Ted Cheeseman has admitted that his maiden British super-welterweight title defence against Northampton’s Kieron Conway at the legendary York Hall tonight is a must-win.
The Bermondsey star suffered the first defeat of his professional career last time out when he stepped up in class to face EBU European champion Sergio Garcia in his first headline fight at The O2 in London.
‘The Big Cheese’ is determined to bounce back with a bang by taking out ‘Too Class’ Conway (12-1, 3 KOs), live on Sky Sports in the UK and DAZN in the US, to set-up a mouth-watering domestic clash with Scott Fitzgerald later in the year.
“This is a very important fight for me, I’m not delusional, if I lose this then it’s finished for me really in boxing,” said Cheeseman. “There’s no point in fighting at a level below this. If I go below this then it’s over, you have to build up again. This is a build-up fight.
“I made my own mistakes and wasn’t successful in the last fight. Everyone forgets though, that my last opponent was No. 2 in the world, I stayed in there for 12 rounds, and he couldn’t hurt me.
“I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in, I have tunnel vision on boxing. I’m going in there to rip Conway’s head off, I’m not bad-mouthing him but that’s my plan. Sooner or later he gets stopped, the confidence is back.
“The fight with Scott Fitzgerald is signed, sealed and delivered if I win tonight!”
Cheeseman vs. Conway features on a bumper card in East London, main event sees Conor Benn (14-0, 9 KOs) defend his WBA Continental welterweight title against Jussi Koivula (24-6-1, 9 KOs), Crystal Palace light-heavyweight Craig Richards (14-1, 8 KOs) takes on undefeated former Southern Area champion Andre Sterling (10-0, 4 KOs) in an intriguing all-London Final Eliminator for the prestigious Lord Lonsdale light-heavyweight belt
Undefeated London light-heavyweight Duane ‘Hotshot’ Sinclair (10-0, 4 KOs) meets Westbury’s Anthony Fox (7-12-4), Crowthorne super-featherweight Charles Frankham (1-0) looks to make if two wins from two fights, fast-rising Watford bantamweight talent Shannon Courtenay (2-0) steps up to take part in her first six round contest, former Commonwealth super-featherweight champion Reece Bellotti (13-2, 11 KOs) steps through the ropes for the first time since his British title loss to Ryan Walsh and Ohio Lightweight prospect Otha Jones III (1-0) takes part in his second professional contest.
Source: Matchroom Boxing [Press Release]