Chantelle Cameron aiming for trilogy with Katie Taylor: ‘I want my belts back’

Chantelle Cameron sent out a statement to Katie Taylor with a dominant win over Elhem Mekhaled to pick up the WBC interim junior welterweight championship.

It was Cameron’s first fight under her new trainer Grant Smith and the Queensbury Promotions banner. Cameron had split from long-time trainer Jamie Moore and promoter Eddie Hearn after losing her undisputed 140-pound titles in a rematch with Katie Taylor. Cameron won the first contest but was well-documented saying that she felt let down by her team after losing the second fight. This led to the former undisputed champion making big changes to her setup up and she now looks to hunt down the belts she lost that night.

The former undisputed champion is now targeting a third fight with Taylor but is aware that she may not get the chance to redeem herself that she craves. When asked what she needs to do to make the trilogy happen, she responded:

“[I need to] make everyone call for the [big] fights,” Cameron told Queensbury Promotions. “[I need to] make everyone want the fights that I want to be in, keep performing, and be respectful, but also get it out there that I want the belts. I want the trilogy [with Katie Taylor], I want to get my redemption. I may be naive, I may be looking into something that’s not going to happen, or maybe it isn’t, but it’s what I want. I want a chance to beat Katie Taylor again and make it 2-1.”

Cameron impressed her new audience in a thrilling contest with Mekhaled, the Frenchwoman was well beaten but made the fight competitive throughout. Mekhaled had never been stopped and it showed as Cameron struggled to put a dent in the fighter. Although she didn’t get the stoppage she was hoping for, Cameron was happy with her performance and the invaluable rounds under new coach Smith. The former undisputed champion felt that she sent out a statement with her victory and is now aiming for a world title after picking up the ‘interim’ belt.

“I’m telling everyone what I want and I’m on a mission,” Cameron continued. “It’s okay saying that but tonight I had to put it into action, and I feel like I’ve done that. She’s a tough girl, she’s never been stopped, and I was hurting her, she was going nowhere, and now it’s just onwards and upwards. I’ve got more time with Grant [Smith] and I’m happy, that’s the main thing, a happy fighter is a dangerous fighter. I’m coming for everything, I keep saying it and I really am, I want my belts back. That’s the interim, that’s great, but that’s not what I want.”