Chantelle Cameron v Katie Taylor: British undisputed champion ready for biggest fight of career

When Katie Taylor called out Chantelle Cameron on Instagram, Cameron was certain her rival's account had been hacked.

Taylor, the undisputed lightweight champion, is not in the habit of pursuing potential opponents.

She is the premier female fighter on the planet and has rarely directly challenged a rival but Taylor even tagged Cameron in the post.

"If it wasn't Katie Taylor going on Instagram this fight would never have happened," Cameron says.

"It was out of character, so I wondered, something's going on here, but it was real."

You could forgive Cameron for wondering if a mistake had been made as the 32-year-old was hardly in the conversation to fight Taylor.

However, when Amanda Serrano pulled out of their rematch, 36-year-old Taylor was adamant her homecoming would remain intact and so turned to Cameron.

The undefeated Cameron is Britain's first female undisputed champion and fights just a weight above Taylor.

But the English boxer has often gone under the radar during female boxing's big boom.

"That's people's mistake. I like proving people wrong," Cameron says.

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While Britons Savannah Marshall and Natasha Jonas have dominated the headlines alongside Taylor, Serrano and Claressa Shields, Cameron has quietly become the best female fighter in the UK.

Cameron's status relative to the greater fame of Taylor is clear for all to see at fight week. Taylor's name is first on the posters, despite tradition dictating the champion's name should come first.

When Taylor was introduced at the public weigh-in, the announcer blanked on where she was from - Northampton. She's the town's first ever boxing world champion.

This is not a fighter coming from another promotion or from some far flung destination, Cameron shares the same promoter as Taylor.

The packed public weigh-in was subdued but polite for Cameron's spell in the ring but erupted when Taylor emerged.

Cameron is in enemy territory. Taylor is a national hero in Ireland and the favouritism hasn't gone unnoticed by an opponent who knows what an upset it would be to beat Taylor in Dublin.

"I have a fire in my belly," Cameron says. "The amount I have been overlooked, already people are looking past me."

"I'm the champion, I've got the belts, but I'm not being treated like that."

From rock bottom to history-maker

Cameron got into combat sports watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Jean-Claude van Damme movies. After success at kickboxing and Muay Thai, she switched to boxing as an 18-year-old.

It was a steep learning curve for Cameron, who was just 20 when she was comfortably beaten by Taylor, a three-time world champion by then, at the 2011 EU championships.

On Saturday night Cameron will stand opposite the woman who convinced her to turn pro in 2017.

Taylor's success changed Cameron's mind about what could be possible for a female in the pro ranks.

"Katie Taylor has always been an idol to me," she says.

After quickly moving to 8-0, Cameron left trainer Shane McGuigan and promotional company Cyclone Promotions in 2019.

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She seriously considered walking away from boxing, having always suffered with self doubt she found her confidence at an all-time low.

"Boxing is a tough sport with a lot of ups and downs," Cameron says, keen not to be drawn into a discussion about the acrimonious split.

Early retirement however was shelved when she linked up with coaches Jamie Moore and Nigel Travis.

Fast forward three years and Cameron was on the brink of fighting for the undisputed crown after beating Mary McGee in April 2021, but a fight with then-rival champion Kali Reiss never materialised and Cameron found herself on the sidelines for seven months.

It was another dark chapter of her career, a "mental battle" in which she felt she virtually "disappeared" from boxing.

After a keep busy fight against Argentina's Victoria Bustos in May 2022, Cameron challenged for the undisputed title six months later, outclassing Jessica McCaskill in Abu Dhabi.

However, that achievement occurred some 5,000km away from home and to a fanfare that paled in comparison to the attention that circled Taylor's epic against Serrano at Madison Square Garden in New York earlier that year, or to Marshall's unsuccessful undisputed tilt against Shields in London just a month earlier.

"As much as there have been ups and downs it's all going to make a better story in the end," Cameron says.

'I wasn't the most confident person'

Cameron is undefeated in 17 fights compared to Taylor's 22 fight unbeaten streak

Cameron is often soft-spoken but her confidence has visibly grown in the last year.

"I naturally turn quite spiteful in fight week, the switch goes," she says.

Undefeated in 17 pro fights, she is every inch the best fighter in her division but she admits two years ago she would have struggled facing Taylor on such a big stage.

"When I started my career, I wasn't the most confident person," Cameron says.

"My confidence is flying but I think that's down to the people around me, they boost me up.

"Sometimes I think they're just saying it to make me feel good, but I'm also backing it as well."

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It might be almost unheard of for an undisputed champion to go into a fight the underdog, but the situation almost suits Cameron.

There is "zero pressure" on her with the spotlight elsewhere. "I'm going over there with nothing to lose," she adds.

However a win might finally elevate Cameron to the status her accomplishments deserve.

"It's two undefeated champions, two undisputed champions - doesn't get bigger than that," she says.

"I'm making my own legacy, showing people that I'm not afraid to put myself out of my comfort zone.

"I'm confident enough to go to different people's countries and fight them - especially against Katie Taylor, she is a boxing legend and not just in Ireland."