Sergio Garcia resoundingly outclassed Ted Cheeseman over twelve rounds to successfully retain the European super-welterweight championship via unanimous decision with scorecards of 119-109, 119-109 and 115-114 in his favour.
In a bout which generated into something of a wild battle towards the end, the Spaniard was dominant throughout the early proceedings, peppering the Bermondsey-born home favourite with combinations to the head and body.
Cheeseman struggled to pin the back-pedalling Garcia down, who never looked to be seriously perturbed in the face of Cheeseman’s relentless forward march and consistently beat the challenger to the punch.
Despite getting the better of the majority of exchanges, Garcia largely failed to silence a raucous crowd at the 02 Arena as Cheeseman continued to plough forward tenaciously, throwing – but rarely landing – with bad intentions.
Cheeseman produced a positively Herculean effort in the eighth round, putting together a venomous string of punches that appeared to briefly sting his Spanish counterpart, however Garcia – no doubt cognisant of his unassailable lead on the scorecards – quickly regained his composure as the fight progressed into the championship rounds.
Neither fighter faltered in the final couple of stanzas, but Cheeseman began to look increasingly ragged and bloodied as he continued to ship punishment.
The Londoner cut a disconsolate figure at the final bell of a fight where the outcome was in no doubt whatsoever, despite losing by one point on a bizarre scorecard.
Article by: Navi Singh
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