Chantelle Cameron prepares for Mikaela Mayer unification fight

Chantelle Cameron is preparing to defend her WBO world super-welterweight title against WBC champion Mikaela Mayer in a unification fight a week on Saturday. In an interview with The Guardian, Cameron described Mayer as a durable, well-conditioned opponent and said she was approaching the bout with the same seriousness as her fights against Katie Taylor.

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The contest will be staged over two-minute rounds, despite Cameron’s continued campaign for three-minute rounds at elite level. She gave up her WBC title in October 2025 in protest at the organisation’s refusal to sanction women’s championship bouts over 12 three-minute rounds. Cameron subsequently won the WBO belt under rules that allowed the longer format.

Cameron said the shorter rounds can produce fast, energetic action, but believes they restrict the development of women’s boxing at world and European level. She distinguished those contests from domestic-level bouts, where she considers 10 two-minute rounds appropriate. Mayer now holds the WBC belt and is pursuing undisputed status, bringing Cameron back into a fight governed by the WBC format.

The 35-year-old enters with a professional record of 22 wins and one defeat across nine years. She remains the only woman to have beaten Taylor as a professional, winning their first contest in Dublin in May 2023. Taylor won their rematch on points six months later, a result Cameron said led to a difficult period before she returned to work with trainers Jamie Moore and Nigel Travers.

Cameron told The Guardian that she respects Mayer both as a fighter and as an advocate for boxing. She identified Mayer’s toughness and fitness as her leading strengths and expects the American to come forward. Cameron also said the quality of the opponent is important after finding it difficult to secure a comparable challenge following the Taylor bouts.

Health remains central to Cameron’s longer-term plans. She said she undergoes an annual MRI brain scan, avoids unnecessary sparring under Moore and hopes to retire within the next two years with her health intact. For now, the immediate task is a title unification contest that matches two established champions, even as Cameron continues to challenge the rules governing the length of elite women’s rounds.