Chantelle Cameron ready to move on from Claressa Shields

Fight talks that heated up after women’s undisputed heavyweight champion and pound-for-pound No. 1 Claressa Shields called out Chantelle Cameron in August have since cooled to the point that Cameron seems to be putting the potential matchup behind her.

In an interview that posted on talkSPORT Boxing’s YouTube channel in the U.K., unified junior middleweight champ Cameron (23-1, 8 KOs) sounded relatively optimistic about making a superfight with Shields (19-0, 4 KOs), widely regarded as the best fighter in women’s boxing.

“I really do want the fight, and I hope it happens, but there’s just a few hiccups at the moment,” said Cameron, 35, of Northampton, U.K.

“I want to go down as one of the best and also show people that I’m not scared of anyone.”

But in a segment posted to iFL TV’s YouTube channel only hours later, Cameron had seemingly already begun to turn her attention away from Shields.

“I was in really good talks with Claressa Shields, and I feel like that’s not gonna happen now,” Cameron said. “I’m a bit disappointed, but I’ve got to get over that now and get on to what’s next.”

Shields was the first to initially reach out about a possible matching of the fighters.

After Cameron’s unanimous decision win over Mikaela Mayer on Aug. 29 in Birmingham, U.K., Shields posted to her X account: “Congrats @chantellecam ! Gritty fight! Can me and you fight before you and Mikaela rematch?! I want to fight someone coming off a W! If you’d like to Rumble LET ME KNOW.”

Despite the size difference between the fighters – Shields has fought as heavy as 174¾ pounds, while Cameron moved up from 140 pounds only within the past year and a half – Cameron was game. Shields, of Flint, Michigan. publicly discussed fight venues, including Detroit’s Ford Field and Atlanta.

It’s uncertain where and when talks broke down, but Cameron seems determined to keep pushing forward.

“It was looking like it was going to happen, too, but it’s not,” she told iFL TV. “So, on to the rematch.”

The rematch in question would be another fight with Mayer (22-3, 5 KOs), whom Cameron outpointed 97-93 twice and 96-94 back in August. The action was tight enough to merit a second go-round between the popular boxers.

In fact, Cameron hinted in the iFL TV interview that a deal was even close to being signed.

“Very, very soon,” she said. “Sooner than expected.”