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Barry McGuigan and Chantelle Cameron target Katie Taylor’s titles


Chantelle Cameron and her team have their sights set on Katie Taylor and believe that it is inevitable that they will overtake the Irish fight legend.

The Northampton lightweight is backed by the McGuigans, with Barry managing while son Shane trains out of their London base.

Turning pro after Taylor, who has since become a unified WBA-IBF champion, Cameron has raced to 6(4)-0 under the Cyclone banner.

After a brief dalliance at super feather, Cameron won the lightly-regarded IBO belt last December, forcing former Taylor opponent Viviane Obenauf to retire at the end of the sixth round. The English fighter defended this belt in March with a career-best points win over two-time World title challenger Myriam Dellal.

Cameron is expected to return to the ring on the Taylor-Postol undercard in Glasgow on June 23rd and both she and Barry McGuigan are confident of eventually taking down Bray’s Taylor.

McGuigan, the former manager of multiple Irish fighters, draws confidence from Cameron’s age, with the heavy-hitting former EU bronze and silver medallist coming in half a decade younger than Taylor.

The Hall of Famer told RingNews24 that “we’ll fight any of them, there’s none that we are concerned about.”

“The great thing about Chantelle is she is 26-years-old and all these girls are older than her. The two that we are targeting – Persoon and Taylor – are 32 and 31 years of age. Chantelle is in her prime years and she’s getting better every day.”

McGuigan has been outspoken of his belief that Cameron would trump Taylor ever since he signed the prospect – who herself sees flaws in the Wicklow world champion.

Cameron described how “when she boxes there are signs in the ring that she is beatable. Everyone’s beatable; we’ve all got two arms and two legs.”

However, Cameron is keen to develop a small bit more before taking on Taylor.

When asked about the fight, she replied “I don’t know, It’s down to my team really [if and when the fight happens]. If they told me I was boxing tomorrow then I’d have to make sure I was ready.”

I want a few more bouts because I feel like I can still gain experience. With each fight I’m having I’m taken a lot away – I’m learning every single time. I wouldn’t mind a few more bouts to keep learning and if the fights there, it’s there.”

“Again, it’s up to my team. If they say Taylor is my next fight, I’ll box her – I won’t query it.”

Taylor is currently ticking over ahead of a big Summer.

Another unification, this time with WBO titlist Rose Volante was mooted for late July in London but now the plan seems to be for the Bray boxer to face a major U.S. name – either Holly Holm, Heather Hardy, or Amanda Serrano – on the inaugural Matchroom DAZN show in America in September.

Read James Tonks’s interview with Barry McGuigan and Chantelle Cameron in full here

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Joe O'Neill

Reporting on Irish boxing the past five years. Work has appeared on irish-boxing.com, Boxing News, the42.ie, and local and national media. Provide live ringside updates, occasional interviews, and special features on the future of Irish boxing. email: joneill6@tcd.ie

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