Chantelle Cameron


Chantelle Cameron is a British professional boxer who held the IBO female lightweight title from 2017 to 2019. As an amateur, she won a silver medal in the light-welterweight division at the 2010 EU Championships in Keszthely, Hungary, and bronze in the lightweight division at the 2011 EU Championships in Katowice, Poland, losing to Katie Taylor in the semi-finals. As of February 2020, she is ranked as the world's second-best active female lightweight by BoxRec.

Early life

Chantelle Cameron was born on 14 May 1991, in Northampton, England. She credits her love for combat sports to watching movies starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and hit television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, stating; "I loved all those fighting films. Kickboxer would have to be my favourite van Damme film. The fighting in it is unreal. I loved Buffy because of the fight scenes and the fact she was a female role model." Cameron's introduction to combat sports was through kickboxing at the age of 10, moving on to Muay Thai at 16. After a successful amateur career – in which she remained undefeated, winning amateur titles in the IKF and WAKO – she switched to boxing at the age of 18.

Amateur career

Cameron won two English women's national championships; the ABA Championships in 2010 and the ABAE Championships in 2015. She reached the quarter-finals of the 2010 AIBA World Championships, losing to eventual silver medalist Vera Slugina of Russia. She also won a silver medal at the 2010 EU Championships, and bronze the following year at the 2011 EU Championships, losing in the semi-finals to eventual winner Katie Taylor of Ireland.

Results

2010 | ABA Women's National Championships
2010 | European Union Women's Championships
2010 | AIBA Women's World Championships
2011 | European Union Women's Championships
2015 | ABAE Women's National Championships

Super-featherweight

In 2017, Cameron signed a promotional contract with Barry McGuigan's Cyclone Promotions. Under the guidance of Barry's son, Shane McGuigan, she made her professional debut on 26 May 2017, winning a six-round points decision against Karina Kopinska at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales.
After scoring technical knockout wins over Bojana Libiszewska and Bilitis Gaucher in July and October respectively, Cameron fought Edith Ramos for the vacant IBO Inter-Continental female super-featherweight title on 11 November 2017 at the Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh, Scotland, winning via third-round TKO.

Lightweight

A month later on 2 December, Cameron moved up a weight class to fight for her first world title, in her fifth fight, against Viviane Obenauf at the Leicester Arena in Leicester. She won by sixth-round stoppage after Obenauf's corner called off the fight between rounds, capturing the IBO female lightweight title. The first defence of her title came on 3 March 2018, against Myriam Dellal at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland. She successfully defended her IBO title via shutout unanimous decision over ten rounds, with all three judges scoring the bout 100–90 in favour of Cameron. She next scored a sixth-round TKO win in June over Natalia Vanesa del Valle Aguirre in a non-title fight, before defending her title for a second time, against Jessica Gonzalez on 13 October 2018 at the York Hall in London, with the vacant WBC Silver female lightweight title also on the line. Throughout the fight Cameron used footwork and stayed behind the jab, landing straight right hands and uppercuts on her opponent. Gonzalez was down on the canvas in the first-round, only for referee Ian John Lewis to rule it a slip. The Mexican fighter suffered a cut in the second-round from an accidental clash of heads. In the ninth, Gonzalez was deducted a point for hitting Cameron in the back of the head, while in a clinch, after the referee had called for the fighters to separate. Cameron won via unanimous decision in what was a controlled performance from start to finish, retaining her IBO title and capturing the vacant WBC Silver title.
On 1 February 2019, Cameron announced her split with Cyclone Promotions and trainer Shane McGuigan via Twitter, stating, "...they know the distress they have caused me and how isolated they made me feel, humiliated and just deflated, they had no time for a female boxer", as well as citing training issues; "My last fight camp was four weeks and I’m sick of the circumstances of chasing money and it’s been seen in my most recent performance ". She has since joined up with MTK Global and trainer Jamie Moore.
Her first fight under MTK came in April, winning via second-round TKO in a non-title bout against Feriche Mashauri. This was followed by another non-title bout in May, again winning by second-round TKO against Vaida Masiokaite. Following her win over Masiokaite, Cameron relinquished her IBO title, saying, "I wish to thank the IBO for their support and introducing me to the world stage as a major force in women’s boxing. I will relinquish my IBO title to enable other female fighters to fight for this important title and to enhance their careers as well."
Her next fight was against Anisha Basheel in a WBC lightweight final eliminator on 20 July at the Brentwood Centre in Essex, England, with Cameron's WBC Silver title on the line and the winner gaining a chance to face WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, The Ring and lineal champion Katie Taylor for the undisputed female lightweight championship. In a fight that outlets described as a dominant performance, Cameron scored a UD victory. Keeping behind the jab for the first few rounds, Basheel appeared to have trouble figuring out the former champion. Cameron stepped up the pressure from round five and onwards, unloading power punches in combinations and landing at will, rarely troubled by her opponent. Two judges scored the bout 100–89, while the third scored it 100–90, securing Cameron a mandatory shot at Katie Taylor.

Light-welterweight

For her next fight, Cameron moved up another weight class to face two-weight world champion Anahi Ester Sanchez. Cameron said on the decision to move up in weight, "I am not waiting around for Katie Taylor. That’s why I have moved up in weight for this final eliminator, because I want to face any world champion." The fight took place on 9 November 2019 at the York Hall, in what was a WBC light-welterweight final eliminator, with the winner gaining a shot at unified WBA and WBC champion Jessica McCaskill. After knocking Sanchez down in the ninth-round, Cameron went on to win the fight by UD to claim the WBC mandatory position. Two judges scored the bout 100–89 while the third scored it 99–90.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
12Win12–0 Anahi Ester SanchezUD109 Nov 2019
11Win11–0 Anisha BasheelUD1020 Jul 2019Brentwood Centre, Brentwood, England.png" />Retained WBC Silver female lightweight title
10Win10–0 Vaida MasiokaiteTKO2, 0:3318 May 2019SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland.png" />
9Win9–0 Feriche MashauriTKO2, 1:3926 Apr 2019
8Win8–0 Jessica GonzalezUD1013 Oct 2018Retained IBO female lightweight title;
Won vacant WBC Silver female lightweight title
7Win7–0 Natalia Vanesa del Valle AguirreTKO6, 1:3123 Jun 2018
6Win6–0 Myriam Dellal103 Mar 2018Retained IBO female lightweight title
5Win5–0 Viviane Obenauf6, 2:002 Dec 2017Won vacant IBO female lightweight title
4Win4–0 Edith RamosTKO3, 1:0411 Nov 2017Won vacant IBO Inter-Continental female super-featherweight title
3Win3–0 Bilitis GaucherTKO1, 1:147 Oct 2017
2Win2–0 Bojana Libiszewska4, 0:478 Jul 2017Braehead Arena, Glasgow, Scotland.png" />
1Win1–0 Karina Kopinska626 May 2017