Katie Taylor tasted defeat in her big Irish homecoming fight on Saturday night, coming up short on the judges scorecards against a very game Chantelle Cameron.
Taylor and Cameron went back and forth through their entire bout at the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland. In the end, Cameron was just a bit more active. The scorecards reflected this: the judges saw it 95-95, 96-94, and 96-94 for a Cameron majority decision (watch the highlights here).
It was an impressive performance from Taylor considering she moved up in weight to challenge for Cameron’s WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring female light-welterweight titles. She didn’t get them this time, but her promoter Eddie Hearn has said the Irish boxer will be activating a rematch clause in their contract, setting up a second bout sometime in late 2023.
“There is a rematch clause and we want to do it again in the autumn,” Hearn said during the post-fight press conference. “There’s only one thing on Katie’s mind and that is a rematch in Dublin.”
As for his thoughts on the extremely close scorecards?
“It was a fight that could have gone either way but I think the result was right,” Hearn said.
Katie Taylor was also gracious in defeat.
“It’s not how I wanted to my homecoming to go,” she said. “I’m just so grateful for the support regardless. Congratulations to Chantelle on a fantastic performance, thank so much for the opportunity to fight for your belts, and looking forward to the rematch.”
With the Taylor vs. Cameron fight selling out the 3Arena in a matter of minutes, there’s little doubt that a rematch will go down on Irish soil once again. Could we finally see Katie Tay in Croke Park? Even with the loss, she’s still got Conor McGregor on her side, and he seems very intent on filling the legendary stadium for one of her bouts.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
