CHANTELLE CAMERON remains on course to fight for the WBC super-lightweight world title on Sunday night, although her opponent Brazilian Olympian Adriana Dos Santos Araujo came in five pounds over the limit.
Cameron scaled 9st 11lbs 7oz, Araujo was 10st 5lbs. The fight goes on, but the title is only available for the Englishwoman to win.
The championship itself will mean the world to Cameron. Previously she reflected, “There’s definitely been a couple of hurdles where I didn’t think I’d be boxing again. To get a world title shot now, I didn’t think it was going to happen. I’m just grateful I got the opportunity.
“I feel like everything that has happened has happened for a reason and it’s led me to this opportunity.”
“She got a bronze medal at the Olympics, I never achieved that. I’m going in with the mindset that she’s got something that I never managed to achieve,” Chantelle said. “She’s definitely going to be tough, it’s going to be a hard fight but pros is different to amateurs. I don’t even think she’s done 10 rounds.”
Winning this world title, as far as Cameron is concerned, would make up for the disappointment of not qualifying for the 2016 Olympic Games. She almost walked away from boxing. But boredom saw her return to her amateur gym to train. Then after a meeting with Barry McGuigan, she took up the offer of professional contract with Cyclone Promotions.
Now with Matchroom she has a 12-0 (7) record behind her, a world title fight coming up and a possible showdown on the (distant) horizon with Katie Taylor. “Her name is always brought up,” Cameron said. “She doesn’t talk about me. I’m irrelevant to her. I don’t even know if she knows I was her mandatory. I’ve got no idea. Obviously it’s a fight I would happily have. It’s a dream fight for me because obviously she’s a legend of the sport and if you’re confident of beating a legend of the sport you want that fight. But I’m just going to focus on me. She’s focusing on herself, I’ll focus on me and if the fight happens, it happens.”
Cameron can look to the future after Sunday night’s contest. “It’s been so strange. The whole year has been in limbo. I didn’t think I would be boxing this year so to even get a fight is amazing but for a world title fight, it’s even better,” Cameron said. “It would be amazing [to win this title]. You turn professional and that’s what everyone wants to be. They want to be a champion, let alone a world champion. So to become a world champion would be the start of achieving my overall goal. My overall goal and overall dream is to be undisputed. So to win, it’s the first step to achieving the dream.”
Joshua Buatsi headlines the event in Milton Keynes. He and his opponent, Croatian Marko Calic were both on weight, the latter 12st 4¾lbs and Buatsi 12st 4¼lbs.