Katie Taylor celebrates with her belts after winning the fight against Chantelle Cameron [Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters]
Sports

Taylor beats Cameron to become two-weight undisputed boxing champion

November 26, 2023
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Ireland’s Katie Taylor added Britain’s Chantelle Cameron’s world super-lightweight titles to her lightweight belts six months after losing to her at the same venue.

Katie Taylor has avenged her only professional loss by beating Chantelle Cameron in a majority decision to become a two-weight undisputed boxing champion.

The Irishwoman improved to 23-1 after the judges scored the bout 98-92, 96-94 and 95-95 at Dublin’s 3Arena on Saturday night, six months after a majority decision went Cameron’s way in the same venue.

The 37-year-old Taylor, whose lightweight belts were not on the line, now adds Cameron’s world super-lightweight titles at 140 pounds.

“That was the longest six months of my life waiting for this rematch,” Taylor said in the ring.

“Tonight, you’ve seen the real me, and when I box like that, nobody can beat me.”

Taylor said she’s open to a third fight with Cameron and named Ireland’s largest stadium as a location.

“Let’s get the trilogy at Croke Park,” she said of the 82,000-capacity venue.

It was Cameron’s first professional loss. The 32-year-old Englishwoman’s record is 18-1.

‘Pride of Ireland’

Politician and leader of the Sinn Fein party Michelle O’Neill congratulated Taylor for her “fantastic performance” in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

“Ireland has a world champion,” she wrote.

Irish Member of Parliament Orfhlaith Begley termed Taylor the “pride of Ireland” in a post.

Former UFC champion Conor McGregor praised both competitors but hailed Taylor for her comeback after losing the title six months earlier.

“What a comeback! What a redemption! What a hero of Ireland!” he wrote in one of his several posts praising Taylor.

Several fans praised the former footballer as Ireland’s greatest-ever athlete.

When Taylor looks back on her career, avenging her only professional defeat to become undisputed champion in a second weight division (she is also the current lightweight undisputed champion) will perhaps be top of the list of best moments.

Taylor won gold at the 2012 Olympics, the first time women’s boxing featured at the Olympic Games. Then she earned her first world title in 2017, defeating Delfine Persoon (twice) to become undisputed lightweight champion seemed like it could be a career high, but then Taylor defeated Amanda Serrano at Madison Square Garden in April 2022 in what has been described as the biggest women’s boxing event in the sport’s history.

Taylor’s first encounter with Cameron was set up with the intention of it being a happy homecoming — her first performance on home soil in seven years as a professional. After losing to the younger, bigger Cameron in the weight division above what she was accustomed to, Taylor needed to produce a performance levels above what she managed against the English fighter in May.

And she delivered the performance of her career when she needed it most. Despite all the doubts and pain she would have felt from her first professional loss, Taylor used the defeat as an opportunity to develop her craft and improve at her training base in Vernon, Connecticut.

The result was a vibrant performance, with Taylor’s speed, timing and intelligence winning her some rounds before Cameron became more dangerous later on.

Taylor immediately called for the trilogy fight with Cameron, who welcomed the opportunity. There is no other fight nearly as big for Cameron, unless she moves up a weight class to fight the winner of IBF welterweight champion Natasha Jonas and Mikaela Mayer, who meet on Jan. 20.

But Taylor has other options for the last chapter of her career. Taylor beat New York-based Puerto Rican Amanda Serrano (46-2-1, 30 KOs), 35, by split decision at Madison Square Garden in New York in April 2022, and would have the advantage of being the naturally bigger fighter in a rematch versus Serrano, who made a successful defense as undisputed featherweight champion against Danila Ramos last month.

Luring Serrano to Ireland might be tempting for Taylor’s team, for a fight that would generate a larger international interest with arguably less risk for Taylor.

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