Mentality switch.
The dust has settled and Katie Taylor is undeniably the queen of boxing once again as she defeated Chantelle Cameron in a blockbuster rematch.
Taylor was handed her first professional loss at the hands of Cameron last May, and has spent the past six months doing everything in her power to right that wrong.
Albert Einstein once said that the ‘definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting a different result’. With this in mind, the Irish hero definitely changed things up.
Some of the changes were massive, but others were small, and seemingly unimportant in the grand scheme of things, but on reflection they all played a part in making sure that the outcome was also different this time around.
Media access
Taylor was not as accessible with the media this time, and turned down several interviews and press opportunities, as opposed to last time when the Bray native was happy to shake every hand, talk to every reporter and smile for every photo possible.
The thinking behind this was to remain focused at the task on hand, not waste any energy on things that won’t actually help her on fight night. Even Eddie Hearn said in the press conference afterwards that he was too afraid to push her into doing media obligations.
The belts stayed at home
As Taylor is the undisputed lightweight champion, holding all of the belts in that division, but went up a weight class to compete for Cameron’s light-welterweight belts, the 37-year-old never actually lost her titles.
However, obviously trying to embody the ‘challenger’ mindset, she never once brought her belts to the press conferences, weigh-in, media days or photoshoots, and chose to stand empty handed.
Walked into the ring first
Even though Taylor was the challenger last time, given that she was firmly on the A-side in terms of who held all the cards commercially, the Wicklow warrior walked second in the first fight.
However, again keeping with the underdog status, the home fighter made the decision to walk first, and it was Cameron who walked second as champion.
Ring walk significantly shorter
There was a lot made of the ring walk last time, with many thinking the Taylor took for too long to enter the ring, and that she didn’t look ready when the opening bell finally rang.
This time around, she took a quick moment to look around her, take in her surroundings, and then almost sprinted to the ring, and as she said herself after the win she “just couldn’t wait to get the fight started.”
Opposite corners
The Irish woman set up camp at the opposite corner this time around, and of course this shouldn’t really be significant, as it’s still the same fight, same size ring, and same opponent, but even just mentally making it a new experience from last time, could play a part.
Small things like this can help banish the familiarity of disappointment last time, and make it feel like a new experience with a new outcome.
The fast start
The referee had to actually tell both fighters to go back to their corner before he could start the bout because each of them were trying to steal a few yards and get to the centre of the ring first.
This was a stark contrast to Taylor’s start last time, as she tried to feel her way into the fight, now she was the one starting it, and although I scored the first round to Cameron, the next three went in favour of the eventual winner.
Never stayed on the ropes
A natural counter-puncher who likes to set traps, Taylor normally doesn’t mind fighting on the back foot, allow her opponent to come forward, before slipping and then throwing a flurry of her own.
This time however, she never let Cameron corner her, and every time she threw high volume combinations she either got straight on her bike to get out of there, or clinched the English fighter before she could push her back.
Spiteful in the clinch
It’s sometimes easy to look at the Olympic gold medalist and think she is almost angel-like because of her unassuming personality, and quiet demeanour, and then even the way she fights is almost graceful, but this time Taylor was full of spite and she needed to be.
When Cameron tried to rough her up in the clinch, and give her slaps to the back of the head to imply that she was holding, Taylor didn’t think twice about giving one back, pushing her opponent away, and showing her nasty, ruthless side.
Of course the main reason she won was because she’s an unbelievable boxer, with a bottomless pit of talent and work ethic to match, but Taylor had all of these things in the first fight as well, so it was interesting to zoom in on the small specifics that helped make a change.
Related links:
- Katie Taylor gets revenge against Chantelle Cameron in a fight for the ages at Dublin’s 3Arena
- Katie Taylor’s success in the ‘mad world’ of Dublin right now is a shining light we should follow
- Katie Taylor calls for Chantelle Cameron trilogy fight at Croke Park
