The 42.ie’s Gavan Casey labeled the fight as an “absolutely mammoth task” for Katie Taylor in this week’s podcast — and so it proved as the Bray warrior suffered the first defeat in her professional career losing by a majority decision to England’s Chantelle Cameron.
Taylor went down 96-94, 96-94, 95-95 with Cameron successfully retaining her undisputed junior welterweight titles — and deservedly so.
The party atmosphere, the first big-time boxing event in Ireland for a number of years, was punctured by the impressive Cameron who oozed class — and calmness — in front of a boisterous 9,000-strong Irish home crowd at the 3Arena.
Cameron landed more total punches (141), more power punches (114) and more body punches (37) than Taylor, according to ESPN, and, while Taylor (22-1, 6 KO) landed a higher percentage of her shots, the undisputed lightweight champion couldn’t match the aggressiveness and power from Cameron.
Afterward, Taylor was asked if she thought she won the fight.
“I’m not sure to be honest,” Taylor said. “I have to go back and look at it. It was obviously a very, very close fight. It was not how I wanted my homecoming to go. But I’m just so grateful for the support to be honest.”
Taylor’s team had secured a rematch clause — with Taylor and Hearn saying afterward they intend to exercise it in the fall, again in Dublin. Another potential option for Taylor is a rematch with Serrano, who had to pull out of the scheduled fight due to a hand injury.
But Hearn said, “We’ll be doing this fight again in Dublin in autumn this year.”
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A champion in victory and defeat.
There is only one @KatieTaylor ❤️️#TaylorCameron pic.twitter.com/EBAUANInR3
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) May 20, 2023
WATCH: Katie Taylor vs. Chantelle Cameron Highlights
