Caroline Dubois sat down to watch Saturday’s rematch between Chantelle Cameron and Katie Taylor with a vested interest.
Cameron beat Taylor handily first time around and most tuned into the fight expecting to see her successfully defend her undisputed super lightweight crown in emphatic fashion.
What we got instead was a consummate display of boxing know how from the 37-year-old. Taylor started quickly and then negated Cameron’s efforts to turn the tide as she flurried, clinched and ground her way to a deserved majority decision.
Taylor is already the undisputed lightweight champion and adding an undisputed title in a second weight class allowed her entry to a very exclusive club.
Above all else, Dubois was impressed by Taylor’s boxing I.Q and will to win.
“It was a great fight. I thought she performed really well,” Dubois told Sky Sports. I just think she’s really good at winning. She just knows how to win fights. From the amateurs going into the pro’s, she just knows how to win a fight.
“I think she knew how to grit it out. Just throw enough to get the first six rounds and just ride it through the last four.
Dubois wasn’t watching the fight purely as a fan. She had an ulterior motive. Both the WBC and IBF rank the unbeaten 22-year-old as their number one lightweight and she is overdue a shot at least one of the 135lb titles Taylor still holds. Dubois took to social media after the fight, posting “I WANT THAT FIGHT!! LET ME AT HER”
Given that Taylor fights for Matchroom on DAZN and Dubois fights under the Boxxer banner on Sky Sports, a clash between the best of this era and the potential star of the next wouldn’t be easy to make under normal circumstances but by beating Cameron in such stunning fashion, Taylor has earned the right to leave the sport on her own terms. She is far more likely to chose high profile, high paying rematches with Cameron and Amada Serrano over a dangerous fight with somebody still building their reputation in the sport.
Still, all Dubois can do is throw her name into the hat and make sure she is ready for a shot at Taylor or a fight for a vacant belt if – as expected – Taylor decides to vacate for lightweight crown.
“I think Chantelle will definitely be calling for the trilogy fight and there’s gonna be a massive interest in the Amanda Serrano fight so she’s got a lot of options,” Dubois said.
“I’ll be waiting as well. I’m number one with two of the governing bodies and I’m number one on Boxrec. That’s a fight that I would love but it’s all up to her. I think the ball is in her court.”