Chantelle Cameron 18-1 (8) could not replicate the magic she produced in May when she rematched Katie Taylor 23-1 (6) at 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland on Saturday night.
Six months ago the 32-year-old Brit shocked the boxing world when she successfully defended her undisputed junior welterweight championship against undisputed lightweight champion Taylor.
In that fight Cameron started fast, winning enough of the early rounds to secure a majority decision win by scores of 96-94, 96-94 and 95-95.
The second time around it was Ireland’s Taylor, 37, who took control of the fight in the early rounds before Cameron made a late rally only to drop a competitive decision on the cards by scores of 95-95, 94-96 and 92-98.
Taylor made some smart adjustments for the rematch, including smothering Cameron’s work on the inside. This was particularly pronounced in the back half of the fight.
Cameron’s trainer Jamie Moore believes referee Roberto Ramirez Jr should have clamped down on this during the fight.
“She’s obviously devastated, you can imagine,” Moore said to BBC 5 Live Boxing. “She just feels like this whole scenario, everything was set up for her to lose.
“We were sort of determined to prove everyone wrong, similar to what we did last time. But she got away with holding last time. I’m not saying—first of all, I just wanna say, for what I was actually watching, it was a close fight, it could have gone either way.”
It was not the only issue Moore had with the third man in the ring. He believes the Puerto Rican referee missed a crucial knockdown call in the opening frame of the fight when a stiff Cameron jab sent Taylor to the canvas. Ramirez Jr ruled it a slip.
“We were denied a knockdown in the first round, which should have been [a] 100% legitimate knockdown,” Moore continued.
“I begged the referee in the changing room before the fight, please last time, she got away with holding a lot. My fighter’s best work is up close. Please don’t let her hold the way she did last time this time. And he allowed her to go on worse this time than it was last time.
“So I’m gutted for her because she was so frustrated by the fourth and fifth rounds because she was holding that much. From watching what I watched, if Chantelle was allowed to do the work that she can do on the inside, it would have been a different result.
“From what I watched it was a close fight.”
After the fight Taylor welcomed the idea of a trilogy fight with Cameron, proposing Dublin’s Croke Park football stadium as the venue.
“This is my real homecoming tonight. You saw the worst of me in May. You saw the best of me tonight. Let’s get the trilogy in Croke Park,” she said.
“It takes two to tango and Chantelle is a phenomenal fighter and a phenomenal champion, she deserves everything that she gets.
“To have a trilogy would be a great respect for both of us. I think that is exactly what we both want.
“She is a legend herself. Two legends of the ring fighting again for the trilogy. I don’t think there’s ever been a trilogy in women’s boxing. This could be the first.”