While the boxing world was obsessed with the men’s undisputed lightweight championship bout between Devin Haney and Vasiliy Lomachenko, the women’s undisputed super lightweight crown was also on the line as well. With UFC star Conor McGregor in attendance, Katie Taylor took on the undisputed champion Chantelle Cameron. The fight took place in Katie’s backyard, 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland.
The winner of the fight would get their hands on WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, IBO, and The Ring women’s light-welterweight titles. Katie was already the undisputed lightweight champion of the world. But she had the aspiration to rule a different weight class and beating Cameron would have solidified Katie as one of the GOATs in the sport. But it was not meant to be, as Cameron won the bout via majority decision.
What a night for Chantelle Cameron! 👏#BBCBoxing pic.twitter.com/g45yi2IC5g
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) May 20, 2023
The fight itself was one for the ages! As the readers know, the Irish crowd is perhaps the loudest of any fanbase and it was no different on Saturday night either. With each punch Taylor landed, the noise level increased inside the arena, and by the time fight was over, every single person in the arena was on their feet. According to Compubox stats, Taylor landed 111 total punches out of an attempted 284 total punches.
Chantelle Cameron MD Katie Taylor official judges’ scorecards… pic.twitter.com/9sWux2wkxB
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) May 20, 2023
Cameron, on the other hand, tried 565 strikes and landed 141 strikes. Katie put up a valiant effort, but she was the smaller fighter and her punches did not have the same impact on Chantelle. After 10 rounds of an all-out war, one judge scored the bout 95-95 and two judges had it 96-94 for Chantelle Cameron.
Conor McGregor backs Katie Taylor after her first career loss
Former UFC double champ, Conor McGregor played a big role in the fight happening in Ireland as well. There is a mutual admiration between the two Irish athletes and Conor has often attended many of Katie’s fights. Even during this fight week, Conor’s imprint was all over, and “The Notorious One” was one of Katie’s biggest cheerleaders for this fight week.
Hence, fans wanted to know his reaction after Taylor lost the very first fight of her pro boxing career. As the result was being announced, Conor was standing by the ring, chomping on the bits to celebrate. Unfortunately, Conor did not have the chance to celebrate Katie’s win. But it did not discourage him and Conor shouted out, “Another amazing fight for you. Another day, another day for Katie Tay. Love you to bits.”
While it will be interesting to see which way Katie’s career turns out, fans do not have to wait for too long to see Conor back in action. While he is going to grace the screen soon with TUF 31, Conor will also fight Michael Chandler in the fall of 2023. So what do you make of the event and Conor’s undying support for Katie? Let us know in the comments down below.
