Less than two weeks before her world title unification bout against Mikaela Mayer, in a potential fight of the year for women’s boxing, Chantelle Cameron’s memory carries a quietly shocking force. “I was 14 and doing a psychology GCSE when my teacher spoke to me in front of the whole class,” Cameron says. “I don’t know why because I wasn’t a naughty kid. But he just turned round and said I’m going to end up stacking shelves in Tesco with two kids by the time I’m 16. On the inside I was like: ‘Wow. Did he really say that?’”
Cameron is the only woman to have beaten the great Katie Taylor as a pro and she has become a passionate advocate for elite female boxers and their right to fight three-minute rounds – so much so that, last year, she gave up her WBC world title because the sanctioning body suggested women weren’t strong enough to box more than two-minute rounds. She will now defend her WBO world super-welterweight title a week on Saturday against Mayer, the experienced WBC belt-holder.
Before she addresses the hard night ahead of Mayer and herself, Cameron nods when I ask if, as a shy teenager, she felt crushed by her teacher’s comment.
“I was,” she says in a cafe in Walkden, near Manchester. “I went home and said: ‘Mum, why would he say that to me?’ It can be really damaging when you’re told that by a teacher. It’s like he’s saying I’ve got no dreams, no hope. There’s nothing wrong with stacking shelves, by the way, but to diminish someone like that at school is so wrong. I took it quite bad and my mum went into school and told them: ‘You can’t be judging people like that – just because we’re from Eastern District [in Northampton].’”
Did her teacher apologise? “Never, but I ended up quitting psychology anyway.”
The 35-year-old has learned much about the depths and complexities of the mind because, apart from shedding her insecurities when facing a partisan crowd in Dublin on the night she beat Taylor in a searing battle in May 2023, Cameron dealt with her own demons after losing the rematch six months later.
It still stings that, as Cameron says, “because I’m from Northampton Eastern District, you’re always judged. People expect you’re going to be a thief or a druggie, on benefits, and it’s so unfair. I love where I’m from but when you’re told that by your teachers, and people in authority, it’s more real. So I never dreamed of being in the position I’m in now – because I wouldn’t dare to dream. I was always told it weren’t possible.”
Boxing helped Cameron believe in herself and she smiles when we wonder if her former teacher has followed her career as a world champion. “I hope he remembers what he told me,” she says softly.
Cameron has since encountered another form of prejudice. In 2023 the WBC president, Mauricio Sulaimán, defended his organisation’s refusal to sanction 12 three-minute rounds in female bouts. “In tennis, women play three sets,” Sulaimán argued. “In [women’s] basketball the basket is shorter and the ball smaller and those are not contact sports. We stand by the safety and wellbeing of the fighters.”
That statement did not acknowledge the strength and resilience of the best female fighters – while undermining Cameron, for she would benefit from longer rounds. Is the WBC’s stance sexist? “Yes. I think it’s bad for the sport. It’s bad for women’s boxing. Amateur women do three-minute rounds and for women’s pro boxing to be taken seriously we should be doing the same as men. If we want equal rights, equal pay, we can’t be doing 10 two-minute rounds.”
Cameron’s view is nuanced when we consider reasonable counter arguments. “I understand the pros and cons of two-minute rounds. It’s electric and fought at full pace. But it’s holding back women’s boxing. I don’t think it has anything to do with health. We’re perfectly capable of doing three-minute rounds.”
She adds the caveat that, “if you’re on British level then 10 2s is fine. But when it’s European and world level we should do three-minute rounds. That’s the problem with the lack of depth in women’s boxing. It’s either novice or elite level. There’s no middle ground.”
In October 2025 Cameron stood up to the WBC and, in protest, gave up her world title. “I vacated and then won the WBO belt because they allowed me to fight over three-minute rounds. Mikaela is the WBC champion now and, because this is such a good fight for me, I’ve had to go back to twos.”
Over 12 three-minute rounds Cameron would be a prohibitive favourite against Mayer. “Mikaela knew that and so this gives her an advantage. If we went to three-minute rounds, I don’t think no woman’s going to stay with me. I had thought Mikaela was an advocate for three-minute rounds but she wants to go for the undisputed title and that includes the WBC.”
What does Mayer do best in the ring? “She’s very tough. That’s her best attribute and she’s got good fitness. I have a lot of respect for Mikaela as a fighter and a person. I’m taking her as seriously as I took Katie Taylor.”
The mutual respect is refreshing. They are two of the best fighters in the world and Cameron says of her articulate and engaging American rival: “She’s a great advocate for boxing, not just women’s boxing. She comes to fight.”
