CHANTELLE CAMERON should be guaranteed a ‘neutral venue’ like Madison Square Garden should Katie Taylor choose to exercise her rematch.
That is the opinion of her coach Jamie Moore, who has revealed that the location for the return was not stipulated in the initial contract.
Cameron outpointed Taylor in their clash at the 3Arena in May and promoter Eddie Hearn said this week that he expects the Irish star to take the rematch despite waiting more than a month to make a decision.
And now Moore believes his boxer, the undisputed light-welterweight world champion, should have more of a say in the rematch following her victory first time around.
He told BoxingScene.com: “I believe Katie will enforce the rematch because she’s a winner. She won’t want anyone who idolizes her thinking ‘well you can’t lose your first fight and then avoid the rematch’. You have to try and rectify it. That’s what we all admire about her.
“From what I remember from reading the contract there’s nothing about weight or venue for the rematch. It’s just that if Chantelle wins, Katie will get the rematch. I don’t think there were any other specifications so that will be a negotiation.
“Everything was stacked against Chantelle last time and I don’t think she should go through that again. Some of it should be on her terms now because it balances out due to her winning that fight.
“I don’t know if it makes sense to do it in Northampton where she's from but I certainly don’t think we should have to go back to Dublin. I think maybe a neutral venue like Madison Square Garden or maybe Abu Dhabi. London is an option, Chantelle has topped the bill at the o2 before already.”
As well as venue, it is still unclear at which weight the rematch would take place after the pair fought for Cameron’s quartet of 140lb belts first time around.
Moore is hoping that they will meet again at 135lbs so Cameron has a chance to win all of Taylor’s titles too.
He added: “Chan is now at the top of Mount Everest in terms of achievement, she’s just beaten Katie Taylor and is already undisputed champion at 140lbs. Now it’s like, what can she achieve?
“And I think she deserves the opportunity to become an undisputed champion at 135lbs. She did everything on Katie’s terms last time, rightfully so, it was Katie’s homecoming. The reason we’re in this position for women’s boxing is because of Katie. She deserves that respect but now I think Chantelle deserves a bit of repayment.
“I like the rematch for us, I would say it’s still financially the biggest fight out there for Chantelle and I believe she does a better job the second time around because she has more in her. I think she’s better at 135lb too. She’s that little bit sharper and crisper.”
