Chantelle Cameron: “I have waited because I was hoping they would make the right decision, and they haven’t, and they probably won’t.”

Chantelle Cameron: “I have waited because I was hoping they would make the right decision, and they haven’t, and they probably won’t.”

“A trilogy makes sense when it’s one win apiece, not when one fighter has won both fights,” Chantelle Cameron says after the announcement that Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano will have a third fight on July 11th. “It’s just about the money. Katie Taylor stood in the ring after our second fight and talked about having that trilogy fight with me. It’s like what Amanda has said about the handshake and agreeing to three-minute rounds. She has gone back on her word with that. Katie also pulled out of our fight when I accepted all the terms for the third fight, agreeing to 50% less money and going back to Ireland again. She wanted an easier fight before agreeing to the second fight with Amanda. That’s why our trilogy never happened. That’s what people forget, I accepted half the money from the first two fights and agreed to go back to the 3Arena, they weren’t expecting me to agree, but when I did agree to all the terms, that’s when they pulled out of the fight. I got a phone call saying Katie wanted to fight her mandatory. I accepted everything, and we even had a date, May 25th. But they wanted an easier fight, but obviously, the Amanda Serrano fight then came along. But before that fight got made, Katie wasn’t going to fight me. She wanted an easier fight. Katie did everything she could to avoid me.

“Katie and Amanda put on amazing fights, but what they are not letting the public know is that before the Serrano fight got made, she was going to fight her mandatory instead of fighting me.”

Cameron is the WBC mandatory challenger at super-lightweight. But despite certain guarantees given to her, the former undisputed champion doesn’t believe she will be next. “I won’t get the winner. The WBC gave them until the end of January to make the Katie and Amanda fight, and then I would get the winner. But I have no faith in that.

“If Amanda wins, they will fight again. They’ll probably do five fights. They do put on great fights, but at the end of the day, the 140 division shouldn’t be put on hold just because they are making millions. It just shows you that boxing is all about the money. It doesn’t matter if you are mandatory. Money matters. The whole sport is just so corrupt.”

Since losing the second fight with Taylor in late 2023, Cameron has moved from Eddie Hearn and Matchroom to Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions. With the door being locked on more meaningful fights, Cameron has had to be content with wins over Elhem Mekhaled and Patricia Berghult. But with Taylor and Serrano fighting again, Cameron is again in a state of limbo.

“It will be a year and a half of stay-busy fights,” Cameron says of what her next fight is looking like. “But I am very lucky that I am getting fights. There was talk about me fighting Holly Holm. I was well up for that. That was something I could really get my teeth stuck into, Holly is a legend. But that seems to have died a death. It looks like I am out in the summer, which is obviously not ideal for me. But it’s better than being put on the shelf.”

In the short term, Cameron will either have to hope her mandatory status is forced and the WBC belt becomes vacant, or Taylor beats Serrano again, and finally agrees to have a third fight with her. But with her options seemingly limited at 140, Cameron is contemplating moving up to welterweight.

“If I hang around at 140, I am relying on the WBC to do the right thing and not let Katie hold up the division like they did with her at 135. I have to decide what I am going to do because I could be waiting around for another year or two. I would just be wasting my time. I have waited because I was hoping they would make the right decision, and they haven’t, and they probably won’t. I don’t think the WBC will push my mandatory, and that happens a lot in boxing. This past year, I have kind of wasted my time when I could have just moved up. So, I will probably move up a weight. Welterweight is a very good division. I would always love a fight with Mikaela or Tasha.”

Chantelle Cameron is a fighter who has always spoken from the heart and often from a deep place of frustration. She understands why Taylor and Serrano are going again. As she says, money talks. But take away the millions on offer, which is obviously difficult in a sport that is quite frankly governed by it, you can understand the ongoing frustration of Cameron. She has known for quite some time that her long wait for another crack at Taylor would go on. But despite written guarantees that she will be next, Cameron has lost faith in the system. She knows or suspects that won’t be the case.

On one hand, you can’t blame Taylor and Serrano. The money they will make is off the charts, a seismic amount of dollars, and certainly, in the case of the Puerto Rican, that kind of life-changing money has come extremely late in her career. Jake Paul has, in simple terms, changed her life. Cameron doesn’t begrudge what Taylor and Serrano will earn in their third fight. She understands.

But equally, boxing should work in a purer way. Rankings and a mandatory status should mean something. Otherwise, what’s the point. Taylor didn’t defend her WBC lightweight bauble for two years. Cameron feels she will be kept waiting or that Taylor will keep fighting Serrano until they have some sense of closure. Or, of course, Katie Taylor finally walks away into the sunset.

Taylor and Serrano make good fights. But so do Cameron and Taylor. The difference is the kind of money the fights make. If Taylor makes it 3-0 in her rivalry with Serrano, that money might go away. Cameron will hope Taylor wins again on July 11th, and her turn comes around again. In truth, it should. It has to. Katie Taylor and Chantelle Cameron still have unfinished business. It should not remain that way. Surely, both fighters should want that closure.

Photo Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing