BIG FIGHT PREVIEW: Chantelle Cameron ready to rule the world

Already the WBC champion, Cameron is aiming to claim McGee’s IBF title as well as the prestigious Ring Magazine belt when the pair headline Matchroom’s big fight night in London.

The contest is part of the Eddie Hearn-inspired super lightweight unification tournament dubbed ‘The Road To Unification’.

The winner of the Cameron/McGee contest will move on to a final against the winner of the November fight between Kali Reis and Jessica Camara, who between them hold the WBA, WBO and IBO world titles.

It is a huge night for Northampton ace Cameron, who goes into the fight against McGee defending a 100 per cent professional record of 14 wins out of 14, with eight knockouts.

Her American opponent has an impressive record of her own, having won 27 of her 30 fights, with 15 of those by knockout, and although she has lost on three occasions she has won her past seven fights.

McGee hasn’t stepped into a ring since February, 2020, when she beat Deanha Hobbs, while Cameron fought as recently as May when she defended her world title with a dominant win over the veteran Melissa Hernandez in Las Vegas.

The former Kings Heath ABC fighter can’t wait to get back into action on Saturday night, and says she is totally confident that she will be heading home on Sunday morning victorious.

“Mary McGee is strong and she is tough, but I think I am an all-round better fighter in every department,” the 30-year-old told the Matchroom Boxing YouTube channel.

“I have to be switched on and do exactly as I do in the gym and hopefully on fight night it all comes off and I put on the best performance I can.

“The best version of me, and knowing what I can do, Mary McGee doesn’t beat me.

“There is nothing that crosses my mind that thinks she can beat me, as long as I do what I know I can pull off.

“That’s because I think she is just not as skilled as me, and I have worked too hard not to get this win.”

Cameron’s fight was originally scheduled to be second on the bill to the heavyweight contest between Dillian Whyte and Otto Wallin, but that was cancelled due to an injury to the Brit last week.

It was initially thought the show could be called off, but Hearn and Matchroom Boxing simply promoted the women’s fight to the top of the bill, with the action being beamed around the world on the streaming service DAZN.

And Cameron admitted to some anxious moments ahead of the confirmation of her fight going ahead.

“I couldn’t sleep all night because I was waiting to get the call or text saying the fight’s not on, and that would have been understandable,” she said.

“Then in the morning I had a text message from Jamie saying I was headlining, and it was like ‘that’s took a turn!’.

“So from having hardly any sleep thinking the show was going to be cancelled, to waking up to that text message I just couldn’t believe it.”

And although this is going to be her highest profile fight yet, Cameron insists she is treating the bout at the cavernous O2 as simply another night at the office.

“Everybody is saying to me ‘you are headlining’, and it is great, but for me I am not focusing on that, I am focusing on the job,” she said.

“I think it is going to be one those things, like in Las Vegas earlier in the year.

“When I was there I was just focused on winning, and it was only afterwards that I thought ‘wow, what a week’, and ‘what have I just done? I have boxed in Vegas’.

“So I think it is after the fight you take it all in, and it will be the same this week because at the moment it is just business.”

McGee is set to be a formidable opponent for Cameron, with the American insisting she is ‘going to chase her down’.

But Cameron, who hails from Standens Barn in the town, believes she has all bases covered, no matter what McGee tries to throw at her.

“I want to be in there and I want to have a war, but I know I can box,” she said. “That’s the thing, because I can stand there and go toe-to-toe, or I can got on the backfoot and box.

“So I am going to mix it up and have some fun and do a bit of everything.”

The prize for the winner is a big one, with not only the immediate reward of the two extra belts on the night, but also the carrot of that unification fight in the new year.

But Cameron is not looking any further ahead that Saturday night and the job in hand.

“If I look anywhere past Mary then I could be complacent and get beaten,” she said.

“So it is about making sure I get that win on Saturday night, collect that Ring Magazine belt and the IBF, defend my WBC and then move on.

“I have to win on Saturday night, otherwise the journey ends there for me.”

Cameron is expected to take on McGee at around 10pm on Saturday.

The live fight night coverage on DAZN starts from 7pm with an eight-bout undercard.