Katie Taylor secures greatest victory of her storied pro career in Dublin thriller
Declared Taylor Is Cameron Katie Lightweight The Clash Of Super Winner Undisputed Chantelle Dublin At 3arena, With Championship Her
The enduring image of this magnificent fight came before the start of the final round when both boxers met in the centre ring and embraced. Fitting acknowledgement of an awesome bout. After the closing bell, the scorecard was read out: 95-95, 98-92, 96-94. Katie Taylor on a majority decision.
All of the enduring romance of this rough, dark trade was apparent at the 3Arena on Saturday night. What a fairytale. Taylor arrived as the underdog and avenged her homecoming defeat in an absolute classic versus Chantelle Cameron. It was a display of immense will and magnificent skill against a tremendous opponent. Two warriors.
May was a celebration. Today was about destruction. Taylor stormed in to quell the noise and refute any supposed decline. A remorseless Cameron was out to consolidate her coronation as the supposed new queen of the sport. The 32-year-old lost all of the belts in the super-lightweight division. Taylor is an undisputed two-weight world champion.
Prefight the talk was that Cameron was looking for a proper war while Taylor needed a pure boxing bout. In a contest that pitted heavy-fisted destroyer against spirited master, brain beat brawn.
Both trainers clarified the terms during the buildup. Ross Enamait referenced the 2008 upset of the year where a then-43-year-old Bernard Hopkins used his ring craft to conclude Kelly Pavlik’s unbeaten record. Who was the fighter that came to Jamie Moore’s mind as he spoke about Cameron’s ring walk? “Straight in. Like Mike Tyson.” As it turns out, she elected to take her time, periodically sounding the riff from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
The champion commanded centre ring early on and set into her tempo. Taylor tumbled to the canvas midway through the opening round however it was deemed a slip. Quickly a younger volume puncher turned up the dial with Taylor forced to clinch and jab her way out of trouble. She closed out the second with typical defensive nous and returned to a content corner.
On that wave, Taylor continued the masterclass in the third. Cameron was stung by a right cross off the ropes and before the bell the home corner were bellowing “that’s our round!” The fight was momentarily stopped in the fourth as the doctor checked a cut above the English woman’s eyebrow and they clashed heads severely soon after.
Cameron held her hands aloft and looked to the referee before returning to her corner. That was merely a fleeting respite. “Jab, jab” was the call as Taylor piloted the fifth on the backfoot. Brian Peters waved for encouragement during the sixth and a volley of ‘Olés’ boomed in response. “She is holding,” pleaded Nigel Travis in Cameron’s corner. In truth, Cameron could look after herself and sent sparks flying with a piercing left hook.
The seventh was boos and bursts and a fully-fledged brawl. Taylor threw down the gauntlet and made her position clear: If war was the request, then you can have it. Now she was battle weary. Down the stretch Cameron swung venomously. Both bore signs of damage. Neither cared. The entire arena rose to their feet and applauded as they stood toe-to-toe. “Lets get the trilogy in Croke Park,” Taylor declared afterwards.
Proceedings kicked off in front of tens of people just after four in the afternoon. After consecutive first-round knockouts, ringside Eddie Hearn was left mightily relieved when the All-Irish clash of Emmet Brennan and Jamie Morrissey served up an eight-round barnstormer. Brennan endeared himself to the nation after the Tokyo Olympics having quit his job and taken out Credit Union loans to pursue that dream. He launched a new one here, forcing Morrisey’s corner to throw in the towel less than one minute before the closing bell.
Brennan’s reward was a Celtic super-middleweight title and a promise from Hearn that he would obtain “big opportunities.” On the live undercard, there were subsequent victories for Dubliner Thomas Carty, Limerick hotshot Paddy Donovan and Naas lightweight Gary Cully. Heavyweight Carty laboured to an eight-round stoppage of Dan Garber, but the Andy Lee-trained Donovan floored the able Danny Ball twice in a statement performance and seized his first strap. “Superstars are made on the big stage. I tell you what, Ireland has a new superstar in Paddy Donovan,” declared Hearn. ‘The Real Deal’, indeed.
For Cully, this was a salvation mission. He suffered his first career defeat in this venue last May. Reece Mould made it clear all week he was out to double the dose. With careful precision, Cully got back on track and navigated his way to a 93-97, 97-93, 96-93 split decision.
Those conquests convinced a sellout crowd they were on the cusp of a truly special night. The sheer scale of what Taylor was attempting seemed to dawn as she emerged first to the soundtrack of Raise a Hallelujah. Thousands were ready to ignite. All they needed was a spark. It came at the end with three incredible words.
And the new.