Chantelle Cameron presses for three-minute rounds ahead of Mikaela Mayer unification fight

Less than two weeks before her world title unification bout against Mikaela Mayer, Northampton fighter Chantelle Cameron spoke in a cafe in Walkden about her career, her protest over two-minute rounds and the path that led her to hold the WBO super-welterweight belt. Cameron, the only woman to have beaten Katie Taylor as a professional, discussed giving up a WBC world title in protest and the forthcoming clash with Mayer.

Cameron recounted a formative school incident that helped shape her determination, saying: “I was 14 and doing a psychology GCSE when my teacher spoke to me in front of the whole class. 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?’” She described going home and asking her mother, “Mum, why would he say that to me?” and added that her mother confronted the school: “You can’t be judging people like that – just because we’re from Eastern District [in Northampton].” Cameron said the teacher “Never” apologised and that she “ended up quitting psychology anyway.”

Cameron addressed the WBC’s policy on round length and quoted a 2023 defence from the body’s president: “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.” In response she said: “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.” She acknowledged two-minute rounds’ intensity—“It’s electric and fought at full pace.”—but maintained they were holding back the elite women’s game.

Cameron said she acted on that principle in October 2025 when she vacated a WBC title and subsequently won the WBO belt because that body permitted three-minute rounds. She noted the compromise required for the Mayer fight, observing that Mayer holds the WBC title and that returning to two-minute rounds benefits her opponent: “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.”

On Mayer’s qualities in the ring, Cameron said: “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.” She added of Mayer’s broader contribution to the sport: “She’s a great advocate for boxing, not just women’s boxing. She comes to fight.”

Cameron reflected on her two fights with Katie Taylor, recalling the partisan atmosphere in Dublin when she first beat Taylor in May 2023 and the hardship of the rematch six months later. Describing the first fight she said: “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.” She recalled walking to the ring thinking: “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.” On the scorecards she said: “Oh yes. The first one was a draw. I thought: ‘Oh no.’”

On the rematch and its aftermath she said she struggled emotionally, describing the lead-up: “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 said she “took it really bad” after losing, went through a period of withdrawal from people close to her, left and then returned to Moore’s gym, and later felt she had “grown into a much better and more rounded person. I’ve matured so much.” She also recounted sending Taylor a private Instagram message two weeks after beating her to say it was an honour and thanked her for what she had done for boxing, and added: “I’m not going to pretend there’s any love lost.”

Cameron outlined health precautions she takes while compiling a 22-1 record over nine years as a professional, saying she uses an app called Elevate for brain training and undergoes an annual MRI. On the scans she said: “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.”” She said she wants to retire in the next two years and “go out healthy and with my brain intact.” Cameron also spoke about her family in Northampton: “My mum and dad are still there,” and that she would like to buy them a cottage though “they want to stay.” She added: “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.”

She will now defend her WBO world super-welterweight title a week on Saturday against Mayer, the experienced WBC belt-holder, in what has been billed as a potential fight of the year for women’s boxing.