Ted Cheeseman

Ted Cheeseman, “The Big Cheese”, boxed professionally in the super-welterweight division. Born in London on 20 August 1995 and based in Bermondsey, he was an orthodox 5 ft 10 in fighter who turned professional on 12 September 2015. He achieved the feat of becoming a two-time British light-middleweight champion. His professional record ended at 21 fights, 17 wins, 3 losses, and 1 draw, with 10 wins by knockout.

Cheeseman’s early run was built in the familiar London rooms, moving from four-rounders into proper distances without much fuss. He was never sold as a slickster. The shape of his boxing was pressure, a busy jab to get close, and a willingness to work in clusters once he had an opponent backed up, especially to the body. Even as he stepped up, there was a blunt honesty to him; he did not wait for a perfect fight to appear; he tried to make one.

The first clear marker came in July 2017 at the O2 Arena, when he stopped Matthew Ryan in three rounds to win the English light-middleweight title. That was followed by the kind of matching that tests whether a prospect is simply unbeaten or genuinely improving. In February 2018, he outpointed the experienced American, Carson Jones, over ten rounds at the O2 to win the WBA International title, then defended it in June by stopping the previously unbeaten Paul Upton at York Hall. Those wins carried him from being a useful ticket-seller to a boxer with a future.

In October 2018, at the Copper Box Arena, he beat Asinia Byfield over twelve rounds to win the vacant British title, a night that suited his temperament more than his aesthetics. In February 2019, he stepped straight into European class against the unbeaten Sergio Garcia at the O2 and lost on points, a fight that asked him to solve problems on the move rather than by sheer work-rate. Back at the domestic level, he retained the British belt with a split draw against Kieron Conway at York Hall, then lost the title in October 2019 to Scott Fitzgerald over twelve in Newcastle, a tight fight where the margins went the other way.

If his career has a defining thread, it is that he kept coming back to the belt. In August 2020, at Matchroom’s Fight Camp in Brentwood, he outpointed Sam Eggington over twelve rounds to win the IBF International title, a fight fought at the sort of pace that leaves both men looking as though they have done a shift. In March 2021, he regained the British title by stopping the unbeaten James Metcalf in the eleventh round in Gibraltar, a late finish that told you plenty about his stamina and his appetite for the hard part of a fight.

His last bout, and the one that closed the professional chapter, came on 9 October 2021 in Liverpool against Troy Williamson, with the British title at stake. Cheeseman lost by knockout in the tenth, a heavy ending to a gruelling contest, and he has not boxed since. His record stands as a proper domestic body of work, two spells as British champion, a willingness to take the fights in front of him, and a style built on tempo and pressure rather than caution.