While the heavyweights were making headlines in London, the best fight of the weekend may have happened up the road in Birmingham. Chantelle Cameron defeated Mikaela Mayer by unanimous decision Saturday at bp pulse LIVE to unify the WBA, WBC, and WBO super welterweight world titles in the main event of MVPW-06, the scores reading 97-93 twice and 96-94.
Billed as a fight of the year candidate between two pound for pound entrants, it lived up to every word. The pace was frenetic from the opening bell and never let up across ten rounds. Cameron, fighting in front of a home crowd, was consistently the faster and heavier handed of the two, forcing Mayer to fight her fight and landing the more substantial shots in the exchanges.
Mayer had her moments. Her technical work was sharp, she dug to the body on the inside, and she connected with a thumping right hand that had the American corner believing. But round after round, Cameron’s output and power edged the close ones. World Boxing News scored it dead even at 95-95, and Mayer left the ring furious, calling the decision a robbery. The consensus at ringside was closer to fair than foul.
The bad blood was real. The two had to be separated by security after a physical altercation at Friday’s weigh-in, with Cameron promising to punish Mayer for the antics. On Saturday she backed it up.
Cameron improves to 23-1 with 8 knockouts and adds another line to a resume that already includes the distinction of being the only woman to defeat Katie Taylor as a professional. Mayer, now 22-2, suffers just her third career loss and remains one of the elite fighters in the sport. Given how the fight played out and how the scoring was received, a rematch would sell itself.
In the co-main event, Caroline Dubois turned in a masterclass, shutting out Amelia Moore on scores of 99-90, 99-90, and 98-91 to retain her unified WBC and WBO lightweight titles. The main card, built as UK versus USA, also saw Terri Harper blast out Miranda Reyes in two rounds, Reina Tellez outwork Jessica Barry 96-94, and Tysie Gallagher get past Brandi Robinson in a scrappy eight rounder.
