Chantelle Cameron is no longer a Matchroom fighter as the promotion itself confirmed on May 1st, speculatively due to a collapse of a relationship between the two that had turned quite rocky in the past year or so. While Cameron became one of the most pivotal female British boxers after becoming the undisputed super lightweight champion after defeating Jessica McCaskill in 2022, her two subsequent bouts against Katie Taylor heavily exposed Matchroom’s favoritism towards Taylor, and likely significantly contributed to Cameron’s departure from the British-based promotional outfit.
Chantelle Cameron (18-1, 8 KO’s) potentially had the makings to be one of Matchroom’s most renowned stars after signing to the promotion in July of 2020 while on the cusp of becoming a world champion; a feat that would be realized several months after her signing when she won the WBC super lightweight title in October of 2020.
However, despite Cameron reaching a historic milestone two years later after defeating Jessica McCaskill (12-3-1, 5 KO’s) in 2022 to become the first-ever female British fighter to become undisputed at 140 lbs, Matchroom proved themselves unconcerned with her efforts and achievements when she faced undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor (23-1, 6 KO’s) in 2023.
Taylor, a longtime signee of Matchroom and regarded as one of the most prolific boxers under the promotion’s banner for roughly a decade, was clearly the favored fighter when she was matched with Cameron; made resoundingly clear when the first match between the two female fighters on May 20th was held in Taylor’s home country of Ireland at the 3Arena in Dublin.
While Chantelle Cameron went on to defeat Katie Taylor by majority decision (MD), a slew of controversial moments followed thereafter with Matchroom on the forefront of decisions that could best be construed as favoritism for Taylor. More specifically, Matchroom’s decision to subsequently re-stage a fight between the two fighters in the same arena as before, all while Cameron again put her 140 lbs titles on the line, signified Matchroom held mainly Taylor’s interests in mind.
This became even more apparent during the rematch between Cameron and Taylor held on November 25th at the 3Arena that saw Taylor win by MD to become a two-time undisputed champion. The second match between the two fighters was riddled with controversy, with Taylor being allowed questionable actions during the bout including severe holding/clinching as well as what had been perceived as headbutts.
This became compounded with the referee’s own favoritism in allowing these action and the heavily-biased crowd that were in favor of Taylor winning―a set of circumstances that Matchroom had set up by allowing Taylor to fight in her home country despite having lost her last match. There was a clear intent by Matchroom chairman, Eddie Hearn, to stage a fight in Ireland for Katie Taylor’s sake, as this had been their intent when Katie Taylor was expected to face Amanda Serrano in a rematch on May 20th, only for Serrano to pull out due to an injury and Cameron to subsequently fill in.
Matchroom’s inability or refusal to create a fair playing ground for Chantelle Cameron contributed to her first-ever career loss to Katie Taylor, which has now led to Cameron leaving the promotional outfit. Though Matchroom still has a marketable and popular fighter in Katie Taylor on their roster, Taylor is approaching 40 years of age and may not be able to carry the torch for female boxing much longer if she retires; a torch that Cameron could have potentially carried if Matchroom’s overwhelming favoritism towards Taylor had not led to Cameron’s departure.
Moreover, it appears the decision to leave was prompted by Cameron herself with Matchroom revealing they had reached an agreement for the former undisputed 140 lbs champion to be released last month, suggesting Cameron had primarily taken steps to break away from the promotion. Given there had been no reported issues between the two parties prior to Cameron’s bouts against Taylor, there are enough indicators to suggest Cameron’s release was spurred by Matchroom’s preference towards Taylor.
