British former undisputed super lightweight champion Chantelle Cameron will be defending her WBC interim 140 lbs title on November 2 against Swedish contender Patricia Berghult. The two women will be fighting on the undercard of Queensberry Promotions’ upcoming Davies-Masoud boxing show, which prompted an appearance by Cameron in the build-up to this fight where she revealed more about the circumstances surrounding her last match against Irish boxing legend Katie Taylor.

Chantelle Cameron (19-1, 8 KO’s) will be looking to get back into title reckoning in the super lightweight (140 lbs) division with her upcoming bout against Patricia Berghult (17-1, 4 KO’s) after losing all her 140 lbs titles to Katie Taylor (23-1, 6 KO’s) on November 25th last year after Cameron was defeated by majority decision (MD).

Their bout notably contained several controversies, including dirty tactics from both sides and alleged favoritism from the referee due to the fight taking place in Taylor’s home country of Ireland. Cameron, now a Queensberry Promotions fighter, admitted to stooping to “dirty fighting¹” during the match, but defended her own tactics due to Taylor’s own unscrupulous approach.

“It was a close fight, and there [were] things in that fight that [was messy],” Cameron told Boxing Social. “There was both holding, both headbutting―well, to be fair, I [wasn’t] holding, I was trying to work out and get out of the holds―but there was so much holding.

“There was headbutting, and yeah, sometimes I was getting a bit dirty because who wants to be standing there and get headbutted and [held]. I was trying to do what I could to win like anyone would do, so as much as the fight was good, it was messy.“

During the fight, Chantelle Cameron received the brunt of warnings by the presiding referee despite having not initiated the aforementioned dirty tactics. Katie Taylor, who was the clear favorite going into the match, notably fought in an arena filled with Irish fans and seemed to be on the right side of the referee’s decisions throughout the bout.

Taylor’s tactics were rarely mentioned afterwards, with her undisputed victory at 140 lbs taking precedent over the questionable bag of tricks she had up her sleeve during the November 25 match against Cameron.

Chantelle Cameron further revealed that she had no intention to actually fight in Ireland against Taylor for their second match, as their first fight―which Cameron won―also occurred at the 3Arena in Dublin. However, there seemed to be a clear agenda by Matchroom [who promoted both fighters at the time] to seemingly hand all the advantages to Taylor as Cameron would imply.

“The second time I didn’t want to go back because who would―I was a champion,” Cameron revealed. “I did it once [already], how do you motivate yourself to do it again? I did not want to go back. [It] was a great night, but it was f****** scary.

“Who else would want to do that unless there’s something wrong with you up there [in the brain]? Listen, I wasn’t meant to beat Katie [Taylor] the first time. That’s the problem that happened, and everyone wanted that to be written off and forgotten about, so they [Matchroom] made me go back [to Dublin] for the second time.

“Katie won, yeah? But did she get a bit of help and a few favors? She did. And that’s not me being bitter or anything, I’m speaking facts and people don’t like the facts, [but] I don’t give a s***. It is what it is.“

The blatant favoritism displayed towards Katie Taylor during the build-up of her second bout with Chantelle Cameron likely led to the British fighter’s departure from Matchroom to rival promotion Queensberry Promotions―with the staging of their two fights in the same of 3Arena in Dublin being one of the more vivid examples of Matchroom’s intent to hand Taylor an advantage.

The silent consent by officials in allowing Taylor to headbutt and severely clinch with Cameron throughout the bout was perhaps the most blatant show of corruption to have occurred in a Matchroom event, and further illustrates the interests behind seeing Taylor come out on top in her second fight against Cameron.

Chantelle Cameron also revealed there had been a trilogy bout in the works that was again planned to be held in Dublin,as Katie Taylor herself would state in the ring following the November 25 bout.

“This is the thing―I was going back to Dublin for the third time because I didn’t care,” said Cameron. “I didn’t stand in the ring and [talk] about having a triology and how great it is for women’s boxing to have the trilogy etc.

“Everyone [was] there, it’s on tape what was said, so I don’t need to repeat it, and then the next thing [that happened] is she wants an easier fight. That’s what it [boils[ down to. The Amanda [Serrano] fight did not exist when me and Katie [were] negotiating. Even [Matchroom chairman] Eddie Hearn said I took less money, and I wanted the fight, so I was happy to take what was being offered―so the fight was so easy to make.“

Earlier this year, both Cameron and Taylor were rumored to be in negotiations for a trilogy bout but the match never emerged as the talks were reportedly stalled, with Cameron accusing Taylor of not actually wanting to fight her. Taylor would go on to arrange a match with Amanda Serrano (47-2-1, 31 KO’s)―a rematch of their 2022 bout which Taylor won.

While their initial bout planned for July would be postponed, Taylor and Serrano are now set to meet each other in the ring on November 15 this year.

Cameron would make her Queensberry debut against French former world champion Elhem Mekhaled (17-3, 3 KO’s) on July 20 in a close match she’d win by majority decision.

1. The use of illegal or unsportsmanlike tactics in boxing, such as headbutting, low blows, holding, hitting behind the head, or elbowing. These actions violate the rules and can result in warnings, point deductions, or disqualification by the referee. ↩︎