Chantelle Cameron

Chantelle Cameron (born 14 May 1991) is an English professional boxer.

Chantelle Cameron was born on 14 May 1991, in Northampton, England.

She credits her love for combat sports to watching films starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and television programme 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.

As an amateur, she won a silver medal in the light-welterweight division at the 2010 EU Championships in Keszthely, Hungary, and a bronze in the lightweight division at the 2011 EU Championships in Katowice, Poland, losing to Ireland's Katie Taylor in the semi-finals.

Cameron would avenge this loss in May 2023, defeating Taylor via majority decision to retain her undisputed championship.

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 the silver medal at the 2010 EU Championships, and a bronze the following year at the 2011 EU Championships, losing in the semi-finals to eventual winner Katie Taylor of Ireland.

2010 | ABA Women's National Championships (63.5 kg)

2010 | European Union Women's Championships (64 kg)

2010 | AIBA Women's World Championships (64 kg)

2011 | European Union Women's Championships (60 kg)

2015 | ABAE Women's National Championships (60 kg)

She previously held the IBO female lightweight title from 2017 to 2019 and light-welterweight title from 2022 to 2023.

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 (PTS) against Karina Kopinska at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales.

After scoring technical knockout (TKO) 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.

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 via corner retirement (RTD) 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 retained her title via shutout unanimous decision (UD) 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 making a second defence against Jessica Gonzalez on 13 October 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 shutout UD with the judges' scorecards reading 100–89, 100–88, and 100–88, retaining her IBO title and capturing the vacant WBC Silver title.

In February 2019, Cameron announced on Twitter she had left Cyclone Promotions and trainer Shane McGuigan, 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 (Jessica Gonzalez)".

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.

Cameron's WBC Silver title was on the line with the winner gaining a chance to face WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, and The Ring champion Katie Taylor for the undisputed female lightweight title.

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.

She is a former world champion in two weight classes, including the former undisputed light-welterweight champion, having held the WBC title between 2020 and 2023; the IBF and Ring magazine titles between 2021 and 2023 ; and the WBA and WBO titles between November 2022 and 2023.