Taylor Confident Ahead Of Cameron Rematch
irish-boxing.com – Taylor Confident Ahead Of Cameron Rematch
Katie Taylor is heading into her make-or-break rematch against Chantelle Cameron at Dublin’s 3 Arena, the same venue where she tasted the first defeat of her professional career, confident of taking back the belts she lost, as well as collecting the one Cameron brought to the table in May. But the super lightweight is aware of the task she’s going to face.
Recent Taylor performances, notably the one against Amanda Serrano, where Taylor won by split decision, put doubts in the minds of some as to whether the Bray-born superstar was still able to compete at the very top. She was due to rematch Serrano before the Puerto Rican was forced to withdraw due to injury, which opened the door for Cameron, who duly took her chance and edged Taylor out by a majority decision.
The rematch is, therefore, huge, and it is due to fights like these that boxing media deals and sponsorship, along with betting on boxing, have been on the increase over the years. If Taylor loses again, it could be the end of her career operating at the top of the sport, and she could walk away. But if she wins, there’s also the potential for a third contest between her and Cameron.
Taylor, however, is confident going into the rematch, “Mentally and physically, I feel a lot better going into this one.
“I just had a bit of a flat night, just a flat performance. I certainly wasn’t myself on the night, and I think everybody who watched the fight could see that,” Taylor added.
What was most telling on the night in question was that the punch stats revealed Cameron had thrown around double the amount of punches as Taylor, which was quite alarming due to the latter being renowned for her work rate when in the ring. It will certainly be something she looks to correct this time around.
Taylor also gave her thoughts on female fighters moving to twelve three-minute rounds after her former foe Serrano defended her titles successfully against Danila Ramos in twelve three-minute rounds.
“I haven’t really got any preference either way. The two-minute rounds are a real fast pace. They say the three-minute rounds will cause more knockouts, but I don’t think that’s true.
“I don’t know if women’s boxing has the strength and depth to have three-minute rounds. For me, I don’t really care whether it’s a two or three-minute round. I spar three-minute rounds all the time. There’s pros and cons to both, really,” Taylor added.
What was interesting about Serrano successfully defending her belts against Ramos is that the WBC refused to sanction the bout, with only the WBA, WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine giving their necessary approval. So twelve three-minute rounds for title fights in women’s boxing still appears to be some way off if everyone isn’t in agreement. And if it does come into force, it will likely be after Taylor calls it a day, with the Olympic gold medalist entering the ring at the age of thirty-seven on Saturday.
