By Maxwell Donaldson
It’s been an interesting leadup to his latest fight for Gadsden boxer Shaquille Cameron.
Cameron (7-2, 5 KOs) fought as part of the Rumble by the River VIII on Saturday, taking on Tremaine Jones. Cameron stayed in the fight, although he took some hard hits including one that led to a cut above his left eye. With three seconds left in the fight, referee Tony Weeks called the fight in favor of Jones.
What’s impressive is that Cameron’s gym location was shut down before the fight, meaning he had to find new locations to train.
Trainer Phillip Jones told the Gadsden Times that his gym’s lease was up and the city, which owns the building, decided to use the space for another venture. It’s meant for the last few months that Cameron’s training has been taking place across the state, but his team sees it as a bonus since he gets to train against different fighters.
“We have to travel to Anniston, Birmingham, Albertville: all different places,” Jones said. “They love it for us to come in and work because their kids get work too.”
The unconventional route of training in different gyms or even just random locations is the latest step for Cameron, who got into boxing in 2015 before turning pro in 2019. When he returned to Gadsden after leaving Job Corps and the U.S. military, he joined one of his friends on a trip to the gym, not knowing it was a boxing gym. It stuck. At one point, Cameron moved to California, but he came back and reconnected with Jones and has been fighting ever since.
“When I came back home after getting out of Job Corps, he was like, ‘What are you doing?’ He was like, ‘Come with me to the gym.’ I was doing powerlifting at the time, so I was like, cool. We get there and its a boxing gym, and I’m like he knows me well because I love to fight,” Cameron said.
With his 10th professional fight still unscheduled it’s time for Cameron to start looking forward, and with Jones hopeful he will secure a new location soon both Cameron and Jones have a united plan for what’s next in his career, especially after a loss that Cameron felt he could’ve done more in preparation.
“I want to stay consistent, even if I have to take these fights as practice because I’m going to fight,” Cameron said. “… Getting more consistent in the gym, getting myself more workouts than at-home workouts, working with my coach, working with a coach doing pad work and things like that.”
Tuscaloosa natives Deon Nicholson, the U.S. WBC light heavyweight titleholder, defeated Marcelo Ruben Molina in the first round via knockout to improve to 20-1 (19 KOs) and Keontae Modley defeated Dane Balark in the first round.
Maxwell Donaldson covers high school sports and Jacksonville State athletics for the Gadsden Times. Find him on Twitter/X @_Max_Donaldson and contact him at MDonaldson@gannett.com.