In a few minutes, in front of a sold-out 3Arena, Katie Taylor will make her ringwalk for her long overdue homecoming fight against Chantelle Cameron.
An undisputed Irish sporting great.
Bidding to become an undisputed two-weight champion.
On a night of undisputed significance for professional boxing in Ireland.
Taylor v Cameron is coming up shortly. Stay with us and you won’t miss a moment.
The 3Arena is packed to capacity, with the vast majority of tickets snapped up within minutes of going on sale.
But the atmosphere has been notably punctured by Jose Felix, who has in the last few moments landed a major shock in the chief support bout of the evening, stopping previously undefeated Naas boxer Gary Cully in the third round.
If you’re just catching up, here’s a quick rundown of the rest of this evening’s results so far:
Jose Felix bt Gary Cully TKO3
James Metcalf bt Dennis Hogan UD
Caoimhin Agyarko bt Grant Dennis UD
Thomas Carty bt Jay McFarlane TKO2
Paddy Donovan bt Sam O’maison TKO6
Maisey Rose Courtney bt Kate Radomska 58-57
Homecoming. Ready @KatieTaylor ☘️
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) May 20, 2023
Live on https://t.co/FoiaUucafv NOW 👑#TaylorCameron pic.twitter.com/eCJmYiH3WE
We’re moments away from ringwalks here, but first, Amhrán na bhFiann.
And that sound you can now hear is boxing’s national anthem, Sweet Caroline.
While the Dublin crowd belt that out, here’s another look at Gavan Casey’s pre-fight preview:
THE TWO BOXERS’ teams have exuded an earnest confidence all week, but the rest of us really haven’t a clue as to who’s going to have their arm raised when the dust settles on the 3Arena ring tonight.
Even the various other stakeholders involved in Katie Taylor’s challenge of Chantelle Cameron for the undisputed light-welterweight championship are split down the middle. Predictions have typically been preceded by an ‘Oooft’ and delivered with a dozen qualifiers.
The conviction and comfort with which Taylor has carried herself in Dublin all week has swayed plenty of previously undecided voters in her favour.
The 3Arena is absolutely hopping to the sounds of Olé Olé Olé as Chantelle Cameron — the defending champion here tonight, remember — is called to the ring by our MC, David Diamante.
Here we go.
Just listen to that reception for Katie Taylor as they play out the pre-fight VT on the big screen.
In her 23rd professional bout, she is home.
Sibéal – who sang the national anthem a few moments ago – returns to open Katie’s ring walk with Diddy and Skylar Gray’s Coming Home, which is perfectly chosen.
There’s just the hint of a smile on Taylor’s face as she pauses on the ring apron for a moment before stepping through the ropes and surveys this crowd – her crowd.
She has waited a long, long time for this.
I’m not sure if Chantelle Cameron has experienced an atmosphere like this before. I’m not sure many have. It is loud in the 3Arena.
Referee Sparkle Lee from America calls Taylor and Cameron together in the centre of the ring for her final instructions. The fighters touch gloves. Here we go.
Cameron starts the fight on the front foot but Taylor is happy to stay at arm’s length in the opening exhanges. Cameron walks Taylor back onto the ropes, and then the two meet in the middle of the ring where Taylor throws a nice combo. Taylor gets through with another one-two but Cameron finishes the round the strongest and gets through with a couple of shots of her own. Very evenly matched, but Cameron is certainly not daunted by the occasion.
Taylor’s corner reassure her that she won the round. Whether or not all three judges also see it that way remains to be seen.
With the crowd willing her on, Taylor lands a big right on Cameron. Cameron responds with a good body shot with Taylor up against the ropes, but Taylor finds her mark again with a nice left hook.
All of the experts who told you all week that this was going to be a 50/50 fight? Now you see why.
Cameron has thrown more than twice as many punches as Taylor in those opening two rounds, but Taylor is by far the more accurate of the two, landing 35% to Cameron’s 20%.
Every Taylor punch brings a roar from the Dublin crowd, but Cameron smiles as if to say: is that all you’ve got?
On DAZN’s broadcast, Andy Lee and Alicia Baumgardner both have Cameron 2-1 up through three rounds.
Cameron is not going to give Taylor a way back into this fight easily. Katie lands a good body shot and follows it up, but that flurry aside, Cameron is largely dictating. That’s another round for Cameron.
Cameron gets Taylor back up on the ropes again, and starts to go to the body, but Katie responds and tags Cameron in return. Cameron looks to press home her advantage, but Taylor catches her with a few nice counters.
Alicia Baumgardner has Cameron ahead by four rounds to one through five rounds. There are a couple of rounds there that could go either way, but it’s indication of the size of the task facing Taylor as we enter the second half of the fight.
What a round of boxing. Taylor and Cameron stand toe-to-toe in the centre of the ring and go at it. Every clean Taylor shot brings forth a wall of noise from the crowd. It’s one round back for Taylor.
It’s hard to escape the sense that this one is starting to slip away from Taylor. Either way, she needs a big finish in these final three rounds. Cameron’s pressure is relentless, especially in the first minute of the round, and although Taylor gets in a few shots of her own, it’s another round that’s likely to go in the Cameron column.
Strong finish to the round from Katie Taylor. As if it needed to be said, she’s not going to go out wondering tonight.
DAZN have Cameron two rounds up with two to go.
Another ferocious round of boxing. Cameron again has Taylor where she wants her, against the ropes and under pressure, and gets through with a few uppercuts. But Taylor rallies in the closing moments and lands a few shots.
Here we go – Round 10
The round comes to life in the final 60 seconds and as Taylor lands her combos, Cameron is the one holding and stalling, letting the clock run down to the final bell. That last round was Taylor’s alright – but will it be enough?
We go to the judges’ cards.
On DAZN, Andy Lee scores it 96-94 to Cameron — but as he says himself, you only need to flip one round there (entirely possible for a home fighter with that Irish crowd behind her), and you have a draw.
Tony Bellew has it 96-94 Cameron as well, for the record.
Cameron raises her arm in anticipation as the fighters come together in the centre of the ring. Here come the scores…
Chantelle Cameron wins! 96-94 x 2, and 95-95
A fair result after an enthralling contest.
It is the first professional defeat of Katie Taylor’s career.
Chantelle Cameron pays tribute to Taylor as “pound for pound, the best women’s boxer there is”.
“I turned up for the occasion.”
Asked if she thought she’d done enough, Taylor says: “I’m not sure to be honest… it was obviously a very, very close fight.”
“Congratulations to Chantelle on a fantastic performance.”
“Looking forward to the rematch.”
A champion in victory and defeat.
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) May 20, 2023
There is only one @KatieTaylor ❤️️#TaylorCameron pic.twitter.com/EBAUANInR3
Eddie Hearn is asked about the rematch clause in the contract.
“We will be doing this night again in Dublin, this autumn,” Hearn says.
So that’s it – a night which Katie Taylor has waited so long for ultimately ends in disappointment, but she loses nothing in defeat, and Chantelle Cameron was a worthy winner. She preserves her unbeaten pro record and retains her undisputed status as world super lightweight champion.
As for what’s to come later in the year… well, we’ll see.
Thanks for reading.
