Is Ellie Scotney vs Cherneka Johnson off?
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This is a developing story.
UPDATE 4/5/2023:
Chantelle Cameron has released a statement, and upon reading further into this I learned that she used to be signed to Barry McGuigan’s Cyclone promotion company, which she left in 2019 in such a way that she believed her career was over. So clearly something bad enough happened to her while under that contract that they made her sign an NDA to prevent her from speaking about it.
I was mistaken to believe that it was just based on a beef between MTK and the McGuigans, and not on something that had happened personally to Cameron herself.
This is really a sad state of affairs and I am sorry for all the parties involved.
Matchroom Boxing nor Eddie Hearn have said anything so far, but Matchroom did post a new fight poster with the Scotney/Johnson fight removed.
Initial article below:
In a post on Twitter today, British fighter Ellie Scotney (6-0) announced that her upcoming title fight with Australian Cherneka Johnson (15-1) on the undercard of the Katie Taylor/Chantelle Cameron fight is now off.
So what’s going on here? There’s some strange history to unravel in this situation.
From what I can discern - according to Scotney - Cameron and her team told Eddie Hearn/Matchroom Boxing that they did not want Scotney to fight on the card due to her relationship with trainer Shane McGuigan.
Chantelle Cameron used to belong to a promotion company called MTK Global (shuttered in 2022) which was co-owned by Daniel Kinahan. Kinahan is a notorious figure in Irish boxing promotion and the suspected crime boss of the Kinahan Cartel, responsible for smuggling drugs and firearms into the UK and Ireland, and Europe at large. Daniel Kinahan has been living in Dubai and acting as a boxing advisor and matchmaker, working directly with fighters like Tyson Fury and Billy Joe Saunders. Kinahan has denied these connections with organized crime, but it’s basically an open secret at this point as Kinahan has become subject to global sanctions under the US Government.
In February 2021, a documentary episode of BBC Panorama aired about Daniel Kinahan’s involvement in boxing and organized crime. Featured in the documentary was an interview with Barry McGuigan, Shane McGuigan’s father and former world champion boxer.
The former world champion told the programme that Kinahan was a 'dangerous man' who brought 'terror' to the sport of boxing.
"Someone has got to look out for this sport. They really need to look at this situation very carefully, because it’s bloody dangerous." - Article Link
MTK promoted fighters came out against McGuigan and his comments against Kinahan:
Former Southern Area champion Danny 'Cassius' Connor was particularly scathing, "I tell you what that documentary says to me, it's a witch hunt, a very bitter boxing promoter with a reputation for robbing his own fighters, no evidence, the world is full of jealousy and bitterness and boxing is no different evidently."
Two-weight world champion, Billy Joe Saunders tweeted: "What a load of rubbish Irish Government corruption. If a man has done all this with no criminal record and helps out the homeless and sending cancer patients to get cured. Why hasn’t he been put in prison? Rubbish".
He later added: "Also Barry McGuigan give your self a good look in the mirror." - BritishBoxingNews.co.uk
Could it be that a grudge held by Cameron on behalf of her former promoter MTK against the father of Scotney’s trainer is what’s fueling this fight cancelation? It seems really strange, especially considering that Scotney has fought on the same card as Cameron in the past with no apparent issues.
At the time of writing this, neither Eddie Hearn nor Chantelle Cameron have commented on this statement from Ellie Scotney.
Whatever the reason, it’s disappointing for both fighters not to get a shot at a world title or fight on such an anticipated event - I was looking forward to this match up.
Hopefully we will get some more information soon! Let me know your thoughts about this in the comments below.
UPDATE:
Chantelle Cameron has released a statement, and upon reading further into this I learned that she used to be signed to Barry McGuigan’s Cyclone promotion company, which she left in 2019 in such a way that she believed her career was over. So clearly something bad enough happened to her while under that contract that they made her sign an NDA to prevent her from speaking about it.
I was mistaken to believe that it was just based on a beef between MTK and the McGuigans, and not on something that had happened personally to Cameron herself.