Cameron is less enthusiastic when reflecting on her rivalry with Taylor. She went to Dublin for Taylor’s homecoming bout [after professional boxing in Ireland had been blocked following a 2015 gangland shooting at a weigh-in] and Cameron is honest when describing how she felt in front of a vociferous crowd. “It was horrible. But [her trainers] Jamie Moore and Nigel Travers believed in me. I didn’t think I’d beat Katie but they were adamant I’d do it.”
What was she thinking when walking to the ring? Cameron laughs. “Why am I here? It was so hostile, like nothing I’ve ever felt, but Jamie and Nigel kept saying trigger words that made me understand it was just noise. It would soon be just me and Katie in the ring.”
Cameron produced a supreme performance and edged the fight. But was she concerned about the scorecards? “Oh yes. The first one was a draw. I thought: ‘Oh no.’ But I prepared for that because I was going into Katie Taylor’s back yard, and she’s the queen of Ireland. When I got the decision it was incredible.”
It was different before the rematch. “God’s honest truth, I did not want to be in Dublin. It was a hard ask to do it again and everything was stacked against me. Katie is an amazing fighter, but I think I’m better than her. I’m all wrong for Katie, but when everything goes against you it’s really hard. It weren’t me versus Katie. It was me against the whole of Ireland. On the morning of the rematch, I was in my bedroom crying my eyes out. That’s how much I trusted my gut feeling. I was having a breakdown and Nigel came to comfort me.”
She lost narrowly on points and Cameron says: “I took it really bad and I had a bit of a breakdown. My family and friends think that too. I just gave up everything. I was really sad and pushing away the people that love me most.”
Cameron even left Moore’s gym to try to make a fresh start. It did not take long to understand that they were the best possible team for her. She says: “The last two years I’ve grown into a much better and more rounded person. I’ve matured so much.”
Has she spoken to Taylor? “No, but two weeks after I beat Katie I sent her a private message on Instagram to say it was an honour to fight her. I told her I appreciated all she has done for boxing and thanked her. It was a genuine message because, if you fight Katie, you’re fighting a legend. I didn’t hear back and thought: ‘Fair enough.’ I knew it was tough for her to lose.
“When she beat me I heard nothing. I thought then that: ‘We’re different people.’ I don’t judge her but politeness doesn’t cost anything. I’m friendly with most of my opponents now. We talk and have a laugh. But me and Katie? I’m not going to pretend there’s any love lost.”
Cameron chased a trilogy contest but Taylor chose to fight Amanda Serrano, her other great rival, twice more. Taylor is now having a huge and probably final fight at Croke Park against the obscure Flora Pili on 5 September. Does Cameron feel she should be fighting Taylor?
“No. From the bottom of my heart, fighting me at Croke Park is not right for her swansong. It’s going to be a show, and more of a send-off, than a fight. I was the wrong opponent and so that’s why there was never a conversation. I think this will be her last fight. I hope it is because she has done so much for women’s boxing and had so many tough fights.”
Does Cameron worry about the damage she has also absorbed while compiling a 22-1 record over nine years as a pro? “Yes, I’m really concerned. That’s why I do a lot of brain training. An app called Elevate exercises my brain because over the last few years I’ve been worried. So I’m reading books, brain training, because I don’t want to be punch-drunk. I want to retire from boxing being able to put sentences together.”
Has she seen warning signs? “Not yet, touch wood. I don’t think I’ve been in many wars. I had my first proper cut with Katie but that was more of a head-butt. I’ve not been hurt and Jamie’s very good at not over-sparring. I don’t need any extra knocks on my head.”
She has an annual MRI brain scan and Cameron says: “I hate the scans. I get real nervous and anxious because I’m being punched in my head for a living and I don’t know what’s going on up there. But I also have security knowing I’m going for them scans. If the smallest thing shows on the scan I’d say: “My time’s up. Health is way more important than boxing.”
It has been hard for Cameron to find a decent opponent since Taylor. She is candid when stressing she “needs” the challenge of Mayer to lift her while, at the same time, she wants to retire in the next two years: “I want to go out healthy and with my brain intact.”
Our conversation drifts back to her beloved Northampton. “My mum and dad are still there,” Cameron says. “I would love to buy them a nice cottage in the countryside but they want to stay. That’s the kind of family we are. I still have the same friends, and I’m so proud of them. They’re also proud of me. I’ll always represent Northampton and Eastern District because I’m the one that made it. It shows other people you can still make it, no matter where you’re from. Don’t let anyone tell you any different.”