CHANTELLE CAMERON wore the scars of war following her stunning win over Katie Taylor at the 3Arena.
The 32-year-old spoiled Taylor’s Dublin homecoming party on Saturday night with a majority decision win.
It represented one of the biggest wins of Cameron’s career thus far, and saw her retain her undisputed super-lightweight titles in the process.
Naturally, she was in a hugely celebratory mood when she sat down for the post-fight press conference, and had a beer in tow.
That is not to say that she did not bear the damage from what was a white-knuckle war between the two former amateur rivals.
Cameron had been cut on the forehead in the seventh round from what she claimed to have been clashes of heads.
While it had stopped bleeding by the time of the press conference, the presence of the cut remained in the form of a welt, while her face was covered in bruises and swelling in places.
Speaking after her momentous win, Cameron acknowledged she was still very nervous about the prospect of Taylor getting a hometown decision when it went to the scorecards.
Cameron remarked: “I was petrified, I have seen it before, I thought I’m not going to get the decision. Katie is a great fighter, but I turned up to the occasion.
“I don’t mind getting hit, it’s one of them where they let me off the leash.
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“She is so fast, rapid, tough, I thought maybe I have nicked some rounds there.”
Meanwhile, Taylor, who could hardly fight back the tears as her record was changed to 22-1, paid tribute to the victor before insisting a rematch would come.
She said: “It was obviously very close, it’s not how I wanted my homecoming to go, I am just grateful for all the support, thank you very much.
“Congrats to Chantelle, thanks for the opportunity to fight for your belts, and I look forward to the rematch.
“I wouldn’t say I was surprised how fast she was, it was a tough battle, I just came up short tonight, I look forward to when we face each other again.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
