Stephen Smith: “I think the best days of Chantelle are still ahead of her.”

Stephen Smith: “I think the best days of Chantelle are still ahead of her.”

Stephen Smith is in the embryonic stages of his new life as a trainer. After a highly successful career of his own, Smith retired in 2021, he now wants to replicate his own success with his growing stable of fighters.

Chantelle Cameron has recently joined that flourishing Liverpool gym. Cameron is chasing many things. A third fight with Katie Taylor is her primary target. But perhaps most of all, Cameron is chasing happiness in a sport that hasn’t always treated her the way it should have. With Stephen Smith, there is every chance she has found what she has been looking for. Smith talks about forming a bond with his fighters, and there could be something really special developing with the former undisputed world super-lightweight champion.

“Chantelle seems really happy,” Smith told me over Zoom. “When you see a happy fighter, you see what they are giving every day in the gym. I see Chantelle working her ass off every single day. She is really putting in the effort. One, it’s perhaps wanting to impress myself and my brothers. Chantelle was on the pads today, and we had Paul and Callum watching her from the side. Chantelle has got the bit between her teeth, and she does want to impress. But she is putting the work in, not just to win this next fight, but to move on and win her belts back and prove just how good she really is.”

Cameron is the only fighter to inflict defeat on the professional resume of Katie Taylor. A homecoming famously ruined in Dublin in 2023. But Cameron lost the rematch six months later; her unbeaten record and her undisputed world super-lightweight titles were also lost. Cameron made changes to her inner circle. She left Matchroom to sign with Queensberry, and Grant Smith replaced Jamie Moore as her trainer. But after two wins on the comeback trail, Cameron is on the move again. Now aligned with Jake Paul and his Most Valuable Promotions, and with the Northampton fighter now being guided by Stephen Smith, Cameron seems perfectly set for one last run at recapturing what was lost in that rematch with Taylor. The new man at the helm firmly believes Cameron still has plenty to offer her sport.

“I think the best days of Chantelle are still ahead of her,” Smith says. “There are reasons behind the loss to Katie in the rematch. I am very confident in what I have seen already from her in the gym, from the work she is putting in and the tweaks we are making to add to her game. I told Chantelle from day one that we didn’t want to change her a fighter. We wanted to add to her as a fighter. I am hoping people see in the next fight what improvements we are making. If people say this Chantelle would smash the Chantelle who won the belts, then that is a good sign.”

After a frustrating period of late, Cameron could be just one fight away from either that dream third meeting with Katie Taylor, or at the very least, a fight for the WBC super-lightweight bauble. Next month, Cameron defends her WBC interim belt against Jessica Camara on the same all-female extravaganza at the iconic Madison Square Garden where Taylor fights Amanda Serrano for a third time in the main event live on Netflix. Cameron wants Taylor again, a rivalry she sees as unfinished business. In truth, it very much is. But possible big fights with the likes of Mikaela Mayer could also be in her future. Her new trainer is excited for what lies ahead.

“I think women’s boxing is on the up and is getting better and better,” Smith told me. “I think it has always struggled with the strength of depth, but now you are getting more and more names. Mayer is an unbelievable fight, but with Chantelle, first and foremost, she wants her belts back. We’ll wait and see what happens with this trilogy fight, and if Katie comes through, the trilogy fight with Chantelle is sitting and waiting for her. That will be a bit more meaningful with Katie and Chantelle having one win apiece. But if it doesn’t happen, I think her first priority is being a world champion again, getting her belts back and then look for the big names and see what big fights we can make.”

The hook-up with Jake Paul is the perfect move at the perfect time. Unlike many of the contemporary promoters, Paul is investing significant time and money in women’s boxing. Alongside Amanda Serrano, the likes of Alycia Baumgardner, Ellie Scotney, Savannah Marshall and many others have signed to MVP in recent times. Smith understands the importance of being in that talented and deep stable of fighters.

“Jake Paul and MVP are putting the money where their mouth is, and they are getting all the girls under one umbrella, so all the fights can now be made. They can get some really good fights going because they are all under one promotion. There are no obstacles now.”