Katie Taylor vs Chantelle Cameron could be the Anthony Joshua Vs Tyson Fury level match-up women’s boxing needs

Katie Taylor is back in action tonight she looks to cement her spot as the pound-for-pound best female fighter on the planet.

The Irish icon takes on the unbeaten WBA interim lightweight title holder Miriam Gutiérrez with all of her WBA, WBC, WBO, IBF and The Ring lightweight titles on the line.

Mark Robinson/Matchroom

There is no doubt at this point that Taylor has done as much as anyone to drive the sport forward for women, especially here in the UK.

Many consider Taylor and Claressa Shields the dominant pair in the sport and the former is certainly fixated on growing her legacy. The pair of victories Delfine Persoon have done wonders for that, especially the second one which answered a ton of critics to the first.

In October, England’s Chantelle Cameron claimed the WBC light-welterweight title vacated by Jessica McCaskill so she could pursue welterweight unification glory – giving England it’s third current female world champion alongside Terri Harper and Savannah Marshall.

Cameron is operating just five pounds above Taylor’s weight right now. Taylor has suggested in the past she’d be open to moving up and should she dispatch Gutiérrez this weekend, it may be the right time.

Speaking ahead of the fight to talkSPORT’s James Savundra, Taylor had other ideas.

“I just want to be involved in the biggest fights possible, whoever that may be. There’s so many names being thrown out there like Amanda Serrano, Cris Cyborg, Jessica McCaskill, Cecilia Braekhus – there’s so many big fights out there for me,” she declared,

“It’s great there’s no shortage of big fights and I want to be able to be involved in those big events and big fights.

“For myself personally, I just want to continue to make history and I want to leave a great legacy in this sport, that’s what it’s all about.

Ed Mulholland/Matchroom

Although women’s boxing has made a lot of progress in the past few years, the money, exposure and attention it garners isn’t on the same planet as the men yet, but that’s slowly changing with stars like Taylor and now Cameron.

Northampton-born Cameron has been calling for a fight with Taylor for a while now and she told talkSPORT ahead of her world title win that it would be huge for female boxing if the clash came to fruition.

“If I keep winning, then why not fight me? If I’ve got world title belts, then why wouldn’t you fight me? That’s what I think,” she said.

”People are asking for the fight, people want to see the fight and I want the fight, it’s just does Katie want the fight.

“For women’s boxing, I feel like it’s it’s needed. I just think our styles would make a good fight, too. It would be competitive, ten rounds of pure competitive and I think it would be a round off!”

Cameron is absolutely right about the styles; both women love to come forward and apply the pressure and certainly do not sit back on their heels. It would be a war of attrition in every right.

Just like Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury are set to have a massive domestic showdown next year, a titanic Ireland vs England clash at the top of women’s boxing could be the catalyst to inject real interest in the sport.

Joshua and Fury have all the belts and their backers would divide the country; it could be a similar deal with Taylor and Cameron as both vie to cement their legacy and lead women’s boxing into previously unseen heights.

Plus, two unbeaten records is always intriguing. The only issue is timing.

If Cameron keeps on winning and perhaps unifies her division, she’ll be the natural fight for Taylor. But, she has to put herself into that position.

Alternatively, Taylor may move up, win a title at Cameron’s weight and then you have a champion versus champion scenario.

One thing we do know is, Eddie Hearn represents both women. The hurdles that AJ and Fury encountered prior to the tentaitve agreement they made earlier this year would not be the same here – Hearn can make it happen.

One has to think he has already contemplated that moment when signing Cameron back in July of this year…