Beyond The Ropes: Chantelle Cameron

Beyond The Ropes: Chantelle Cameron

There have been times when Chantelle Cameron might have been better served keeping quiet. Words have been said. Some out of frustration. Many more in brutal honesty. Some of her words might have cost her certain big fights along the way. They certainly have cost her somewhat in the polls of public opinion. But why should Cameron keep quiet just to please the money men and the fickle and the faceless on social media?

Is it because Cameron has dared to speak out against her previous promoter? Is it because some of those words have been aimed in the direction of Katie Taylor? The same words would probably have had a slightly different reaction if they had been spoken with different targets in mind. Trust me, that matters. A lot.

At times, the backlash has been incredibly harsh. Cameron is often misrepresented. Maybe misunderstood is a better description of Chantelle Cameron. A fighter who often gets an undeserved bad press. The manipulation of the media is always ever-present. The harshest of critique is usually from people who don’t fully understand her predicament. Or, probably, more accurately, don’t want to understand.

The decision to leave Eddie Hearn was met by some with bewilderment. But it had been coming. Leaving Jamie Moore and Nigel Travis was widely criticised. That, too, was coming. Regardless of how Cameron did in that rematch against Katie Taylor late last year in Dublin, Cameron was always going to make a fresh start elsewhere. In boxing, it happens. There is no need for conspiracy theories. Fighters come. Fighters go. Cameron left Moore and Travis with love and appreciation. A little fact that was missed. An inconvenient truth that didn’t quite fit the narrative of some.

Cameron now has Grant Smith at the helm. Frank Warren is now guiding her career. You sense that much-needed priority status is now seemingly hers. The feeling was that it was never going to come in her previous promotional home. Cameron is far too good a fighter to be lost in the mix, especially at this stage of her career.

There have been ups and downs. A long career that has been beyond hard at times. Cameron has never had it easy. The appreciation for her talents has been hard-earned. In many ways, harder than it should have been. Her story could be a book. It should be a book. A tale of perseverance. Untold stories that will likely surprise many.

But her boxing career has another chapter or two, still to write. Make no mistake, this isn’t a faded, unmotivated fighter looking to make a few more quid on the way out of the door. In truth, it is anything but.

Cameron returns this weekend with her second fight under the Queensberry banner. A stay busy fight against the former world champion Patricia Berghult. Cameron isn’t taking anything for granted. It’s her chance to make a statement. An opportunity to send out a little reminder to her rivals. Big fights await in 2025. Options galore. Cameron has a little more to give on the world stage. Berghult could be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano do battle again just a few weeks after Cameron trades blows with Berghult. A Netflix special that is headlined by an exhibition of many things. Taylor and Serrano will earn millions. Who wins and how, will determine what and who comes next. Cameron wants to be next. Revenge and redemption are powerful tools for motivation. What happened in Dublin has left its mark. Unfinished business. But it is also a smart piece of business. A trilogy for the ages. It shouldn’t remain unfinished.

But Taylor has gone elsewhere before when a third fight with Cameron was the obvious next move. The Northampton fighter dropped her asking price. A compromise that said plenty. Taylor, going in another direction, said a little more. Talk of a rematch with Serrano came later. Another inconvenient truth.

But Taylor or not, Cameron can look forward to a year of the bright lights in 2025. A desire to regain her lost super-lightweight baubles still lingers. A move to welterweight could be on the horizon also. Fights with Mikaela Mayer or Natasha Jonas are easy fights to make you would suspect. The WBO and IBF titles give Mayer and Jonas leverage. Cameron brings her name. Her undisputed achievements also. All three have expressed an interest at various times. For many reasons, Jonas could be the one at some point in the next few months. Any combination of those three fighters wouldn’t be out of place on a future Riyadh Season card. Fights that would leave the powers that be wanting more, instead of no more.

But before any thoughts of what lies ahead, Cameron has to deal with the present. Berghult has only lost one fight in eighteen professional fights. I was ringside two years ago when Natasha Jonas outpointed her in Liverpool to take away the WBC super-welterweight title that Berghult held at the time. The scores were a little wide, and Berghult had a few fleeting moments of success. But Jonas dominated the majority of the fight. Cameron will look to go one better in Birmingham. Any win will do to keep the show on the road, but Chantelle Cameron wants a little more than that. She’s in the mood to do exactly that.