Barry McGuigan is convinced Chantelle Cameron will beat Eddie Hearn’s golden girl Katie Taylor – but says he’s in no rush to make the fight happen.
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McGuigan hands Cameron a world-title shot – of sorts – in only her fifth pro fight on his show at the Leicester Arena on Saturday, December 2.
The vacant IBO lightweight championship is on the line when the 26 year old from Northampton meets Viviane Obenauf over 10 two-minute rounds in front of the Channel Five cameras.
Taylor beat Obenauf in her second pro fight on the way to the WBA lightweight title she defends at the York Hall in Bethnal Green on Wednesday, December 13.
Hearn has plans to make Taylor “a global star” – and though McGuigan hasn’t always had the best of relationships with the Matchroom chief, he says that when the time is right, they will work together to stage Taylor-Cameron.
“I don’t think Katie fears anyone,” said McGuigan, “but they never seem to mention Chantelle’s name.
“Katie beat her in the amateurs because she was technically better, but the pros is a different game.
“Katie is a helluva fighter and I have so much respect for her and what she’s done, but the one coming through is Chantelle.
“She is 26 and Katie is 31 ½.
“I’m sure that fight will happen one day, but at the moment, Chantelle is pulling in good numbers on Spike and Channel Five and building her profile.
“It makes sense to build that fight.”
Cameron, beaten on points by Taylor in the EU championships in 2011, admits the debt she owes to Taylor.
“I always wanted to be a pro,” said Cameron.
“I used to watch the big fights on TV and think: ‘I wish I could do that,’ but I never thought it would happen.
“But Katie Taylor and Nicola Adams have opened doors for women boxers.”
Adams says she wants to fight over three-minute rounds – and McGuigan says that would also benefit his fighter.
“Why shouldn’t women fight over 10 threes ?” said the former WBA featherweight champion.
“There’s no equality there. Chantelle needs 10 threes. She is fighting other females, so why not ?
“I have her sparring 10 rounds with two men and then she jumps off and goes on the tread mill and sets a new best time. She is a machine.
“I guarantee nobody will beat this girl over 10 threes.
Nobody has come close to beating Cameron since she made her pro debut in May. Taken the distance on her debut, she went on to thrash her next three opponents inside the distance. Her last performance was her best yet. Edith Ramos had fought at world level in a 6-1-1 career – and Cameron punched her around the ring from the opening bell until the referee jumped in to rescue the Mexican early in the third.
Obenauf promises to be a tougher test.
McGuigan has studied her fight with Taylor and a split points loss to Ewa Brodnicka (13-0) in Poland earlier this year and expects the 31 year old from Switzerland to take the fight to Cameron.
“I’m hoping she puts it on me,” said the East Midlander.
“That’s when you will see the best of me.
“I will let my hands go, she will try to throw back and that’s when I will be able to hit her cleanly.”
Cameron has always liked hitting people.
Aged 10 she went to a kickboxing gym and remembered: “The first time I went to the gym, I sparred and the coaches were saying: ‘Look at her! She’s fearless.’
“I didn’t know what I was doing. I just got stuck in. That comes from my mum and my nan. There are fiery women in my family!
“Three weeks later, I went to my first tournament and I’ve been fighting ever since.”
She spent seven years with the Great Britain squad in Sheffield, the highlight was gold at the Olympic Test Event last year, and now she’s a pro, Cameron says she’s proving to the public that women like to fight too.
“People are starting to recognise me now when I’m out shopping,” she said, “and they all seem to say they same thing.
“They all say how aggressive I am!
“I think people expect me to be a tippy, tappy girl boxer, but when they see me fight, they see that I’m ferocious and I love to fight.”
READ MORE:
Barry McGuigan Isn’t Buying The Katie Taylor Hype – “Chantelle Cameron Is Number One”