ONE NIGHT, TWO UNDISPUTED FIGHTS 

May 20th 2023, could go down as a pivotal and historic night in the sport of boxing. Both male and female boxing fans will witness an undisputed fight in one unprecedented night.

In Dublin, Ireland’s darling Katie Taylor, the undisputed lightweight champion.

Will move up to light welterweight to challenge Britain’s Chantelle Cameron for undisputed WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, IBO and ring magazine titles.

Then a few hours later, the world of boxing will descend on the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, where Devin Haney will defend his undisputed WBC, IBF, WBA, WBO and ring magazine titles against Vasily Lomachenko in a monumental night of boxing. 

Lomachenko vs Haney will be a very interesting fight. Loma may well be under pressure to prove he is indeed a special talent, after losing his two lightweight belts to Teofimo Lopez in October 2020. Although he has come back since with three good wins.

This could be a defining fight for him if he is to become the undisputed lightweight champion and beat Haney. The man who went to Australia twice, and both times, relatively comfortably, toppled the guy who dethroned the guy who dethroned Lomachenko.

I know Lomachenko would want to right that wrong, and with Teofimo Lopez back on the title hunt, if he could wrestle the belts from Haney, that would be more than tempting to lure Lopez into a huge rematch.

However, it’s going to be a tough task to take the belts off the confident Haney, who believes he is only just getting started.

Haney is a smooth operator. He is the youngest four-belt undisputed champion at 23 years and 7 months. But has not received the credit he deserves and has been criticised for not being exciting enough in the ring. 

That’s why this fight with Lomachenko is so intriguing. Although Loma lost to Lopez, he argued that it wasn’t the real him, with many outside things going on.

Lomachenko is nicknamed “high-tech” because of his advanced boxing style and ability in the ring.

His amateur pedigree, with a 396-1 record, proved what a classy boxer he is. In his 19 pro fights, only three have not been for a world title. That is the level he is boxing at. 

But this fight promises to be the hardest test for both. Everyone is expecting it to be a chess match, but of the highest quality.

However, due to the nature of the sport and the egos of the fighters, I am expecting some real explosive moments.

There is no surprise that many are expecting it to go to points, but in boxing, you never know, and with so much at stake, a surprise could be just around the corner when you least expect it.

Just hours before that fight, we will witness history in women’s boxing.

Will Ireland’s Katie Taylor become a two-weight undisputed champion, or will Chantelle Cameron pull off another upset like she did to unify the light welterweight division against Jessica McCaskill?

McCaskill beat Cecilia Braekhus twice, the previous queen of boxing, to become the unified champion, but has lost now to both Taylor and Cameron. 

Cameron was regarded as the underdog when she went to Abu Dhabi in November. She fought well on the back foot and showed her toughness and durability, but also her boxing skills to prove there are levels to this, with an impressive performance. However, if you are talking levels, look no further than Katie Taylor. 

Only Claressa Shields can argue with her about being the no1 pound for pound female fighter. Taylor has already been in some wars with Delfine Parsoon, and probably the best female fight I have seen against Amanda Serrano. 

Credited, I did think both times she was lucky to come away with wins.

But she showed her toughness, boxing skill and intelligence to get her through them, especially against Serrano.

That is what makes this fight so intriguing. With Taylor moving up, Cameron is the bigger fighter, although she does not have a great knockout percentage, she can use her size and strength. 

Katie Taylor will have to move, and use her boxing skills and abilities to get past a confident Cameroon. Serrano moved up to lightweight and rocked Taylor on several occasions. So the naturally bigger Cameron could have some joy if she puts it on Taylor. 

This fight promises to be an explosive domestic battle in a packed Dublin Arena, and what better prize than the undisputed titles on the line?

Taylor continues to break barriers and create history in women’s boxing. But her history-making, record-breaking career will be under serious threat against the tough, strong and durable English rose Chantelle Cameron.