Chantelle Cameron declared herself on the world stage with a near-perfect performance over Katie Taylor in Dublin.

cameron has build yourself quietly Be a formidable champion, but her performance against Taylor is a testament to her undeniable pedigree.

The 32-year-old pro is undefeated in 18 fights, arguably beating the greatest female fighters of all time in her backyard, and has beaten two undisputed defending champions in a row.

Cameron may have been unsure when asked if she was on top after winning, but her promoter Eddie Hearn and coach Jamie Moore were not so humble.

“If Katie Taylor is No. 1, which I believe she is, if someone just beat her, that would definitely make her the best pound-for-pound,” Moore said.

“Jessica McCaskill was undisputed at 147 pounds; she came down to challenge Chantelle undisputed (light middleweight). Katie came up; she was The undisputed lightweight,” Hearn added.

“She beat two undisputed defending champions back to back. Unbelievable performance.”

Cameron shines in the spotlight

Cameron has never been on a stage as large as the one she occupied this week.

Standing on Taylor’s side of the spotlight might have suited the defending champions, but a lack of respect fueled England’s first undisputed title.

Despite being a challenger, Taylor had all the hallmarks of a championship. In a rare move in boxing tradition to break second in the ring compared to Cameron, she enjoyed a lengthy entry time.

But the British woman was poker-faced as she walked to the ring alone, doing tai chi and even laughing together as she waited for Taylor’s trainers, Moore and Nigel Travis.

A fighter who has admitted to having confidence issues in the past, Cameron has shown grit of steel in Dublin’s worst circumstances.

Moore and Travis have repeatedly insisted that Cameron has an Iron Lady inside him, and now the world is witnessing what their warrior is made of.

“Katie was a great fighter, a great ambassador for the sport and I always knew it was going to be a tough night. Coming to Dublin – her homecoming, everything was against me,” she said.

“Everything was in her favor, but I showed my true nature.”

Hearn said the rematch would be in Dublin, but Moore suggested Cameron deserved her own home.

She was Northampton’s first boxing world champion but only once fought near home won her first world title in 2020 in Milton Keynes.

In the short and sweet post-match press conference, Cameron drank a beer between answers, reluctant to fully commit to the second fight, but, with Taylor saying she would trigger the return clause, it seems unlikely that the champion will have options room for.

“I didn’t even know what was going to happen next,” she said. “I believe I’ve climbed one mountain and I’ve just climbed another.”

Is Taylor in decline?

While Cameron returned home intact, Taylor was left wondering what went wrong in her supposed triumphant return home.

Taylor has created one miracle after another for Irish boxing greatest athletebut for the 36-year-old, adding weight to face an elite, young champion may be a bit too much.

UFC star Conor McGregor, who watched the fight from the sidelines, thought the occasion might have come to a seasoned pro.

He told BBC Radio 5 Live: “Katie put on weight suddenly to make it happen. She didn’t have time to put on weight. She took her chance.”

“We had a draw there. The nervousness at the start of the fight held her back. She wasn’t Katie in the first place.

“She became her own Katie from halfway through.”

Taylor’s clean-cut image is also a discreet one. The Bray native rarely shows herself too much, but at Fight Week in Dublin she certainly exuded an aura of longing to get back among her people.

After her seven years of fighting to bring top-notch boxing to Ireland, many felt Saturday night was a fitting final chapter for Taylor after finally achieving success.

But losing isn’t in the script, and it’s unthinkable that Taylor would retire after a loss, even if signs of decline eventually begin to creep into her game.

“I do think Katie Taylor has gone down a bit,” said Taylor’s WBO mandatory challenger, Mikaela Mayer.

“It’s not against her because she’s 36 years old and has taken up every possible challenge.

“But if you look back a few years, she was so quick and so explosive through 10 rounds, it looks like she’s gone now.

“For the rematch, she needs to train smarter, not harder.”