Could Cameron Defeat the First Lady?
Chantelle Cameron is days away from her history-making re-match fight with Katie Taylor for the Undisputed Super Lightweight Championship. She’s already defeated the Irishwoman once, which begs the question: how good is Cameron? Could she mix it with the very best in women’s boxing annals? How would she beat the First Lady, Cecilia Braekhus?
Cameron Looking to Upset the Irish. Again
The Englishwoman, Chantelle Cameron, made no bones about being the B-side in the first fight despite being the champion. She endeared herself to Taylor by letting her have the headline slot in her homecoming. This time, however, the card reads Cameron vs. Taylor 2. The sold-out 3Arena in Dublin will no doubt still support Taylor vehemently but will have a bit more respect for the visiting Northampton boxer.
The Northampton Legend Killer
Boxing news sites have been getting excited about Chantelle Cameron for a long time now. Why so? She can end her adversaries’ careers. Anisha Basheel was a promising young fighter from Malawi, and Adriana Araújo was a veteran gold medallist boxer from Brazil. What do they have in common? Their last-ever pro fights were against Cameron. The same goes for Mary McGee and Melissa Hernández, who haven’t fought since losing to Northampton’s finest. In addition, Jessica McCaskill has yet to come back after losing to her in November 2022.
Katie Taylor’s undefeated status was killed in the first match against Cameron, and the Irishwoman may see her career come under serious jeopardy if she loses again, in theory becoming the next boxer to be retired by Cameron. With this fantastic trend, surely Cameron would want to put the First Lady in her hall of victims.
Would the Fight Go the Distance?
Cecilia Braekhus might be the most technical female boxer to have ever laced up a pair of boxing boots. Coupled with her conditioning and endurance, she typically likes to control fights without expending unnecessary energy. The large majority of her fights end in decisions, as she seldom goes for the knockout. Out of her 37 wins, only nine have come via stoppage, as she embodies sweet science.
By comparison, Chantelle Cameron’s win method is a lot more balanced. She’s won eight by knockout and a further ten by decision. While a lot of her blood-and-thunder finishes came back in the earlier part of her career, she has at least exhibited the ability to stop fights. The question would be whether she’d be able to hit efficiently against Braekhus. In the Norwegian’s prime, it would be very difficult – but in 2023 or later, given Braekhus’ advancing years, it would be possible to see Cameron capitalizing.
Does Braekhus Still Command Such Fights?
Cecilia Braekhus might be proactively extending her career. After all, she started in 2007 when women’s boxing had nowhere near the level of popularity it enjoys today. In 2023, with the female fighters attracting PPV buys and ticket sales just like the men, isn’t it any wonder that Braekhus wants to get paid for her 15+ year career?
The question is that since she entered the limelight in 2020, she’s not done well. Those two consecutive losses to Jessica McCaskill on DAZN questioned whether she was cut from the same cloth as the emerging talent in the women’s boxing rankings. After those fights, she had to step down in quality and fight the unknown Marisa Joana Portillo, a woman who was 19-15 at the time. The Colombian-born Norwegian won the fight with relative ease.
Since then, Braekhus has tried to return to the higher echelons of the game but could only muster a draw against Terri Harper. While it wasn’t her third loss, at this point in her career, a stalemate doesn’t do much for her career aspirations, especially as Harper retained the belts as a result. Time might be running out for her, as she’s already on the wrong side of 40. Maybe one tune-up fight could be afforded, but a clash with Cameron needs to happen sooner rather than later.
Could This Fight Ever Transpire?
Cecilia Braekhus famously never changed weight division for the entirety of her career between 2007 and 2022. Instead of transitioning between divisions, she dominated the welterweight ranks. That was until she fought Terri Harper at super welterweight in October 2023 on the Wood-Warrington card, which ended in a draw. Given that she’s finally shown a desire to slightly move classification, it leaves the door open for a fight with Cameron who is currently in the light-welterweight definition.
While unlikely, there is the possibility of a fight to take place outside of the boxing ring. Cameron used to be efficient at Muay Thai, while Braekhus was a celebrated kickboxer combatant. Could some kind of mixed-rules exhibition take place?
If Chantelle Cameron were to lose to Katie Taylor, it would undoubtedly lead to a trilogy series with Taylor with the score needing to be settled with one win apiece. The time it would take to finalize and execute the third match might overlap with a Braekhus-Cameron fight losing its appeal as the Norwegian is already 41 years old.
Should Cameron win the fight against Taylor, then it leaves her open to new challenges relatively quickly. Cecilia Braekhus would be a fine name on her resume. The Norwegian was undefeated until she lost to Jessica McCaskill twice, going 36-2. Now at 37-2-1, there might not be a better way to earn her 38th win than with a title.
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