie Moore and Nigel Travis are no longer part of the inner circle. An amicable and emotional parting of the ways. Cameron just needed a fresh start. Sometimes it really is that simple. Grant Smith came on board, and Sheffield became the city of choice. Win or lose in Ireland, that change was always coming. All sides knew that prior.

Cameron also has a new promoter. The strained relationship with Eddie Hearn finally ended. The two parties wished each other well. But you sense, it had long since run its course. Frank Warren won the race for her signature. The new partnership begins this Saturday night in Birmingham. Another incarnation of ‘The Magnificent Seven’ boxing franchise and Cameron will hope her career sequel isn’t just a pale imitation of her incredibly successful first run. The signs are that it won’t be.

After that first career defeat to Taylor in their rematch last year, a fight that ended in bitterness and resentment, Cameron knew the road ahead wasn’t so clear. An unfamiliar feeling without her belts and the leverage and control those baubles gave her. The Northampton fighter had to chase something that was always probably beyond her. Talk of the trilogy was the narrative of the time. But even as early as the post-fight press conference, I felt that Taylor and Hearn would go in another direction. Amanda Serrano, I felt was always the preferred option. The safer option.

Cameron went on a media frenzy to try and secure the trilogy. She dropped her asking price significantly. But it always seemed inevitable that Cameron would be left thinking what might have been. When the third fight didn’t materialise, there was no way back for Cameron and Hearn. The subsequent split was probably a relief to all. Trust me, it had been coming.

The win over Katie Taylor should have been a catalyst for something more. A big promotional push that didn’t come. A seismic victory that was quickly pushed to one side. Pre-fight, it was the Katie Taylor story. Post-fight, even in defeat, the narrative didn’t change. If you look at how certain other fighters have been pushed of late, you can understand why Cameron could feel more than a touch aggrieved that she wasn’t pushed a little harder after her signature victory. Make no mistake, that win over Taylor deserved far more recognition. But history will be kind to it. How could it not?

Cameron begins that long road back this weekend. The road to another meeting with Katie Taylor could be problematic. Impossible even. A second fight between Taylor and Serrano is scheduled for November. A victory for the legendary Puerto Rican will undoubtedly bring a third meeting between the pair. Serrano indicated recently that she could retire if that is what plays out. Don’t be surprised if Taylor walks away at that point also. The chase for Taylor could be a fruitless one. But Cameron will chase regardless, probably more in hope rather than any great expectation. But there are plenty of options elsewhere.

Cameron and the two-weight world champion Natasha Jonas have expressed an interest in fighting each other on multiple occasions. But with Jonas possibly returning to action in the coming months, the chances are that the timing probably doesn’t allow for a fight between the two friends in 2024.

Far more likely is a meeting with the former unified world super-featherweight champion Mikaela Mayer. Unless the American secures her rematch with Jonas, Mayer could be available to face Cameron before the year ends. Cameron vs. Mayer is a big fight and one that doesn’t need any title attached to it. It will work for both.

But before any serious talk of what potentially lies ahead, Cameron knows she has a fight this weekend to safely negotiate. Elhem Mekhaled will be first up with the WBC interim super-lightweight title on the line. A fight that, in many ways, serves a purpose. Mekhaled is the perfect introduction for her brand-new start.

After all the recent turmoil, Cameron is in a good place and seems a reborn fighter.

“I just feel I have had a big reset. I have never felt so good,” Cameron told me last month. As they say, a happy fighter is a dangerous fighter. The former undisputed world champion is only looking ahead and leaving the past firmly behind her.

“I just want to be happy and enjoy fighting again.” Words from our interview last month that say plenty. Maybe everything.

At 33, Cameron is anything but a faded fighter or one who is chasing just another cheque or two before riding safely into retirement.

“I want to be in the big fights and become a world champion again.” Cameron will return on Saturday night with plenty of ambition remaining. A new chapter that could quite easily enhance her already impressive legacy even further and give her the perfect ending to a career that hasn’t always been kind to her.