Chantelle Cameron isn't done daring people to underestimate her. Fresh off beating Mikaela Mayer, she's already pointing at the biggest target in women's boxing.

Cameron came through a genuine thriller in Birmingham on Saturday, beating Mayer by unanimous decision, 97-93, 97-93, 96-94, to claim the WBA, WBC and WBO super-welterweight world titles. It was a fight that confirmed what we already suspected: Cameron belongs in any conversation about the elite of the women's game. She is, lest anyone needs reminding, the only woman to have beaten Katie Taylor as a professional. That is not a small thing.

So what comes next? Not a rematch with Mayer, apparently. Cameron has set her sights considerably higher.

The Shields Fight is Real

Many assumed Cameron would look at a second fight with Mayer, but she told Sky Sports that talks with Claressa Shields are already well underway. Not exploratory. Not preliminary. Advanced.

"The teams are actually in talks for that now so there is actually movement on that fight," Cameron said. "They are very advanced; it is moving pretty quick is what my managers told me, and it is a very high possibility the fight will happen."

That is not the kind of language you hear when someone is fishing for attention. That sounds like something is genuinely close to being done.

Shields' promoter, Dmitriy Salita, backed it up when he spoke to Sky Sports. He confirmed Cameron is "under serious consideration" as Shields' next opponent and that they are "exploring the opportunity now." He also made clear that working with Cameron's promotional side, MVP, is not an obstacle from Shields' camp. The door is open.

Shields herself, Salita says, welcomes it. The self-proclaimed GWOAT holds the WBC and WBA middleweight belts and carries a 19-0 record. Cameron calling for that fight is not delusion. It is ambition backed by credibility.

The Lauren Price Problem

There is one complication worth acknowledging. When Shields stopped Kaye Scott in August to reclaim her belts, the conversation was firmly about Lauren Price being next. Shields had pointed at Price as her preferred opponent, and Price had welcomed it. Salita's position on that fight seems to be that it belongs in the United States, which presumably makes the logistics a longer process.

That window is exactly where Cameron has inserted herself. If the Price fight is complicated by location and logistics, Cameron is right there with momentum, belts, and a performance behind her that no one can dismiss. We are not surprised she moved quickly. We would have done the same.

[Mayer's take on the defeat after the final bell makes for interesting reading too.](/uprise/boxing/remorseful-mayer-admits-camerons-trash-talk-triggered-her) And if you want the full picture of where Cameron stands in the broader [women's boxing landscape](/uprise/boxing/biggest-fight-in-womens-boxing-dubois-baumgardner-is-a-coward), this division is producing fights that frankly shame the men's side right now.

Our Take

Cameron versus Shields would be the biggest fight in women's boxing, full stop. Cameron has done everything asked of her and then some. Shields is unbeaten and relentless. If the talks are as advanced as both camps are suggesting, this needs to happen. No more waiting, no more scheduling politics. Make the fight.